Reading the Roman Revolution 26: The Government

In Chapter XXVI of , Syme turns his attention to the government of the principate. Here, he threads the needle between conceding that the government of Augustus was at least competent, if not entirely superior to that of the republic in efficiency and the tendency to reward ability over membership in the aristocracy.

Of course, Syme remains clear that stability remained the goal of the Principate and Augustus assured it through control over the military. With Augustus controlling the military, the senatorial elite no longer had a clear pathway to martial glory as consuls or proconsuls, although some did enjoy command and rank. At the same time, Augustus cultivated the services of specialized military men whose loyalty to the Princeps prevented any untoward aspirations. He also peppered his regime with new men who owned the emperor their political careers.  

The competence of the state ensured stability at him and promoted stability abroad while nevertheless relying on the paradox that: “Peace called for new and greater wars.”  

The final paragraph of this chapter is a masterpiece of Symean summation and language:

“On all sides the monarchic Princeps robbed the other principes of power and honour. In the interests of an ordered commonwealth, consulate and military command were removed from competition and from profit, for the governor now received a salary in money. Politics can be controlled but not abolished, ambition curbed but not crushed. The strife for wealth and power went on, concealed, but all the more intense and bitter, in the heart of the governing oligarchy, in court and cabinet.”

oOo

This short essay is part of my Reading The Roman Revolution at 80 project. It’s so awesome that I have two hashtags: #ReadingRomanRevolution and #ReadingRonaldat80. I explain the project here. You can read the rest of the entries here.