The problem of succession

The fact that Augustus did not hold any one office but rather a combination of offices and powers granted to him at different times by law meant that a successor could not automatically take office.

The situation allowed the possibility that, upon the death of the emperor, his powers might fall back into the senate which had granted them. But, in the circumstances, placing the government of the state in the hands of the senate seemed impossible. At the same time, however, it was obvious that unless some provision for a successor was made the stability of the empire could be at risk. Being aware that he could not legally name a successor, Augustus sought to resolve this problem by elevating to positions of power certain persons whom he regarded as suitable to succeed him expecting that, upon his death, the senate would recognise the successor he had chosen. When he died, in 14 AD, the sole survivor of this group of contemplated successors was his adopted stepson, Tiberius, whom he had made his colleague in the imperium proconsulare and the tribunicia potestas, and the senate and the people had no choice but proclaim Tiberius emperor. This idea of'adoptive emperorship' provided the answer to the problem of succession, but in later years, as the republican element in the constitution faded away, the army began to play a decisive role in the selection of emperors.

More on the topic The problem of succession:

1. As previously noted, the Romans considered the law of succession to be part of the law of things, since succession was construed as a mode of acquisition of rights over things in a mass (per universitatem).
2. The Free-Rider Problem
3. The problem of the second chapter
4. 2. Reformulating the problem
5. The problem of risk
6. 11 Answering Problem Questions
7. The problem of risk allocation
8. The Problem of Legal Positivis
9. SPECIAL PROBLEM SITUATIONS
10. The problem of error in substantia
11. The problem of mass enslavement
12. The problem of excessive penalty clauses
13. Types of succession
14. Universal succession and hereditas