O'Neil Wk IV
SENATE
Oratory & rhetoric as crucial
skills: statue of L'Arringatore
Rhetoric = art of persuasive public speaking
Marcus Tullius Cicero:
greatest orator & lawyer of late Republic
executed by rival in civil war following death of
Caesar
PROBLEM OF IMPERIAL SUCCESSION: Hereditary vs Adoptive
JULIO-CLAUDIAN DYNASTY: 14-68 AD (see chart, link on notes page)
AUGUSTUS'
HEIRS: one daughter JULIA
by former wife Scribonia
also sister Octavia,later hopes for heir
through her line
LIVIA (wife of Augustus): one son by prior marriage TIBERIUS
JULIA: marriages arranged by Augustus:
Marcellus (nephew of Augustus,
Theater of Marcellus)
Agrippa (Augustus' closest
advisor),
Julia’s sons
die: Agrippa Postumus killed
daughter: Agrippina,
mother of Caligula
Tiberius (Augustus'
stepson, son of Livia)
TIBERIUS (14-37 AD): adopted
by Augustus
GERMANICUS
: nephew
of Tiberius, popular general;
adopted
by Augustus as Tiberius’ successor;
grandson
of Octavia, Augustus’
sister,
wife Agrippina (the
elder) daughter of Agrippa & Julia
CALIGULA
(37-41):
“Little Boots” - chosen as heir by Tiberius
popular at first because son of Germanicus
persecutes
Senatorial class: makes his horse Senator
assasinated by
Praetorian Guard
CLAUDIUS (41-54) : uncle
of Caligula, Germanicus’ brother
several wives,
including MESSALINA
(poisoned) and
his niece Agrippina (the younger) who
poisoned Claudius
who has son
by previous marriage, Nero
NERO
(54-68)
: last of Julio Claudian dynasty
biography in
TACITUS’ ANNALS (section reading for Friday)
(See Sbragia lecture on Nero
this Thursday)
FILM:
1960'S made for TV series, I, Claudius tells story of succession
from Augustus to Nero; Livia protrayed as schemer
FLAVIAN DYNASTY late 1st C AD
VESPASIAN
(69-79) takes
power by military force
Colosseum on
site of Nero's lake; gladiatorial games
his sons:
1) TITUS - conqueror of Judea:
seige of Jerusalem
70 AD destroyed Temple 74 siege of Masada
ARCH OF TITUS in Roman Forum
2) DOMITIAN –
autocratic, executes enemies
Stadium of Domitian (now Piazza Navona)
Palace of Domitian on Palatine Hill
after his death, Senate decrees
"erasure of memory" or
DAMNATIO MEMORIAE: damnation of memory
of
Dominitian due his many crimes
TACITUS: historian of Empire;
lives under Domitian
hostile to imperial power & court
NERVA Tacitus’ favorite Emperor, theme of libertas
TRAJAN 98-117 : social welfare
programs, public works
title of “Optimus” = “best” granted
by Senate
113 TRAJAN’S
COLUMN depicting Dacian wars
112 FORUM OF
TRAJAN - marketplace, shops
HADRIAN
117-38 building projects include
Pantheon,
Hadrian’s Villa,
Mausoleum
(later Castel Sant'Angelo)
Policy of peace within fixed frontiers:
HADRIAN’S
WALL - Britain 122
MARCUS
AURELIUS 161-180
German
frontier: military commander
Stoic
philosopher: The Meditations
son Commodus:
statue as Hercules, murdered
[evil Emperor in movie Gladiator]
SEVERAN
DYNASTRY:
SEPTIMUS SEVERUS (193-211)
founder of North African Severan dynasty
Arch of Septimus Severus 203