After outlining the plan of the course and defining Roman imperial history, Professor Fagan will survey the types of ancient sources that shed light on Rome's emperors. These include literary works, official inscriptions, physical remains of structures erected by emperors, and coins stamped with imperial messages.
Before there were emperors, there was the Roman Republic, founded in 509 B.C. after a period of autocratic rule by kings. This lecture investigates the political character of the republic. As the 2nd century B.C. drew to a close, its institutions were under increasing stress from Rome's expanding empire.
Starting in 133 B.C. the Roman Republic began to disintegrate, sowing the seeds of imperial rule. Although the great general and politician Julius Caesar was not an emperor, he did more than anyone in this period to create the conditions that led to the reintroduction of monarchy to Rome.
The importance of Augustus to Roman and European history cannot be overstated. This lecture explores Augustus's career, from avenging revolutionary to senior statesman, and briefly surveys the main thrust of his domestic policies and the broad shape of culture in the Augustan Age.
This lecture surveys the series of constitutional settlements that saw Augustus established as a super-magistrate, simultaneously part of and above the organs of state—a system termed the <em>Principate</em>. You will also look beyond the legal frontage of the Principate and uncover the harsh realities of imperial rule.
The nature of the Principate was a mix of authoritarian and republican practices; so it was difficult for Augustus to secure the succession legally. The succession problem proved a destabilizing influence during his reign and was to remain so for his successors for centuries to come.
Augustus's wife, Livia Drusilla, was easily the most powerful woman in Roman history to date. You will examine the roles of aristocratic women in the republic and under the empire. The rumor that Livia arranged the deaths of a long string of rivals to ensure her son Tiberius's succession is probably exaggerated.
On the death of Augustus in A.D. 14, Tiberius succeeded to the emperorship with the understanding that his popular nephew, Germanicus, would be his heir. Five years later Germanicus died under mysterious circumstances. A newly discovered inscription in Spain sheds intriguing light on these events.
In this lecture, you meet one of the most odious figures in Roman history: Sejanus, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Sejanus used his influence with Tiberius, a few well-planned murders, and a canny marriage alliance to try to become emperor. His demise offers lessons in the perils of court politics.
The ancient sources tend to portray Caligula as deranged. But was he really insane? You will examine different modern approaches to this issue, focusing on two famous incidents when Caligula apparently acted erratically. An ancient eyewitness gives a sense of what it was like to be in the emperor's presence.
This lecture covers a little over 24 hours of the year A.D. 41, when a ruinous pattern was established in the imperial succession. With the murder of Caligula, the Senate dithered while the Praetorian Guard, eager to preserve its power, pushed forward a successor—in this case Caligula's reviled uncle, Claudius.
Claudius's reign was surprisingly successful. He embarked on the first major war of expansion since Augustus by adding Britain to the empire and was a conscientious ruler. Even so, he was manipulated by powerful subordinates, notably his third wife, Messalina, who concocted a bizarre plot against him.
You will study a woman who could be the most prominent female dynastic figure in Roman history: Agrippina the Younger, sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius, and mother of Nero—a pedigree that speaks for itself. Agrippina's political conduct was brazen to a degree heretofore unthinkable.
Agrippina reportedly poisoned Claudius and then orchestrated Nero's accession. As emperor, Nero showed little interest in rule and far more in writing poetry and other diversions. This lecture surveys these impulses and discusses modern theories about the meaning of his "antics," which included matricide.
In the summer of 64, Rome burned. As suspicion fell on Nero, he blamed the Christians, starting the long history of Rome's persecution of this sect. You will consider the possible causes of the fire and discuss the rebuilding of the city, notably Nero's pet urban renewal project: his opulent Golden House.
Nero's final years were increasingly disengaged from reality. Finally, the legions in Gaul and Spain turned against him. Abandoned by his armies and the Senate, he committed suicide in 68. His earlier murders of all plausible heirs in his family ensured that the Julio-Claudian dynasty perished with him.
Nero's death ushered in the Year of Four Emperors—a bloody struggle among four commanders who successively held the top job. Left standing at the end was Vespasian, fresh from suppressing the Jewish Revolt. These events confirmed the principle that emperors depended on the army for their position.
Vespasian started the first dynasty of emperors who had no family connection to Julius Caesar or Augustus. This lecture examines his rise and the "Law Concerning Vespasian's Power," apparently the first attempt to define an emperor's authority. Vespasian also built Rome's most famous landmark: the Colosseum.
