Institutions of Principate
Army
- 28 legions (Augustus) > 33 (Sept.Severus)
- Legion: 5000-6000 men
- Roman citizens
- As legions become permanently stationed on boundaries, number of Italian legionaries quickly declines
- Over years more and more new soldiers come from among the sons of soldiers
- Discharged after 20 yrs. service
- Periodic "donatives"
- 20 yrs. service
- Auxiliary units
- Raised among non-citizens
- As citizenship spreads, Roman citizens join
- Total numbers=legionaries
- Specialized troops
- Static defensive system
- All troops along borders
- No reserves
Duties of emperor
- Focus of loyalty of troops
- Provide money for army
- Manage senate
- Provide officers for army
- Senior senators for top commands
- Younger senators, equestrians serve as lower-rank officers
- Show concern for "Roman People" via benefactions in Rome
- Games
- Gladiatorial shows
- Chariot races
- Building projects
- Baths
- Temples
- Administrative structures
- Congiaria
- Gifts of money and other items at important moments for dynasty
- Grain distributions
- Oversee legal system
Imperial cult
- Treatment of powerful rulers as gods a Hellenistic custom
- Roman mags. treated in the East this way under Republic
- Caesar treated as something like a god
- Resented
- Part of reason for assassination
- Augustus more circumspect
- Treated openly as god in provinces
- Allows implicitly divine honors in Rome
- Later emperors follow similar procedure
- Romans become increasinly comfortable with treating emperor as god
- Sign of civic loyalty
- Respected emperors officially deified after death
Finances
- Augustus inherits a huge and unsystematic collection of various taxes
- Set up at diff. times at diff. rates in diff. areas under Republic
- Respect for tradition prevents any readjustment
- No conception of inflation
- No way for gov. to borrow
- No paper security (bonds)
- No paper money
- Over years gov. has shortfall
- Only choice a depreciation of the currency
- Reduction of silver content
Spread of citizenship
Roman citizenship spread in many ways
- Grants to auxiliary troops upon discharge
- "Latin rights" grants citizenship the members of a town's city council
- Towns converted to Roman colony status
- Entire provinces enfranchised
- Special grants made by emperors
Process ends with granting of citizenship to entire Empire
- Constitutio antoniniana
- 212
Over years the distinction of Roman vs. non-Roman shifts to wealthy vs. non-wealthy
- By ancient standards it was unreasonable for low-born "Roman" to be treated better than high-born, wealthy "foreigner"
- Honestiores ("respectable") vs. Humiliores ("lowly")
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