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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Principality.
Roman Kingdom
753–509 BC
Roman Republic
509–27 BC
Roman Empire
27 BC – AD 395
Principate
27 BC – AD 284
Dominate
AD 284–641
Western
AD 395–476
Eastern
AD 395–1453
Timeline
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Constitution of the Late Empire
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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 AD 284, 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]
Duration[edit]
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'.[citation needed]
History[edit]
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]
See also[edit]
Constitution of the Late Roman Empire
References[edit]
1. ^ K Lowenstein, The Governance of Rome (1973) p. 370
2. ^ "Principate - government". britannica.com. Archived 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. ^ 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)
14. ^ C Edwards Intro, Lives of the Caesars (OUP 2000) p. xxi
15. ^ C Edwards Intro, Lives of the Caesars (OUP 2000) p. xxiii-v
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[edit]
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.
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