Roman History: Emperors

Roman History: Emperors

As the roman empire developed, the emperor stood at the top of the administrative system. He served as military commander in chief, high priest, court of appeal, and source of law. All this power was intensely personal: Soldiers swore their oath to the emperor, not to a constitution or a flag. Personal ties of patronage, friendship, and marriage had always bound together Roman society, but during the empire the emperor became the universal patron.

Military loyalty, bureaucracy, and imperial succession were all viewed in personal terms. This concentration of power produced a court in which government officials and the imperial family competed with poets, astrologers, doctors, slaves, and actors for the emperor's attention and favor. The emperor's own slaves and freedmen dominated the clerical and financial posts and formed the core of imperial administration just as they did in the household administration of any Roman aristocrat. Deep ties of loyalty bound Roman freedmen and slaves to their patrons so that they faithfully served even the most monstrous emperors.

The emperors took over the Senate's political and legislative power, but they needed the help of senators who had experience in diplomacy, government, and military command. Since the emperor designated candidates for all government positions, senators had no other access to high office except through loyal service. A shrewd emperor could turn senatorial pride and loyalty to the advantage of the empire. By simply allowing senators to wear a broad purple stripe on their togas, for example, the emperor marked them as rulers of the Mediterranean and added to their prestige. Only when emperors treated senators with contempt did the senators feel justified in conspiring against the emperor under the banner of freedom. Some ambitious senators dreamed of reaching supreme power and even of replacing the emperor. An occasional opportunity presented itself - Nero's death brought four senators to the imperial throne in the single year of AD 69.

However, most senators remained loyal to the emperor because the constant danger of displeasing suspicious emperors outweighed the remote chance of success. As the old noble families died out, the emperors found new blood among the local elite of Italy and the provinces. In the 2nd century AD more than half the senators were of provincial origin.

The emperor Octavian- Augustus (27 BC Ð'- 14 AD) the first emperor of Rome. Had first given the equestrian order increased responsibilities, and they continued to play an important role in the governance of the empire. Only a few of the equites actually worked for the emperor, some served as officers of Rome's auxiliary forces, and others as civil administrators.

In my opinion one of the cruelest emperor in the Roman History was Emperor Nero( 54 BC-68 AD). I honestly think that that he was insane. During his rule, a part from Rome was burn down in the Great Fire . In order to stop the rumors that he had started the Fire himself, he blamed the Christians and had them smeared and thrown to the lions in the circus.

his comment that the blaze provided an excellent opportunity for urban renewal, and the general popular hatred of him, gave rise to the suspicion that he either started the fire, or stood by while it consumed Rome. To deflect such criticisms, he focused urban dislike on the Christians of Rome. Both they and the Jews were frequently mistrusted; Poppaea's sympathy for the latter spared them. City-wide persecutions of Christians commenced. These were the first recorded Roman persecutions of Christians, and are supposedly the ones in which Peter and Paul died. Under the direction of the city Prefect, Christians were smeared with lye and set afire in the Vatican arena; others were used as animal bait in the Circus, Sparknotes.com

http://cgi.sparknotes.com/hlite.rmpl?words=emperors,roman&pd=0&page=section4.rhtml&nfs=0&guide=%2fhistory%2feuropean%2frome3

Julius Ceaser was born in the year 100 BC into a patrian family who claimed decendancy from the kings of Alba Langa. At the time of his birth, Rome was still a republic and the empire was only really beginning. The senators ruled, motivated by the greed of power in the hope of becoming either a consul or a praetor, the two senior posts which carried imperium, the legal right to command an army. From these posts it was possible to, with the help of the army at your command, conquer new territories and so gain a triumph and the pleasure of knowing that your name would be remembered forever in statues and inscribed monuments, paid for by the spoils of the war.

Caesar made his way to praetorship by 62 BC and