Senate - Question and Answer

How does Tacitus portray Augustus's power under the principate?

(Tac 1.2) He says "Caesar putting aside the name triumvir presented himself as consul and as content with his tribunician power for protecting the plebs, but when he had enticed the soldiery with gifts and the people with food and everyone with the sweetness of inactivity, he rose up and gradually drew upon himself the responsibility of the senate magistrates and laws"

'insurgere paulatim' and 'munia senatus magistruum legum in se trahere' with 'nullo adversante'

How does Tacitus describe tribunician power?

(Tac 3.56) "The designation for the highest exaltedness was devised by Augustus in order that he should not take on the name of king and dictator and yet by some entitlement should tower over other commands subsequently he chose Marcus Agrippa as his partner in power and Tiberius Nero so that his successor should not be in doubt"

"summi fastigii vocabulum"

"ne successor in incerto foret"

"sociam eius potestatis

How does Suetonius describe Augustus's offices"

(Suet 26) "He received magistracies and honours before the proscribed age and some of which were newly devised and in perpetuity. The consulship he appropriated in his 20th year having positioned his legions near the city ready to attack and sent men to demand it for him in the name of the army. However when the senate was hesitant the centurion Cornelius who led the delegation threw back his cloak and pointed to the hilt of his sword and did not shrink from saying the senate house: "This will do it if you do not" - 42 BC

How does Augustus describe his own position in the Res Gestae?

(34) "Although I was in control of all affairs in accordance with the prayers of my fellow citizens I transferred rights of ownership from my power to that of the senate and the people of Rome. From this cause by senatorial decree I was called Sebastos and my entranceway was publicly crowned with laurels and an oak wreath which is given for saving fellow citizens was set up in the gateway of my house and a golden shield set up in the council chamber by the senate and people of Rome bore witness through its inscription to my valour clemency and justice and piety. I excelled all in rank but I had no more power than those who shared office with me"

28-27 BC - leges et ira restituit coinage

"per consensus universorum potens rerum omnium"

"auctoritate omnibus praestiti, potestatis autem nihilo amplius habui"

"seantus equester ordo populosque ROmanos universus"

How does Suetonius present the reduction to the numbers of senators?

1000-600

(Suet 35) "Since the number of senators was swelled by a disorderly and undignified rabble - for there were more than 1000 of them - some most unworthy who had been admitted after Caesar's death through favour and bribery (these were commonly referred to as the Orcini) - Augustus returned it to its former size and glory by means of two reviews the first conducted by himself and the second by himself and Agrippa" - 28 and 18 BC

How does Augustus present his revision of the senate?

(RG 8) "I increased the number of patricians by command of the people when consul for the fifth Time (29 BC). I revised the membership of the senate three times and in my sixth consulship (28 BC) I conducted a census of the population with my colleague Marcus Agrippa. I performed the ceremony purification 42 years after the last one the census being 4,063,000 Roman citizens were registered.

- Dio mentiones 5 lecciones 29 18 13 11 AD 4 vs 28 18 11 BC

- one in 8 BC

- one in AD 14

How does Suetonius present the political opposition Augustus faced when carrying out the census?

(Suet 35) In the revision in 18 BC "it was on this occasion that he was believed to have presided protected by a cuirass under his tunic and wearing a sword at his side with ten strong men friends from the senatorial order standing around his seat. Cremutius Cordus writes that no member of the senate was allowed to approach him unless on his own and once his toga had been searched. Some he induced to resign through shame though even to these he allowed the right to wear the senatorial garb sit at the front rows at the games and take part in public banquets"

How does Suetonius described Augustus's privy council and method of asking senatorial opinion?

(Suet 35) "He established a council whose membership was renewed by lot every six months and with whom he would discuss matters of business before referring them to a full meeting of the senate"

How does Dio present the process of revision of 18 BC?

"no one would resign of his own free will, and Augustus, in his turn, did not wish to incur blame alone, he himself selected the thirty best men (a point which he afterwards confirmed by oath) and bade them, after first taking the same oath, choose five at a time, relatives not to be included, by writing the names on tablets" (Dio 54.13)

"down to 300 but never emerged and settled at 600. However, Dio reports that 'when various abuses crept in ' Augustus made the selection process himself."

How was Augustus opposed in the senate during the 18 BC purge?

"During the revision of the senate membership when one senator was choosing another member Antistieus Labeo chose M Lepidus an old enemy of Augustus and in exile at the time when he asked asked by Augustus whether there were not others more worthy he replied that each man had his own opinion. Despite this freedom of speech or insolence brought no-one any harm. (Suet 54)

How does Dio present Antistius Labeo opposing Augustus in the senate?

