Y12 Roman/Julio-Claudians Points Test 3 – Augustus’ Relations with the Orders

Question 1

Why did Augustus want to have better relations with the Senate, from 27BC on? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 1

• Three factors influenced Augustus’ relationship with the Senate: The experiences of Julius Caesar, his own conservative inclinations and his need for co-operation in running the empire.
• He had learnt from Caesars mistakes about showing the senate a lack of respect, blocking the ambitions of prominent men by holding so many top positions himself, particularly the dictatorship.
• Augustus, conversely, tried to reconcile the senate to his regime by restoring its dignity and making it more worthy than in the last years of the republic. He also realised he needed to avoid frustrating the traditional competitive desire amongst the senatorial order for the highest positions.
• Augustus was a political conservative, who where possible preferred to maintain adequately efficient republican forms. Where change was needed he showed political tact, to avoid offending the upper classes: he wanted the Senate to be performing its ancient functions.

Question 2

Why did Augustus think it was necessary to have the Senate as a partner in government? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 2

• The senate still held annual magistracies and chief military positions; they retained control of the treasury, administered the more peaceful provinces, voted honours to Augustus and in theory had the right to choose the new princeps, and either honour or condemn him after his death.
• The administration of the empire was enormous. Maecenas, one of Augustus’ closest friends and advisors, said “The cause of our troubles is the multitude of our population and the magnitude of the business of our government: for the population embraces men of every kind, in respect both of race and endowment and both their tempers and their desires are manifold: and the business of the state has become so vast that it can be administered only with the greatest difficulty.”
• Augustus therefore needed to share the workload of running the empire with the senate, and they co-operated in running the empire, diving legislative, executive and judicial functions between them.

Question 3

Why was there never a true division of power? (1 mark).

Answer 3

• There was never a true division of power, however, because Augustus alone had control of the armed forces and he was also able to influence most areas of the administration controlled by the Senate.

Question 4

How did Augustus amend the numbers of senators? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 4

• Augustus raised the tone of the Senate by removing large numbers of ‘disreputable characters’, who according to Suetonius… “secured admission after Caesar’s death through influence or bribery. The sight of this sad and ill-assorted rabble decided Augustus to restore the order to its former size and repute by two new acts of enrolment.”
• Suetonius mentioned x2 revisions of the senatorial rolls (probably in 28 and 18B), there was believed to have been another in 11BC.
• Augustus hoped to reduce the numbers from 1,000 to the Sullan figure of 600, but only 150 were expelled. A further 50 who resigned were allowed to keep the trappings of the senatorial order.
• In the subsequent revision, Augustus hoped to further reduce senatorial numbers to 300 by encouraging senators to select members for removal, BUT when he detected corruption, he made the choices himself, managing to reduce the house from 800 to 600.

Question 5

How did Augustus amend the qualification of membership to the Senate? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 5

• The qualification for membership of the senatorial order was by birth – in special cases, by imperial grant. Although Augustus encouraged the hereditary nature of the class by allowing the sons of members to attend the senate when they came of age, and to wear the tunic with the purple stripe (Laticlave), he also added other worthy men to the senatorial roll.
• Those favoured to join the senatorial order were from the equestrian class.
• Augustus also laid down a money qualification of one million sesterces for entry into the order – usually in landed wealth. He personally assisted some worthy families without the required capital qualification to remain in the class.

Question 6

How did Augustus try to give the appearance of increasing the dignity and participation of the Senate? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 6

• Augustus attempted to make each sitting of the senate more dignified by ruling that the senators should offer wine and incense before taking their places. He also increased fines for non-attendance and forbade senators to leave Italy without permission.
• According to Suetonius, during critical debates Augustus ignored the usual custom of calling on speakers in order of seniority, but chose them at random…
“This was intended to make all present take an alert interest in proceedings and feel responsible for constructive thought, instead of merely rising to remark ‘I agree with the last speaker’.”

Question 7

How did Augustus try to increase the efficiency of the Senate? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 7

• To allow senators to discharge their duties with less inconvenience, Augustus reduced the sessions to two a month and established a quorum necessary for different kinds of business.
• A senate committee composed of himself, the consuls, one from each of the colleges of magistrates and fifteen senators (chosen by lot every six months) prepared business to be submitted to the senate.

