Aspects of Roman History AD 14117

285 Pages·2005·2.03 MB·English

by  Richard Alston

ASPECTS OF ROMAN HISTORY, AD 14–117
Aspects of Roman History, AD 14–117 charts the history of the Roman Imperial period,
from the establishment of the Augustan principate to the reign of Trajan, providing a
basic chronological framework of the main events and introductory outlines of the major
issues of the period. The first half of the book outlines the linear development of the
Roman Empire, emperor by emperor, accenting the military and political events. The
second half of the book concentrates on important themes which apply to the period as a
whole, such as the religious, economic and social functioning of the Roman Empire.
The book includes:
• a discussion of the primary sources for Roman imperial history;
• clearly laid out chapters on different themes in the Roman Empire, such as patronage,
religion, the role of the senate, the army and the position of women and slaves,
designed for easy cross-referencing with the chronological outline of events;
• maps, charts and illustrations;
• a guide to further reading.
Richard Alston’s highly accessible book is designed specifically for students with little
previous experience of studying ancient/ Roman history. Aspects of Roman History
provides an invaluable introduction to Roman Imperial history, which will allow students
to gain an overview of the period and will be an indispensable aid to note-taking, essay
preparation and examination revision.
Richard Alston is a Lecturer in Roman History at Royal Holloway, University of
London. He has also been a senior examiner in ancient history at A-level. He is the author
of Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt: A Social History (Routledge).
ASPECTS OF ROMAN
HISTORY, AD 14–117
Richard Alston

London and New York
First published 1998
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“ To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis
or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to
http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.”
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1998 Richard Alston
The right of Richard Alston to be identified as the Author of this
Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Alston, Richard, 1965–
Aspects of Roman history, AD 14–117/Richard Alston.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Rome—History—Empire, 30 B.C.–284 A.D. 2. Rome—Politics and
government—30 B.C.–284 A.D.—Historiography.
3. Emperors—Rome—Biography. 4. Rome—History, Military—30
B.C.–476 A.D.
I. Title.
DG276.A44 1998 97–24205
937’.07–dc21
ISBN 0-203-01187-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-20095-0 (Adobe e-Reader Format)
ISBN 0-415-13236-3 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-13237-1 (pbk)
CONTENTS
List of illustrations v
Preface vi
List of abbreviations vii
1 Introduction 1
2 Tiberius (AD 14–37) 19
3 Gaius Caligula (AD 37–41) 42
4 Claudius (AD 41–54) 58
5 Nero (AD 54–68) 75
6 Civil wars: AD 69–70 107
7 Vespasian and Titus (AD 70–81) 123
8 Domitian (AD 81–96) 132
9 Nerva and Trajan (AD 96–117) 142
10 Society 155
11 The economy 169
12 Administration 183
13 The Roman army and military policy 197
14 Women 214
15 Provinces and culture: Romanisation and Hellenisation 221
16 Religion 227
Glossary 236
Further reading 238
Notes 251
Index 252
ILLUSTRATIONS
Maps
1.1 The Roman Empire in AD 60 (from Talbert 1985) viii
1.2 The Forum Romanum (from Patterson 1992) ix
1.3 The Campus Martius (from Patterson 1992) x
1.4 The Palatine (from Patterson 1992) xi
1.5 The Imperial Fora (from Patterson 1992) xii
6.1 Roman Gaul and Germany (from Talbert 1985) 118
Figures
1.1 Simplified family tree of Augustus 16
2.1 The family of Tiberius in AD 14 24
3.1 The family of Gaius 44
4.1 The families of Claudius, Messalina and Agrippina 68
5.1 The families of Arria and Fannia 96
7.1 The Flavian family 124
11.1 The consumer city 171
11.2 The medieval producer city 172
Tables
1.1 The Augustan constitution 10
1.2 Main powers and titles of Augustus 11
5.1 Trials of governors in Tacitus 90
8.1 Domitian’s new buildings and refurbishments to buildings 138
10.1 Legal divisions in imperial society 155
10.2 Limitations of the lex Fufia Caninia 158
10.3 Relative wealth 162
12.1 The new administrative posts 188
12.2 Pre-Claudian equestrian career structure 189
12.3 Post-Claudian equestrian career structure 189
PREFACE
This book has been written very quickly and with very modest aims. It has been a task
additional to other research work and has been very largely written in the evenings of the
last year. I have accumulated various debts in the writing of this text. I give thanks to The
Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies and to Dr John Patterson for permission to
use his maps of Rome. I thank Kate Gilliver who has read a large proportion of this and
commented constructively on it. Most of all, I thank Sara, my wife, whose support and
understanding are essential to everything. Sara has also cast her ‘lay-person’s eye’ over
this and I am very grateful for her comments. She has also put up with (or perhaps
enjoyed) the many evenings I have spent with this text. Sam has suffered his father’s
eccentricities and provided entertainment and commentary as only a three-year-old can,
but I dedicate this book to his brother, Joshua, whose arrival in the middle of the reign of
Nero has given immense pleasure, though it delayed the delivery of the manuscript. It
almost goes without saying that all mistakes and errors of fact and judgement remain my
own.
ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations of journals and authors follow the standard abbreviations of L’Année
Philologique and the Oxford Classical Dictionary.
BMC=Mattingly, H. (1932–62), Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum,
London.
EJ=Ehrenberg, V. and Jones, A.H.M. (1976) Documents Illustrating the Reigns of
Augustus and Tiberius, Oxford.
Campbell 1994=Campbell, J.B. (1994) The Roman Army: 31 BC–AD 337: A
Sourcebook, London, New York.
IGRR=Cagnat, R. (ed.) (1901–27) Inscriptiones Graecae ad res romanas pertinentes,
Paris.
ILS=Dessau, H. (1892–1916) Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, Berlin.
MacCrum, Woodhead 1966=MacCrum, M. and Woodhead, A.G. (1966) Select
Documents of the Principates of the Flavian Emperors including the Year of Revolution,
AD 68–96, Cambridge.
Smallwood 1966=Smallwood, E.M. (1966) Documents Illustrating the Principates of
Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian, Cambridge.
Smallwood 1967=Smallwood, E.M. (1967) Documents Illustrating the Principates of
Gaius, Claudius and Nero, Cambridge.
MAPS

Map 1.1 The Roman Empire in AD 60 (from Talbert
1985)
Map 1.2 The Forum Romanum (from Patterson 1992)