The Empire: Continuity and Competition

Sources

New Rules. The Republican elite spent most of its energy in internal competition, both within and outside the political arena. To a considerable extent this situation remained true for the imperial elite, but the presence of a monarch changed the rules by which the game was played. Certain areas of competition remained more or less open. Elections continued to be held and contested hotly, even if the candidates were now canvassing a narrow elite instead of the whole populace. Moreover, there were now competitions for imperial favor, which could secure both appointed and formally elected office. A new, if unofficial, wrinkle also appeared in the early empire. The emperors apparently tried to distinguish a “prestige set” and a “power set” among the elite. The former were already of noble birth and tended to be given honorific posts. The latter, only recently of social and economic prominence, were given the powerful posts, especially military commands. Separating power and prestige allowed ongoing competition without allowing potential rivals to the emperor from challenging him on both grounds at once. Many kinds of informal competition continued as well. Conspicuous consumption seems actually to have increased as the elite grew wealthier under the Empire. Patronage also continued to be at least equally important, as many resources trickled down from the greatest patron of all—the emperor.

Restrictions. In other areas, however, the emperor ended competition by claiming a personal monopoly. He was always the pontifex maximus, or chief priest. Only he (or members of his immediate family) was awarded public ceremonies of triumph, and only they could be given the title imperator. In fact, this title eventually became part of the emperors’ names. Eventually the emperors also took over most euergetism (gift giving) at Rome. Public buildings were all in their or their families’ names, and they gave most public games. Sometimes these imperial monopolies extended beyond the realm normally thought of as political. Some emperors tried to ban astrologers (except their own) from the city. The emperor Nero took first place in 1,808 Olympic events and other international competitions, including ones he never actually entered. The emperor’s official patronage also gave him unmatched opportunities. He appointed most major government officials, had the last word in all legal cases, and controlled much of the state’s wealth as his private possession.

New Arenas. These imperial inroads into traditional aristocratic competition pushed the elite to open up new areas of competition. If oratory was no longer so central to active politics, then declamation—giving speeches on imaginary topics—became an opportunity for displaying skill in public speaking. Composition and public recitation of many kinds of literature became more respectable for and more important to the elite. And if they could no longer build or give other public gifts at Rome, they were allowed (and even encouraged) to do so in the rest of Italy and in the provinces.

Sources

Keith Hopkins, Death and Renewal (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983).

Fergus Millar and Erich Segal, eds., Caesar Augustus: Seven Aspects (Oxford & New York: Clarendon Press, 1984).

K. A. Raaflaub and M. Toher, eds., Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990).