Hope, fear, and conceptions of the future in the early Principate
This thesis examines a selection of ways in which Roman political actors (be they senators, equites, troops, plebs or others) conceived of the political future of Rome, in a series of four crises from the Ides of March 44 BCE to the establishment of the Flavian dynasty in 69 CE, and the way in which contemporary and later authors represented the views of those figures in historical narratives. It demonstrates that there was a great deal of uniformity in the political language used in these crises, first, by those who sought to restore the consular government that had existed prior to the supremacy of Julius Caesar; secondly, by those who sought to promote and maintain the Julio-Claudian family's exceptional position attained after the civil wars; and thirdly, by those who sought some form of compromise, perhaps in the form of a more virtuous princeps, or the devolution of some authority to the senate, as 'the Principate' developed from an ad hoc bundle of powers into a 'system' of government. There was often a strong moralising element in this political discourse, and it centred on the virtues and vices of leaders involved in the crises. In many cases these individuals came to embody competing images of the
Stiles, Andrew Peter
Hope, fear, and conceptions of the future in the early Principate. This thesis examines a selection of ways in which Roman political actors (be they senators, equites, troops, plebs or others) conceived of the political future of Rome, in a series of four crises from the Ides of March 44 BCE to the establishment of the Flavian dynasty in 69 CE, and the way in which contemporary and later authors represented the views of those figures in historical narratives. It demonstrates that there was a great deal of uniformity in the political language used in these crises, first, by those who sought to restore the consular government that had existed prior to the supremacy of Julius Caesar; secondly, by those who sought to promote and maintain the Julio-Claudian family's exceptional position attained after the civil wars; and thirdly, by those who sought some form of compromise, perhaps in the form of a more virtuous princeps, or the devolution of some authority to the senate, as 'the Principate' developed from an ad hoc bundle of powers into a 'system' of government. There was often a strong moralising element in this political discourse, and it centred on the virtues and vices of leaders involved in the crises. In many cases these individuals came to embody competing images of the
hope fear conception future early_principate examines selection way roman political actor senator troop others conceive political future rome series_four crisis bce establishment dynasty way contemporary_later author represent view figure historical_narrative demonstrate great_deal uniformity political language_use crisis first seek restore consular government exist prior supremacy caesar secondly seek promote maintain claudian family exceptional position attain civil_war thirdly seek form compromise perhaps form virtuous princeps devolution authority senate the principate develop hoc bundle power system government often strong element political_discourse centre virtue vice leader involve crisis many_case individual come embody compete image