Question 8

How did Augustus use the position of Consul? (Any relevant points for 3 marks).

Answer 8

• Augustus retained the glamour of the consulship, which was the stepping stone to achieving the proconsulships of the important provinces of Asia and Africa; It opened the way for the more outstanding and experienced to become legati propraetore of imperial provinces, and to command armies.
• Ex-consuls also directed boards of senators, appointed to look after specific administrative areas such as the supervision of grain and water supplies, highways and roads, and public works.
• Augustus used them to hear appeals from the provinces and to listen to the requests of foreign envoys in matters which did not require the senate’s and the princeps’ attention.
• In order to give more senators the chance to attain the consulship and more families the opportunity to become noble, as well as to increase the number of ex-consuls for administration, Augustus shortened the length of the consulship from one year to six months after 5BC.
• This enabled two pairs of consuls – consules ordinarii (the first pair of the year) and consules suffecti (the later pair) to be elected. Augustus also opened up to consulship to more ‘new men’/noves homo (Cicero had been one).

Question 9

How did Augustus use other offices of the Cursus Honorem/The Officers of the Republic? (Any relevant points for 3 marks).

Answer 9

• Competition for the position of Praetor was still keen under Augustus, since pro-praetors were selected for military commands and as governors of some senatorial provinces. Augustus increased their functions. Not only were they still in charge of urban jurisdiction – two were appointed to manage the state treasury, and three ex-praetors were in charge of the military treasury. After 22BC they also took over from the aediles the organisation of games and festivals.
• The Quaestorship retained its importance as the prerequisite for entry into the senate. It also provided an opportunity for young members of the senatorial order to gain experience in administration, since six quaestors served in the provinces and the rest assisted the consuls and Augustus.
• Since the Aediles lost most of the traditional functions, Augustus found it difficult to fill these positions. The same situation was true for the tribunes, because they no longer had the ability to use the veto or propose legislation.

Question 10

How did Augustus allow the senate legislative influence, but keep ultimate legislative power for himself? (Any relevant points for 3 marks).

Answer 10

• The senate gradually developed into a legislative body – its ‘senatus consulta’ became law. A senatorial committee prepared material for presentation to the whole senate.
• The initiative and advice often came from Augustus, who was a member, and it was unlikely that the committee would submit something of which he would disapprove.
• After AD13 the committee included members who were not senators and was able to pass resolutions which became law.
• Augustus could legislate by using his tribunician power to present measures to the people, but he normally did it in other ways – thorough edicts, judicial decisions, and replies to petitions and instructions to officials.
• The senate, sitting with the two new consuls, formed one of the two new criminal courts. This tried important political cases and those involving senators and other prominent people. Augustus could attend and exercise his authority openly, since voting was open. However, the senate was more independent in judicial functions than in other areas.
• Augustus in council formed another court of criminal justice. Those cases which came before him were wider in scope than those which the senatorial court handled. ‘Appeals to Caesar’ against capital punishment decided by a magistrate increased in frequency.

Question 11

How did Augustus allow the senate provincial/frontier influence, but keep ultimate power over the provinces/frontiers/army for himself? (Any relevant points for 3 marks).

Answer 11

• • The senate controlled the peaceful provinces in theory, while Augustus controlled those needing a military presence (Egypt being the princeps’ personal domain). However, Augustus could interfere, if he thought it necessary, by virtue of his maius imperium. He also reallocated provinces to the senate as conditions changed.
• Augustus began to interfere more and more: candidates which he personally recommended were generally elected; later, prefects nominated by him were in charge of most departments. Augustus avoided taking over the departments of the administration of Rome himself and entrusted them to senatorial commissioners, but he did employ talented equites.

Question 12

How did Augustus allow the senate financial influence, but keep ultimate power over the finances for himself? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 12

• The senate was in charge of the state treasury and had the right to mint copper and bronze coins in Rome, but Augustus could even indirectly control this area of senatorial administration, since he occasionally supplemented funds in the treasury with his own personal wealth.
• He was also able to draw from the provincial fisci. Augustus alone had the right to mint silver and gold coinage, kept departmental chests in his provinces from which he drew expenses and indirectly controlled the military treasury.

