Western Civilization.p

Social, Political, and Economic Structures of Imperial Rome 89

Tiberius, succeeded him by inheritance; Tiberius
ruled A.D. 14–37. Caligula, Claudius, and Nero aban-
doned republican formalities, expanded the imperial
bureaucracy, and sometimes treated the Senate with
open contempt. Caligula so scorned the republican
tradition that he designated his horse, Incitatus, as his
coconsul. Augustus’s successors institutionalized the
powers that had been granted personally to Augustus
and gradually appropriated semidivine status (see il-
lustration 5.4). The Roman Empire became a heredi-
tary monarchy, though as always, real power rested
with the army. Claudius, thought wrongly by the
Senate to be an incompetent figurehead, was placed
on the throne by the Praetorian guard, an elite unit
established by Augustus for the protection of the prin-
ceps.In spite of a speech defect and physical disabili-
ties, Claudius astonished everyone by ruling capably
and conscientiously. He took the first steps toward

establishing a regular imperial civil service staffed by

members of the equestrian order.

Nero, whose tutor and chief adviser at the begin-

ning of his reign was the Stoic philosopher Seneca,

showed early promise. He neither was responsible for

the great fire that consumed much of Rome in A.D. 64,

nor did he fiddle while it burned, but his behavior grew

increasingly more erratic with the passage of time. In

A.D. 68, the legions began a series of revolts that ended

with the emperor’s suicide. The next year saw no fewer

than four separate emperors, each a commander sup-

ported by his troops in the hope of securing their re-

tirements by seizing the imperium.The last of them,

Vespasian (ruled A.D. 69–79), established the Flavian

dynasty, which lasted until A.D. 96, and formally

adopted the title imperatoror emperor. When his de-

scendant, Domitian, left no successor, the Senate re-

vived sufficiently to appoint another general in his

GA

LAT

IA

TAR

RAC

ON

EN

SIS

ACHAEA

12 B.C.- A.D. 9

HADRIAN'S

WALL

Red

Sea

Rhône

R.

DanubeR

.

Tigr

is

Eu R.

phra

tes

R.

Nil

e

R.

Balt

icS

ea

Ostia

Po R.

SPAIN

Atlantic

Ocean

North

Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Black Sea Cas

pia

nS

ea

Tarsus

Nazareth

Massilia

(Marseilles)

Carthage

Syracuse

Tarentum

Rome

Athens

Pergamum

Byzantium

Cyrene

Alexandria

Jerusalem

Naples

PAN

NON

IA

ITALY

NARBONENSIS

AQUITANIA

NUMIDIA

CYRENAICA

EGYPT

AFRICA

SYRIA

MACEDONIA

ILLYRIA

GREECE

PARTHIAN

EMPIRE

ARABIA

LUGDENENSISGAUL NORICUM

BELGICA

GERMANIA

BAETICA

LUSITANIA

HIBERNIA

SCOTLAND

Caucas

us M

ts.

Pyrenees Mts.

Alp

s

Mts

.

TaurusMts.

Corsica

Sardinia

Sicily

Crete Cyprus

Balearic

Isla

nds

Londonium

Babylon

MES

OPO

TA

MAURITANIA MIA

JUDAEA

ARMENIA

CAPPADOCIA

DACIA

REGNUM

BOSPORUS

THRACE

RHAETIA

BRITAIN

0 300 600 Miles

Roman Empire at the end 0 300 600 900 Kilometers

of Trajan's reign, A.D. 117

Nicomedia

Black Sea

Sea of

Marmara

Hellespont

Byzantium Bosporus

MAP 5.1

The Roman Empire at its Height (A.D. 117)