Western Civilization

ruling class for the empire. Senators filled the chief mag-

istracies of the Roman government, held the most im-

portant military posts, and governed the provinces. One

needed to possess property worth 1 million sesterces

(an unskilled laborer in Rome received 3 sesterces a day;

a Roman legionary, 900 sesterces a year in pay) to

belong to the senatorial order. The equestrian order was

open to all Roman citizens of good standing who pos-

sessed property valued at 400,000 sesterces. They, too,

could now hold military and governmental offices, but

the positions open to them were less important than

those of the senators.

Citizens not of the senatorial or equestrian order

belonged to the lower classes, who made up the over-

whelming majority of free citizens. The diminution of

the power of the Roman assemblies ended whatever

political power the lower classes may have possessed

earlier in the republic. Many of these people were pro-

vided with free grain and public spectacles to keep

them from creating disturbances. Nevertheless, by

gaining wealth and serving as lower officers in the

Roman legions, it was sometimes possible for them to

advance to the equestrian order.

Augustus’s belief that Roman morals had been cor-

rupted during the late republic led him to initiate social

legislation to arrest the decline. He thought that

increased luxury had undermined traditional Roman

frugality and simplicity and caused a loosening of

morals, evidenced by easy divorce, a falling birthrate

among the upper classes, and lax behavior manifested

in hedonistic parties and the love affairs of prominent

Romans with fashionable women and elegant boys.

Through his new social legislation, Augustus hoped

to restore respectability to the upper classes and

reverse the declining birthrate as well. Expenditures

for feasts were limited, and other laws made adultery a

criminal offense. In fact, Augustus’s own daughter Julia

was exiled for adultery. Augustus also revised the tax

laws to penalize bachelors, widowers, and married per-

sons who had fewer than three children.

Significance of the Augustan Age

The Augustan Age was a lengthy one. Augustus died in

14 C.E. after dominating the Roman world for forty-five

years. He had created a new order while placating the

old by restoring and maintaining traditional values, a

fitting combination for a leader whose favorite maxim

was “make haste slowly.” By the time of his death, his

new order was so well established that few agitated

for an alternative. Indeed, as the Roman historian

Tacitus pointed out, “Actium had been won before the

younger men were born. Even most of the older gen-

eration had come into a world of civil wars. Practically

no one had ever seen truly Republican government....

Political equality was a thing of the past; all eyes

watched for imperial commands.”^4 The republic was

now only a memory and, given its last century of war-

fare, an unpleasant one at that. The new order was

here to stay.

The Early Empire (14–180)

Q FOCUSQUESTION: What were the chief features of

the Roman Empire at its height during the second

century?

There was no serious opposition to Augustus’s choice of

his stepson Tiberius (ty-BEER-ee-uss) as his successor. By

designating a family member as princeps, Augustus

established the Julio-Claudian dynasty; the next four

successors of Augustus were related either to his own

family or to that of his wife, Livia.

The Julio-Claudians and Flavians

Several major tendencies emerged during the reigns of

the Julio-Claudians (14–68). In general, more and more

of the responsibilities that Augustus had given to the

senate were taken over by the emperors, who also insti-

tuted an imperial bureaucracy, staffed by talented

freedmen, to run the government on a daily basis. As

the Julio-Claudian successors of Augustus acted more

openly as real rulers rather than “first citizens of the

state,” the opportunity for arbitrary and corrupt acts

also increased. Nero (NEE-roh) (54–68) freely elimi-

nated people he wanted out of the way, including his

own mother, whose murder he arranged. Without

troops, the senators proved unable to oppose these

excesses. Eventually, however, Nero’s extravagances

provoked a revolt of the Roman legions. Abandoned by

his guards, Nero chose to commit suicide by stabbing

himself in the throat after uttering his final words:

“What an artist the world is losing in me.” A new civil

war erupted in 69, known as the year of the four

emperors. Finally, Vespasian (vess-PAY-shun), com-

mander of the legions in the East, established himself

as sole ruler and his family as a new dynasty known as

the Flavians, which ruled from 69 to 96. The signifi-

cance of the year 69 was summed up precisely by Taci-

tus when he stated that “a well-hidden secret of the

124 Chapter 6The Roman Empire

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