Question 13

How did Augustus allow the senate influence over foreign policy, but keep ultimate power over this for himself? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 13

• The senate had no control over foreign affairs except to occasionally exchange greetings with foreign embassies.
• Augustus had the power to negotiate with client-kings, to sign treaties and to decide between war and peace, since he had the real power in the state.

Question 14

Why had there often been hostility between the senate and the equestrians, and how did Augustus seek to change this and use the equestrians? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 14

• Throughout the late republic there had been periods of hostility between senators and equestrians, particularly with regard to control of the courts.
• Augustus attempted to prevent further clashes by finding positions in the new regime for the equities which would not compete with the interests of the senatorial class.
• He also aimed to recognise the equestrian order so that it was not just a class of wealthy men but was filled with able individuals, some of whom would be recruited from the more worthwhile and successful lower classes, such as the veteran centurions.

Question 15

Why were there roles for the equestrians under Augustus’ reforms of the republic? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 15

• The administration of Rome, Italy and the provinces was shared by the senate and the princeps.
• This meant that there were many new posts created which had never been part of the republican government, some of which involved performing duties for Augustus.
• Senators wold have been offended to carry out such duties, as they considered themselves his equals.
• Thus began the civil service which, although in its infancy, provided Augustus with the opportunity to employ talented equites who had vast experience in banking, tax collecting and business.
• Augustus wanted to also revive the ancient link between the equestrian order and the military (they had originated as a class of knights that is cavalry).
• Not only did this revive republican traditions, but it emphasised the fact that if young ambitious members of this class wished to pursue an administrative career, they would first have to undergo real military service.

Question 16

How did Augustus amend the qualification of membership to the Senate? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 16

• Membership of the equestrian order not only was restricted to those of honourable character with a census rating of at least 4million sesterces; it also depended on the approval of the princeps.
• Admission was controlled completely by Augustus, who carried out periodical revision of the rolls.
• Membership entitled equites to wear a tunic with a narrow purple stripe (angusticlave), to occupy the first 14 rows in the theatre, to wear a gold ring and to sit on the jury courts.
• A member was also presented with a horse at public expense, and Augustus revived the old annual march-past of knights and their horses before the consuls.
• It now took place before Augustus on 15 July, and included only knights under 35.

Question 17

What particular roles were available for equestrians under Augustus? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 17

• There was not a regular pattern of promotion for equites under Augustus, but one could become a military commander (auxiliary or legion), commander of a part of the Praetorian Guard, of the fire brigade, a Procurator/official of financial or administrative importance for Augustus in an imperial province, commander of the fire brigade, administer of the grain supply after AD 8, commander of the Praetorians Guard or even Prefect (governor) of Egypt.

Question 18

Why was Plebeian life in Rome hard for them? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 18

• As there was no real industry in Rome, there were large numbers of unemployed Roman citizens who found it difficult to survive.
• However, even those with a trade or those employed as labourers still suffered from food shortages, and it had become an important part of social legislation to provide grain doles and free games to keep them relatively contented.
• The government alone could not provide enough; it was up to wealthy individuals to supplement the state’s contributions. The idea of patronage had existed throughout the republic and it had provided nobles with dependents who supported them politically.

Question 19

How did Augustus help the Urban Plebs in terms of the grain dole? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 19

• At the time of Augustus there were about 2/3 of the urban plebs who received the grain dole (urbs frumentaria).
• He had reduced the number eligible for the ration of 5 modii a month from 250,000 to approximately 200,000, not all of whom were unemployed idlers.
• According to Suetonius “Augustus revised the roll of citizens, ward by ward; and tried to obviate the frequent interruptions of their trade and businesses which the public grain-distribution entailed, by handing out tickets, three times a year, valid for a four-month supply; but was implored to resume the former custom of monthly distributions, and consented.”

