The consolidation of the Principate
For nearly a century and a half after the establishment of the Principate the Roman empire continued to expand territorially and to develop politically along the lines set by Augustus.
Externally, it expanded until it included all the countries within the natural boundaries outlined by its founder: Thrace, the Rhine regions, Britain, Armenia and Mauretania.[813] During the same period the Roman world enjoyed an unprecedented degree of peace and prosperity and the Greco-Roman civilisation continued to spread throughout Rome's provinces. In Gaul, Spain, Southern Germany and Britain in the place of earlier rural settlements new cities emerged, built upon Greek and Roman models, which were almost as cultured as Rome herself. Moreover, from the early years of the Principate Roman citizenship began to spread in the provinces. As a result, the political differences between Italy and the provinces were gradually disappearing and the concept of empire was being strengthened.[814]The new system of government inaugurated by Augustus was consolidated and developed further under his successors: the Julio- Claudians (Tiberius 14-37 AD, Caligula 37-41 AD, Claudius 41-54 AD and Nero 54-68 AD), the Flavians (Vespasian 69-79 AD, Titus 79-81 AD and Domitian 81-96 AD), and the Antonines (Nerva 96-98 AD, Trajan 98-117 AD, Hadrian 117-138 AD, Antoninus Pius 138-161 AD, and Marcus Aurelius 161-180 AD). In spite of the contradictions inherent in the elective theory upon which it was based and its dynastic practice, this system made possible for more than two hundred years political stability and the peaceful development of Roman civilisation. Its success was due to the fact that it served the needs of the times and had the support of large sections of the population which profited from its existence and maintenance.
In the course of time, however, the absolutism inherent in the imperial office became more and more obvious. The extent to which the government of the empire came to depend upon the personal qualities of the ruling emperors is manifested, in a frightening way, by the short and disastrous reigns of insane or incompetent rulers, such as Caligula, Nero and Commodus. Notwithstanding the impact of imperial personalities on the way the empire was run, imperial administration at all times depended as much on the bureaucracy, the army and factions in the governing establishment as it did on the emperors themselves. Thus, as long as Roman power was unimpaired and internal peace prevailed, the bureaucracy and the army were able to mitigate the negative consequences of a bad reign for at least some time. But, from the closing years of the second century AD, as a deep social and economic crisis began to set in and the frontiers of the empire came under threat, the ideological underpinnings of the Principate began to fall apart and a military monarchy emerged in all its brutality.[815]
More on the topic The consolidation of the Principate:
- The Consolidation of Magisterial Law
- The Consolidation of Magisterial Law
- The Principate
- The Principate
- Jurists of the early Principate
- Other leading jurists of the Principate period
- Civil Procedure in the Principate Era
- The Administration of Criminal Justice in the Principate Age
- The Classical Period (Early Empire or Principate)
- name=bookmark1152>Sources of Law in the Principate Era
- In the first few centuries of the Principate era, the practice of distributing functions among different sets of authorities also prevailed in the administration of justice.
- INTRODUCTORY NOTE
- Curbs on rapacity: jurisdiction
- Effects of Codification in General
- Humanitas and punishment: the death sentence
- General Historical Background
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER III THE MACHINERY OF THE LAW
- Introduction
- Justinian’s Code