The Consequences of the Death of Nero
The Consequences of the Death of Nero
Problems of Succesion, Loss of Military Control, Financial Problems
Succession * Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus – Died 68 AD, leaving his only daughter Claudia Augusta. * No law of succession, no method, the choice belonged to senate and people of rome. * Mommsen on the Principate “not only in practice, but in theory, an autocracy tempered by legally permanent revolution.” * No obligation for the senate to choose a princept, no interregnum * Freedmen inquired - either side, imperial women plotted for their children. Praetorian Prefects were continually hired/fired. * Soldiers and senators died as a result of involvement in real or alleged plots concerning the imperial succession. * Problem of Evidence: Tacticus – Slightly Bias, He states his Oppinion as fact. * Galba says, in the words of Tacitus: ‘Under Tiberius and Gaius and Claudius we were the inheritance, so to speak, of one family’ * “Nero’s death did not immediately solve all problems: the lack of an heir undermined the hereditary principle of succession. This was decided by the army groups in mutual rivalry” (Scullard)
Financial Problems * Tacitus who provides evidence that Nero and his advisers had a serious interest in financial matters and saw careful management * Nero had experienced officials in charge of finances * Nero appointed a senatorial commission of three consulars to investigate public revenue, he was following good Augustan precedent
Loss of Control of Military * Military achievement was the highest form of service to the state. * Military Image - Importance * Command over the legions – most important power in which the emperors authority rested * The Augustan financial pattern was not easy to continue successfully. * But a self-confident military Emperor could pretend to antique parsimony, manage without the goodwill earned by lavish donations and forgo the
Problems of Succesion, Loss of Military Control, Financial Problems
Succession * Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus – Died 68 AD, leaving his only daughter Claudia Augusta. * No law of succession, no method, the choice belonged to senate and people of rome. * Mommsen on the Principate “not only in practice, but in theory, an autocracy tempered by legally permanent revolution.” * No obligation for the senate to choose a princept, no interregnum * Freedmen inquired - either side, imperial women plotted for their children. Praetorian Prefects were continually hired/fired. * Soldiers and senators died as a result of involvement in real or alleged plots concerning the imperial succession. * Problem of Evidence: Tacticus – Slightly Bias, He states his Oppinion as fact. * Galba says, in the words of Tacitus: ‘Under Tiberius and Gaius and Claudius we were the inheritance, so to speak, of one family’ * “Nero’s death did not immediately solve all problems: the lack of an heir undermined the hereditary principle of succession. This was decided by the army groups in mutual rivalry” (Scullard)
Financial Problems * Tacitus who provides evidence that Nero and his advisers had a serious interest in financial matters and saw careful management * Nero had experienced officials in charge of finances * Nero appointed a senatorial commission of three consulars to investigate public revenue, he was following good Augustan precedent
Loss of Control of Military * Military achievement was the highest form of service to the state. * Military Image - Importance * Command over the legions – most important power in which the emperors authority rested * The Augustan financial pattern was not easy to continue successfully. * But a self-confident military Emperor could pretend to antique parsimony, manage without the goodwill earned by lavish donations and forgo the
Bibliography: Salmon, Edward (1968). History of the Roman World Mike Duncan Podcasts (2009)