In 23 BC Augustus, aware from the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC that the people would not accept formal autocratic rule, persuaded the Senate, cowed by his legions, into granting him authorities masked by the republican traditions that would lead to him gaining without office, autocratic power in a republican guise. This form of government is known as a ‘Principate’ and it worked under Augustus but its constitutional aspects were eroded by his successors.
For reasons of security, Augustus abandoned plans for expansion in the East. He came to an agreement with Parthia; Galatia became a province in 25 BC and Judaea in AD 6. Spain was finally pacified and, like Gaul, was reorganised. In the West he established his frontier with the rest of Europe at the Rhine and the Danube, and by the creation of a chain of provinces (Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia and Moesia) protected the Balkans from invasion by the tribes to the north.
Tiberius (78; r.14-37) declined to extend the Empire beyond these existing boundaries, except that Cappadocia was made a province. Caligula (28; r.12-41) worked to increase the personal power of the emperor, as opposed to countervailing powers within the Principate. Claudius (64; r.41-54) added the two Mauretanias (42), Britain (43), Lycia (43) and Thrace (46) to the Empire. Nero (30; r.54-68) adopted a more active policy in the East, which resulted in a clash with Parthia and the defeat at Rhandeia (62). A revolt in Britain was led by Boudicca (d.60/1); rebellion spread through Judaea (66-70), while Julius (21) Vindex (43; fl.68) revolted in Gaul and 13Sulpicius Galba (71; r.68-69) revolted in Spain (68).
The ‘Year of the Four Emperors (69)’ showed that an emperor could be made elsewhere than in Rome by the wishes of the armies in the provinces who however recognized that their nominees remained pretenders until approved by the Senate; and vice versa. A rising by Civilis in Germania and the attempt of 22Julius Classicus to create an empire in Gaul were thwarted.
Under the Flavians (69-96) there was a marked increase towards absolute monarchy. Vespasian (69; r.69-79) restored confidence and prosperity, and secured the succession of his sons Titus (41; r.79-81) and Domitian (44; r.81-96). In foreign policy the Flavians aimed at strengthening existing borders and an advance was made into Scotland.
At the beginning of the Nervan-Antonine Dynasty (96-193), Nerva (67; r.96-98) was chosen by the Senate, not by the legions. Finding the armies difficult to control he adopted a soldier Trajan (63; r.98-117) and made him coregent. Each of the next three rulers, none of whom had a son to succeed him, also adopted a son in order to avert crises at their own deaths.
The joint rule of Lucius Verus (39; r.161-69) and Marcus Aurelius (58; r.161-180) foreshadowed the division of imperial power. When Commodus (31; r.180-92) was promoted to the throne by his father Aurelius, the moral basis of the Principate was weakened by his misrule and corruption.
Trajan, after two wars (101-2, 105-6) annexed Dacia, which was quickly Romanized. In the East he annexed Nabataean Arabia in Transjordania and advanced over the Euphrates to wrest from Parthian control the new provinces of Armenia, Mesopotamia and Assyria. By abandoning his predecessor’s Eastern conquests Hadrian (62; r.117-38) reached a settlement with the Parthians. Widespread revolts in Jerusalem were suppressed, while the establishment of a Roman colony in Jerusalem by Hadrian led to a second war in Palestine (131-35). In Britain the Romans withdrew from Scotland and constructed Hadrian’s Wall (122-7). Another extension of Roman influence into Scotland was followed by the establishment of the Antonine Wall (142-3). A greater crisis arose when Germanic tribes invaded the Danubian provinces and even raided northern Italy, a danger that Marcus Aurelius repelled.
The death of Commodus ushered in a new period of civil war. As in 69, provincial armies put forward their candidates for the throne. 01Septimius Severus (65; r.193-211) struck down his rivals and established a new dynasty. He abandoned all pretence of cooperation with the Senate and openly showed that his authority rested on the support of the army. His restoration of order in northern Britain was followed by a withdrawal from Scotland. His son Caracalla (29; r.198-217) by his edict of 212 abolished all distinction between Italians and provincials, so that the Empire legally became a commonwealth of equal members. Severus Alexander (26; r.222-35) gave Rome a few years of peace, but his murder was followed by fifty years of military anarchy during which the security and unity of the Empire were nearly destroyed.
