Principate

The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of
the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in 284 AD, after which it evolved
into the so-called Dominate.[1]

The Principate is characterised by the reign of a single emperor (princeps) and an effort on the part of the early
emperors, at least, to preserve the illusion of the formal continuance, in some aspects, of the Roman
Republic.[2][3][4]

Contents
Etymology and anticipations
Duration
History
Redefinition under Vespasian
Dominate
See also
References
Sources
External links

Etymology and anticipations

'Principate' is etymologically derived from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, and
therefore represents the political regime dominated by such a political leader, whether or not he
is formally head of state and/or head of government. This reflects the principate emperors'
assertion that they were merely "first among equals" among the citizens of Rome.

Under the Republic, the princeps senatus, traditionally the oldest or most honoured member of
the Senate, had the right to be heard first on any debate.[5]

Scipio Aemilianus and his circle had fostered the (quasi-Platonic) idea that authority should be
invested in the worthiest citizen (princeps), who would beneficently guide his compeers, an
ideal of the patriot statesman later taken up by Cicero.[6]

Duration
In a more limited and precise chronological sense, the term Principate is applied either to the entire Empire (in
the sense of the post-Republican Roman state), or specifically to the earlier of the two phases of "Imperial"
government in the ancient Roman Empire before Rome's military collapse in the West (fall of Rome) in 476
left the Byzantine Empire as sole heir. This early, 'Principate' phase began when Augustus claimed auctoritas
for himself as princeps; and continued (depending on the source) up to the rule of Commodus, of Maximinus
Thrax or of Diocletian. Afterwards, Imperial rule in the Empire is designated as the dominate, which is
subjectively more like an (absolute) monarchy while the earlier Principate is still more 'Republican'.

History
The title, in full, of princeps senatus / princeps civitatis ("first amongst the senators" / "first amongst the
citizens") was first adopted by Octavian Caesar Augustus (27 BC–AD 14), the first Roman "emperor" who
chose, like the assassinated Julius Caesar, not to reintroduce a legal monarchy. Augustus's purpose was
probably to establish the political stability desperately needed after the exhausting civil wars by a de facto
dictatorial regime within the constitutional framework of the Roman Republic - what Gibbon called "an
absolute monarchy disguised by the forms of a commonwealth"[7] - as a more acceptable alternative to, for
example, the early Roman Kingdom.

Although dynastic pretences crept in from the start, formalizing this in a monarchic style remained politically
perilous;[8] and Octavian was undoubtedly correct to work through established Republican forms to
consolidate his power.[9] He began with the powers of a Roman consul, combined with those of a Tribune of
the plebs; later added the role of the censor; and finally became Pontifex Maximus as well.[10]

Tiberius too acquired his powers piecemeal, and was proud to emphasise his place as first citizen: "a good and
healthful princeps, whom you have invested with such great discretionary power, ought to be the servant of
the Senate, and often of the whole citizen body".[11] Thereafter however the role of princeps became more
institutionalised: as Dio Cassius put it, Caligula was "voted in a single day all the prerogatives which Augustus
over so long a span of time had been voted gradually and piecemeal".[12]

Nevertheless, under this "Principate stricto sensu", the political reality of autocratic rule by the Emperor was
still scrupulously masked by forms and conventions of oligarchic self-rule inherited from the political period of
the 'uncrowned' Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) under the motto Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The
Senate and people of Rome") or SPQR. Initially, the theory implied the 'first citizen' had to earn his
extraordinary position (de facto evolving to nearly absolute monarchy) by merit in the style that Augustus
himself had gained the position of auctoritas.

Imperial propaganda developed a paternalistic ideology, presenting the princeps as the very incarnation of all
virtues attributed to the ideal ruler (much like a Greek tyrannos earlier), such as clemency and justice, and
military leadership,[13] in turn placing the onus on the princeps to play this designated role within Roman
society, as his political insurance as well as a moral duty. What specifically was expected of the princeps seems
to have varied according to the times, and the observers:[14] Tiberius, who amassed a huge surplus for the city
of Rome, was criticized as a miser, but Caligula was criticized for his lavish spending on games and spectacles.

Generally speaking, it was expected of the Emperor to be generous but not frivolous, not just as a good ruler
but also with his personal fortune (as in the proverbial "bread and circuses" – panem et circenses) providing
occasional public games, gladiators, horse races and artistic shows. Large distributions of food for the public
and charitable institutions were also means that served as popularity boosters while the construction of public
works provided paid employment for the poor.

Redefinition under Vespasian

With the fall of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in AD 68, the principate became more formalised under the
Emperor Vespasian from AD 69 onwards.[16] The position of princeps became a distinct entity within the
broader – formally still republican – Roman constitution. While many of the same cultural and political
expectations remained, the civilian aspect of the Augustan ideal of the princeps gradually gave way to the
military role of the imperator.[17] Rule was no longer a position (even
notionally) extended on the basis of merit, or auctoritas, but on a firmer
basis, allowing Vespasian and future emperors to designate their own heir
without those heirs having to earn the position through years of success
and public favor.

Under the Antonine dynasty, it was the norm for the Emperor to appoint
a successful and politically promising individual as his successor. In Principate under Augustus[15]
modern historical analysis, this is treated by many authors as an "ideal"
situation: the individual who was most capable was promoted to the
position of princeps. Of the Antonine dynasty, Edward Gibbon famously wrote that this was the happiest and
most productive period in human history, and credited the system of succession as the key factor.

