Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

 The Augustan Revolution

oftheres publicaremainedactiveintheTriumviralperiod,andsecondlyby
redefiningthechangewhichculminatedin..,preciselybyaskingagain
inwhattermsitandthe‘‘neworder’’(novus status)whichemergedfromit
wereseenbycontemporaries.
Monarchyisaninfinitelycomplexphenomenon,ineachcaseuniqueto
theparticularsocietyfromwhichitsprings.Thecomplexityisonlyincreased
when it emerges from a centuries-old aristocratic republic whose web of
customs, rights, and traditions is dignified by moderns with the title of a
constitution;andfurtherwhenitimmediatelyinvolvesthedirectrelation-
ship of the monarch to a vast range of regions and communities of vary-
ing cultures and political characters.This is the essential new factor, fore-
shadowedbyPompeyduringhiscommandintheEast,andbrieflyinRome
byCaesarasdictator.Moreoveritallowsustosimplify,andtofocusalarge
partofthediscussiononasinglecriterionofmonarchy,theissuingbythe
monarchofpronouncementswhicharethemselvestreatedbyhissubjectsas
effectivelegalacts.Itisall-importanttostressthedifferencebetweenthese
and pronouncements which eithercomplete some collective legal process,
ormerelypromisethatsuchaprocesswilltakeplace.Amongsucheffective
pronouncementsthepersonaljudicialverdictsofthemonarchhaveapar-
ticularsignificance.Considerationssuchasthesewillbevitalindetermining
therelevanceoftheTriumviralperiodtotheemergenceofmonarchy,and
thenatureofthechangecompletedin..

TheTriumvirateandtheRes Publica

Nobody, then or since, could dispute that theTriumviral period was pro-
foundlymarkedbyviolence,illegality,andthearbitraryexerciseofpower.
ThisviewwasopenlyexpressedatthetimebythejuristCascellius,whore-
fusedtogivealegalformulainrespectofpropertiesgrantedbytheTrium-
virs,‘‘consideringalloftheirgrantsoutsidetherealmoflaw.’’^1 EvenOctavian
himselfadmittedthis,abolishing(whateverthatmaymean)allthathadbeen
doneunlawfullyandunjustlyuptohissixthconsulatein..^2 Nonethe
less,ifwerelytoouncriticallyonthefamous,butalsotypicallyemotive,rhe-
torical, and imprecise, phrase of Tacitus which introduces his reference to
this‘‘abolition’’—‘‘andthencontinuousdiscordfortwentyyears,nocustom,
nolaw’’(exim continua per viginti annos discordia, non mos, non ius)^3 —weshall
missimportantfeaturesoftheTriumviralsituation.

. Val.Max.,,.

. Dio,,;cf.Tac.,Ann.,,.

. Tac.,Ann.,,.