In the East the Parthian Arsacids were superseded by the Sassanids who overran Syria (256), captured Valerian (c.65; r.253-60; d.260/4) in 259, and invaded Asia Minor. They were checked by the city of Palmyra, which under their queen Zenobia (c.35; r.267-71; d.c.275) now proceeded to challenge Rome. In the West a pretender, Postumus (r.260-269) established an independent imperium Galliarum, which included Spain and Britain; Franks threatened the lower Rhine; Saxons ventured into the English Channel; Goths raided the Balkans and the Aegean; and the Alamanni crossed the Rhine and ravaged northern Italy as far as Ravenna. Valerian’s son and successor Gallienus (c.50; r.253-68) had also to face a swarm of pretenders and rivals, the so-called Thirty Tyrants.
The tide was turned by his successors, the Illyrian emperors, Claudius Gothicus (60; r.268-70), who expelled the Goths, and Aurelian (60/1; r.270-05) who destroyed Palmyra (273) and recovered Gaul. A succession of emperors followed who had fight rivals and barbarians alike: Tacitus (c.76; r.275-6) who defeated some Goths in Asia Minor, Probus (50; r.276-82) who secured the Rhine and Danube frontiers and deposed of the rival Bonosus, Carus (c.61; 282-3) who invaded Mesopotamia, Carinus (282-5) and Numerian (r.283-4).
Military threats posed by ‘barbarians’ on the northern frontier of the Rhine and Danube compelled emperors to spend more time in the north. Although Rome was still the seat of the Senate, it was no longer the administrative capital of the Empire: emperors moved from one ‘capital’ to another – Trier in Germany, Sirmium or Serdica in the Danube area or Nicomedia in Bithynia – taking their administration with them.
To secure the protection of the Empire and an unchallenged succession Diocletian (r.284-305) divided the Empire and imperial power into four administratively separate sectors, each of which was placed under one of the co-emperors (augusti) or one of their presumptive successors (caesares). When he insisted on retiring, fresh civil wars broke out. Constantine-I the Great (c.65; r.306-37) defeated all his rivals and reunited the Empire under his sole leadership.
In 330 he founded Constantinople on the site of the old Greek city of Byzantium on the Bosporus, as his new capital and Christian city. In 375 Theodosius-I (48; r.392-95) divided the Empire into two parts, placing the West under his younger son Honorius (38; r.393-423) in Rome and the East under his other son Arcadius (30/1; r.395-408) in Constantinople.
The West could not survive the storm of barbarian invasions. Picts, Scotii (=Scots) and Saxons overran Britain which the Romans were no longer able to protect and had to leave to its fate. The main Germanic invasions came in waves. First, the Goths, fleeing before the Huns, defeated Valens (50; r.364-78) at Adrianople (378), and ultimately, along with the Burgundians, occupied Gaul as federates, until in 473 Euric (c.44; 466-84) in southwest Gaul became independent of the Roman government. A second wave of Vandals, Suebi and Alani crossed the Rhine (406); after settling in Spain, some passed on to Africa, where they captured Carthage (439) and established a separate state, thus cutting the Mediterranean in two. A third wave followed the collapse of Attila’s Empire (453): Ostrogoths settled in Pannonia and threatened Italy.
The Visigoth king Alaric-I (40/35; r.395-410) sacked Rome (410), and although this averted the threat from the Hunnic king Attila (r.434-53) until 452, Rome was again plundered by the Vandal king Gaiseric (88; r.428-477). In 476 the German Odoacer (60; r.476-93) deposed Romulus Augustulus (r.475-6) and became the first barbarian ruler of Italy. In 493 Odoacer was overthrown by Theodoric (71/2; r.493-526), who established the Ostrogoth Kingdom in Italy (493-553).
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