Shortly after Vespasian's son Titus became emperor in 79, Mt. Vesuvius erupted, killing tens of thousands in a grim omen for the new ruler. He led an effective relief effort but died prematurely two years later. He was succeeded by his autocratic brother, Domitian, who descended into paranoia.
The murder of Domitian terminated the Flavian dynasty. His successor, Nerva, began a new practice: Emperors adopted able army commanders as their heirs. With Nerva's adoption of Trajan came the period of the Roman Empire's greatest stability under the Antonine (or Adoptive) dynasty.
Trajan had a successful reign that added new territory to the empire as well as magnificent new public works to the capital. You will also examine the remarkable correspondence between Trajan and his provincial envoy, Pliny the Younger, who wrote for advice on handling recalcitrant Christians, among other problems.
Trajan's successor, Hadrian, set about a massive push at consolidation: Trajan's new eastern provinces were abandoned and the frontiers were fortified, most notably with Hadrian's Wall in England. Hadrian was wide-ranging in his talents and unconventional in his personal life.
The reigns of Antoninus Pius and his successor, Marcus Aurelius, represent the high point of Roman power, peace, and prosperity. In the course of Marcus's reign, however, signs of trouble became evident that would intensify. Marcus is especially known for his philosophic work, <em>Meditations</em>.
In his last years, Marcus was constantly on the threatened northern frontier with his legions. He succumbed to the rigors of camp life in 180 and was succeeded by his son Commodus, who proved a disaster in the mold of Caligula and Nero. Commodus was assassinated on the last day of 192.
Commodus's death left a vacuum temporarily filled by the aging senator Pertinax. He was soon assassinated by his own guard, who then auctioned off the empire to the highest bidder. The winner only lasted 10 weeks before Septimius Severus took control, initiating a naked military autocracy.
Severus set the tone for the rest of imperial history. From now on, the emperor would be a military man, occupied with keeping external enemies at bay and staving off internal threats. The Severan dynasty included, among others, the brutal Caracalla and the outlandish Elagabalus—along with some remarkable female relatives.
The first of five lectures on themes relating to the emperors examines their lavish building projects in Rome, such as the complex of public squares and huge bathhouses. You will also examine the political aspects of such projects, as well as their social and economic implications.
Next Professor Fagan considers the emperor's position relative to the wider empire. How could an empire as vast and diverse as Rome's survive the mismanagement of a Caligula or a Nero? The secret lay in the unique, decentralized administrative structures the Romans employed in running their realm.
The Roman elite was obsessed with the struggle for rank, and the emperor determined the winners by the offices he dispensed. You will focus on the senators and the equestrians, learning how the former had to adapt to diminished roles under the Principate, while the latter enjoyed a greatly enhanced public profile.
The emperor served as the benefactor and patron of the common people. This lecture examines that obligation, from the provision of grain, games, and other "comforts" to the means used by the people to communicate with the emperor.
No relationship was more important to Roman rulers than the one with their troops. Emperors used strategies to ensure loyalty, from oaths of allegiance to bribes. These measures are surveyed in detail, as are the dispositions of the troops in the empire and the different classes of soldiers.
With the collapse of the Severan dynasty in 235, civil war raged almost continuously for nearly 50 years as generals fought for dominance. External enemies took advantage of the chaos to raid and plunder the empire. In this lecture, you will look at several of the emperors of this turbulent era.
In 268 the Roman Empire, battered from without and divided within, was on its last legs. But from the mountains of Illyria in the northern Balkans stormed a series of militarily aggressive and highly competent general-emperors who, in a few years, had turned the situation around.
This lecture surveys the rise to sole rulership of an emperor who would transform the empire and change the course of history: Constantine. Despite being passed over by Diocletian's tetrarchic system, the young Constantine accepted his army's imperial acclamation and began battling his rivals.
Under Constantine, Christianity changed from an outsider's religion to a state-aligned cult, a transition that had seismic repercussions. Here, you will examine his conversion, his impact on the church, his reforms, and founding Constantinople in 324.
The ancients were inconsistent in labeling emperors as good or bad; for them, an element of spin was often involved. You and Professor Fagan will embark on your own diagnosis and uncover fundamental truths about power, legitimacy, and empire. This course concludes by considering the theme of emperors and tyranny.