Dominate

The autocratic elements in the Principate tended to increase over time, with the style of dominus ("Lord",
"Master", suggesting the citizens became servi, servants or slaves) gradually becoming current for the
emperor.[18] There was however no clear constitutional turning point, with Septimius Severus and the Severan
dynasty beginning to use the terminology of the Dominate in reference to the emperor, and the various
emperors and their usurpers throughout the 3rd century appealing to the people as both military dominus and
political princeps.

It was after the Crisis of the Third Century almost resulted in the Roman Empire's political collapse that
Diocletian firmly consolidated the trend to autocracy.[19] He replaced the one-headed principate with the
tetrarchy (c. AD 300, two Augusti ranking above two Caesares),[20] in which the vestigial pretence of the old
Republican forms was largely abandoned. The title of princeps disappeared – like the territorial unity of the
Empire – in favor of dominus; and new forms of pomp and awe, along the lines of an oriental absolute
monarchy, were deliberately used in an attempt to insulate the emperor and the civil authority from the
unbridled and mutinous soldiery of the mid-century.[21]

The political role of the Senate went into final eclipse,[22] no more being heard of the division by the Augustan
Principate of the provinces between imperial (militarised) provinces and senatorial provinces.[23] Lawyers
developed a theory of the total delegation of authority into the hands of the emperor;[24] and the dominate
developed more and more, especially in the Eastern Roman Empire, where the subjects, and even diplomatic
allies, could be termed servus or the corresponding Greek term doulos, ("servant/slave") so as to express the
exalted position of the Emperor as second only to God, and on earth to none.

See also
Constitution of the Late Roman Empire

References
1. K Lowenstein, The Governance of Rome (1973) p. 370
2. "Principate - government" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/principate). britannica.com.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20161011034548/https://www.britannica.com/topic/princi
pate) from the original on 2016-10-11.
3. A history of Rome, M. Cary & H.H. Scullard, ISBN 0333278305
4. SPQR; Mary Beard, ISBN 9781846683800
5. O Seyffeert, A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (London 1891) p. 516
 6. H J Rose, A Handbook of Latin Literature (Methuen 1967) p. 99 and p. 235
7. D Wormersley ed, Abridged Decline and Fall (Penguin 2005) p. 73
8. J Burrow, A History of Histories (Penguin 2007) p. 124-5
9. J Boardman ed. The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 538
10. D Wormersley ed, Abridged Decline and Fall (Penguin 2005) p. 70-1
11. Quoted in J Boardman ed. The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 540
12. J Boardman ed. The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 549
13. C Edwards Intro, Lives of the Caesars (OUP 2000) p. xxi
14. C Edwards Intro, Lives of the Caesars (OUP 2000) p. xxiii-v
15. Digital Reproduction of diagram found in The Anchor Atlas of World History, Vol. 1 (From the
Stone Age to the Eve of the French Revolution) Paperback – December 17, 1974 by Werner
Hilgemann, Hermann Kinder, Ernest A. Menze (Translator), Harald Bukor (Cartographer), Ruth
Bukor (Cartographer)
16. J Boardman ed, The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 561
17. J Boardman ed, The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 561 and p. 573
18. H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 25
19. H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 25
20. H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 27
21. H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 25
22. J Boardman ed. The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 808
23. H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 29
24. H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 28

Sources
Alston, Richard. 1998. Aspects of Roman History. AD 14–117. London: Routledge.
Aparicio Pérez, Antonio. 2009. “Taxation in Times of the Principate.” Gerión 27:1: 207-217.
Bleicken, Jochen. 1978. Prinzipat und Dominat. Gedanken zur Periodisierung der römischen
Kaiserzeit. Wiesbaden: Fr. Stein.
Flaig, Egon. 2011. “The Transition from Republic to Principate: Loss of Legitimacy, Revolution,
and Acceptance.” In The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives,
Edited by Jóhann Páll Arnason and Kurt A. Raaflaub. Ancient World, 67-84. Chichester: Wiley-
Blackwell.
Gallia, Andrew B. 2012. Remembering the Roman Republic: Culture, Politics and History
under the Principate. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gibson, A. G. G., ed. 2013. The Julio-Claudian Succession: Reality and Perception of the
Augustan model. Mnemosyne. Supplements; 349. Leiden: Brill.
Harlow, Mary and Laurence, Ray. 2017. “Augustus Senex: Old Age and the Remaking of the
Principate.” Greece and Rome 64.2: 115-131.
Kousser, Rachel Meredith. 2005. “From Conquest to Civilization: The Rhetoric of Imperialism in
the Early Principate.” In A Tall Order: Writing the Social History of the Ancient World: Essays in
Honor of William V. Harris, Edited by Jean-Jacques Aubert and Zsuzsanna Várhelyi. Beiträge
zur Altertumskunde; 216, 185-202. München: Saur.
Melounová, Markéta. 2012. “Trials with Religious and Political Charges from the Principate to
the Dominate.” Series archaeologica et classica 17.2: 117-130.
Raaflaub, Kurt A, Mark Toher, and G. W Bowersock. 1990. Between Republic and Empire:
Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate. Berkeley: University of California Press.
 Williams, Kathryn Frances. 2009. “Tacitus' Germanicus and the Principate.” Latomus 68.1: 117-
130.

External links

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