Week 11 (Julio-Claudian Emperors) Flashcards
Tiberius (14-37 AD)
- Unfavorable legacy, but successful enough heir to the first princeps
- worked well with the ______ for the first half of his principate, sharp decline in the use of voting ___________
- capable but strict administrator: zero tolerance for corrupt provincial officials, carefully managed state funds, regularly involved in court decisions
- established a permanent camp for the __________ cohorts/guards on the outskirts of Rome
- foreign policy: secure empire’s boundaries
- Scandal: popular nephew & adopted son Germanicus dies in Syria (19 AD) to rumored poisoning
- _______, a praetorian prefect, instills paranoia in Tiberius that Germanicus’ wife, Agrippina “the elder” was plotting against him
- Result: treason trials, Tiberius leaves Rome permanently for Capri (26 AD), Sejanus’ plot is realized and is executed (31 AD)
Senate, assemblies
praetorian
Sejanus
Caligula (37-41 AD)
- After Tiberius’ death, the praetorians choose the youngest son of Germanicus to rule, Caligula
- Renews Tiberius’ good policies, finishes Tiberius’ building projects and starts new ones (new aqueduct), but suffers from a bad illness
- Remembered as the first “bad” emperor of Rome: disrespects and murders ________, bankrupt the state treasury (ex. pleasure barges), bad foreign policy (ex. marching army to western coast of Gaul to “collect seashells”)
- Murdered by the __________ at 29 years old, uncle Claudius named the next emperor
senators
praetorians
Claudius (41-54 AD)
- Confirmed as emperor by praetorians with large bribe
- Successful princeps: worked well with Senate, honored imperial family with imperial cult
- Key administrative duties given to imperial ________, not senators or equestrians (ex. Narcissus, imperial secretary; Pallas, imperial treasurer)
- Many public works projects: Aqua Claudia over Porta Maggiore (rustication style, looking to the past), large port at _____, renovations in cities of Spanish provinces
- Britain, Thrace, Noricum, Lycia and Pamphylia, and Judaea becomes provinces (no more client _____). Establishment of new colonies.
- Reportedly too easily influenced by advisors and wives
- Last wife, Agrippina the Younger, son Nero becomes Claudius’ stepson and adopted son
freedmen
Ostia
kings
Nero (54-68 AD)
- bribes praetorians, confirmed emperor by the Senate
- successful princeps under guidance of mother, philosopher Seneca, and praetorians (54-62 AD)
- builds new ____ complex + gymnasium
- Great Fire in Rome (64 AD): opened public buildings and built shelters for displaced, established new building _____
- Becomes increasingly disinterested in ruling, has his mother Agrippina the Younger assassinated, drives his wife and Seneca to suicide
- Creates the _____ _____, an elaborate villa in the burned-out center of Rome (contributes to bad relations with elites), known for architecture innovation (ex. octagonal dining room)
- By 68 AD, Nero loses control of his administration (declared public enemy by Senate). Kills himself, last words “what an artist dies in me!”
bath
codes
Domus Aurea