Question 20

How much did it cost Augustus to help the Urban Plebs in terms of the grain dole? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 20

• The provision of grain doles was a great drain on the treasury and Augustus, like other wealthy nobles, himself made frequent cash donations to the plebs as well as providing grain from his own granary in times of serious shortages.
• He outlined some of these in the Res Gestae, 15, 1-2; 18…“…and once again in my tenth consulship I paid out 400 sesterces as largesse (generosity) to each man from my own patrimony, and in my eleventh consulship I bought grain with my own money and distributed twelve rations apiece, and in the twelfth year of my tribunician power I gave every man 400 sesterces for the third time. These largesses of mine never reached fewer than 250,000 persons. In the eighteenth year of my tribunician power and my twelfth consulship I gave 240 sesterces apiece to 320,000 members of the urban plebs.”

Question 21

How can we see Augustus’s helping the Urban Plebs in terms of the grain dole as being in part politically influenced? (1 mark).

Answer 21

• It is interesting to note that Augustus’ donations seemed to correspond to important political events in his reign, according to historians Brunt and Moore.
• In 23 his donations coincided with his changed constitutional position, in 5 and 2 BC with the introductions of his ‘sons’ to official life. Suetonius gave some examples, however, to suggest that he wasn’t solely looking for popularity, but to improve public welfare.

Question 22

How do we know Augustus didn’t always give out cash easily to the plebs? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 22

• Unfortunately, these handouts by both government and individuals encouraged a large number of the Roman Plebs to attempt to survive solely on public and private charity. According to Suetonius, on one occasion Augustus, in response to citizens’ demands for charity,
o “Issued a proclamation in which he called them a pack of shameless rascals and added that though he intended to make them a money present, he would now tighten his purse-strings.”

Question 23

How did Augustus provide entertainment to the plebs and why? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 23

• Suetonius maintains that no Roman magistrate had ever “provided so many, so different, or such splendid public shows as had Augustus.”
• They included gladiatorial games and beast hunts in the forum, the amphitheatre and the Circus; athletic competitions in the Campus Martius; plays presented in various city districts; and even a mock sea battle, for which he excavated an artificial lake beside the Tiber river, approximately 600 metres long by 200 metres wide (Suetonius 43-45, Res Gestae 22-22).
• Many of these spectacles were presented in his own name and the names of various family members, while 23 were given on behalf of other magistrates who were unable to afford the expense or else were absent from Rome.

Question 24

How else did Augustus seek to gain support from the plebs and why? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 24

• As well as providing free grain and shows, Augustus helped many of the plebs to gain steady work through his extensive building programme, and they regarded him as their benefactor.
• They were particularly bound to him by virtue of his Tribunician power, which he stressed throughout the Res Gestae.
• The Plebs were gradually excluded from any meaningful part in political life; the popular assemblies were still held, but their legislative function eventually faded away and their election of magistracies was influenced by Augustus’ ‘recommendation’ of candidates.
• However, in the past the nobles had been able to control the assemblies, particularly through their clients, so the replacement of an oligarchy with a princeps did not really make much difference to them politically.

Question 25

How did Augustus seek to gain support from freedmen/former slaves and why? (Any relevant points for 2 marks).

Answer 25

• Freedmen (libertine) were former slaves freed by their masters for a variety of reasons: those manumitted (freed) were usually the most trusted and intelligent.
• Although there were was a tax on manumission, and other discriminatory legislation was passed by Augustus to restrict their numbers, the proportion of freedmen to free-born men (ingenui) was rather high in Rome.
• Once manumitted, they took the citizenship of their former masters, but even so were not regarded as fully privileged Roman citizens.
• They began to play a more important role in society under Augustus: they monopolised the priesthoods of the non-Roman deities, and after 7BC became ward-masters for the supervision of the worship of the Lares. They played a prominent art in the cult of Rome and Augustus – were elected as Servi Augustales to promote Caesar-worship. They could also obtain free-born status by the presentation of the Gold Ring by Augustus, which made them eligible for equestrian status.
• The most fortunate were those who were part of Augustus’’ household. His personal freedmen (Liberti Caesaris) were used to manage his private affairs, particularly finance. As it was very difficult to distinguish between the princeps’ private and public affairs, these men became influential civil servants and their power in the courts of Augustus’ successors increased.