For while he was wont to put the vote to the other senators in the regular order, in the case of the ex-consuls he used to call on one first, another second, and others third and fourth, and so on, just as he pleased; and the consuls also did the same. Thus it was that he used to treat Lepidus. And when Antistius Labeo wrote down the name of Lepidus among those who might be senators, at the time when the process of selection which we have described was being followed, the emperor first declared that he had perjured himself, and he threatened to punish him. Thereupon Labeo replied: "Why, what harm have I done by keeping in the senate one whom you even now permit to be high priest?" At this Augustus desisted from his anger; for though he had often been asked, both privately and publicly, to take this priesthood, he did not feel that it was right to do so while Lepidus lived. This reply of Antistius was regarded as a happy one, as was also another remark of his: when it was said in the senate, on one occasion, that the senators ought to take turns in guarding Augustus, Antistius, not daring to speak in opposition nor yet willing to assent, remarked, "As for me, I snore, and so cannot sleep at the door of his chamber."

How did Augustus revise the property census according to Dio?

Augustus increased the property qualification for being a senator from 400,000 to 100,000,000

After this there was another purging of the lists of the senate. At first, as we have seen, the rating of senators had been fixed at four hundred thousand sesterces, because many of them had been stripped of their ancestral estates by the wars, and then, as time went on and men acquired wealth, it had been raised to one million sesterces. Consequently no one was any longer found who would of his own choice become a senator; 4 on the contrary, sons and grandsons of senators, some of them really poor and others reduced to humble station by the misfortunes of their ancestors, not only would not lay claim to the senatorial dignity, but also, when already entered on the lists, swore that they were ineligible (Dio 54.26)

How does Suetonius present the increase in property qualifications?

(Suet 41) "He increased the property qualification for senators requiring 1.2 mill rather than 800,000 making up the amount in the case of those who did not have it"

"He often gave presets of money to the people of differing sums sometimes 400 sometimes 300 sometimes 200 or sometimes 500 per man"

How does Tacitus present a petition to the princeps in Tiberius reign?

(1.75) - just after Tacitus laments the fact that Tiberius took a seat at the praetor's tribunal

" On one occasion a senator, Aurelius Pius, his house having experienced subsidence due to construction of a roadway and aqueduct, asked the senate for compensation. When the treasury officials resisted this, Tiberius intervened and assigned Aurelius the value of his property, desirous of spending money in a good cause, a virtue he long retained even when shedding others"

"On Propertius Celer a praetorian seeking exemption from his rank because of poverty he lavished a million sesterces once it had been sufficiently discovered that his straightened circumstances were hereditary. When others made similar attempts he ordered them to prove their cases to the senate - his desire for strictness making him sour even in matters where he acted with propriety. The rest therefore preferred silent and poverty to cohesion and generosity"

How does Tacitus describe the case of Hortalus and his petition for money?

The speech given in the Palatium

"He helped several senators financially, so that it was all the more a source of wonder when he treated the petition of a young nobleman, Marcus Hortalus, who was clearly in difficult circumstances, in so high-handed a manner. He gave monetary help to many senators so it was (mirum) when he treated Marcus Hortalus a (noblilis iuvenis) in paupertate with (superbius) - Augustus had given a grant to Hortalus of 1 million - Hortalus made a speech to the senate which made them incline to agree with the grant.

He stands with his 4 sons at the threshold of the Curia contemplating "his eyes fixed now on the statue of Hortensius which stood among those of the orators, now on that of Augustus" and appeals to the senators "elected senators" remorseful of the fact he "who in these changing times failed to inherit or attain, wealth, popularity, or eloquence, the hereditary possessions of our house" appeals to Tiberius to save him and his sons from poverty.

He claims that Augustus made him have children "look the stock and progeny of so many dictators!"

In response Tiberius is (promptius adversaretur) and rebukes Hortalus for 'res publicae deficiet' and calls his demand a 'efflagatio' and 'intempestiva' and 'improvisa' it is not a petition

"Divine Augustus gave you Monet Hortalus but without being entreated and without any condition that it will always be given"

How doe Tacitus describe the compromise reached between Tiberius and the senate?

(Tac 2.37) Senate's response - while the habitual eulogists praised the majority remained silent and release an 'occult murmur' which Tiberius sense and responds that if the senate he would give each male child 200,000 sesterses' but the reward renders Hortalus silent and the house slipped into ' delaberetur inopiam'

How does Tacitus present the state of free speech under the principate?

(1.7) "But at Rome there was a rush to servitude from consuls fathers and equestrians. The more illustrious each was the more fall and frantic and with their loss composed to avoid delight at the passing - and too much gloom at the commencement of a princeps they blended tears with joy and mourning with sycophancy"

- Sex Pomp and Sex Appuleius first to swear allegiance to Tiberius Caesar.

'Tiberius entire start was through the consuls as though in an old republic"

What does Tacitus attribute as a crucial cause for the degradation of Libertas under the principate?

(1.72) "Yet he did not thereby engender a citizen belief that he was citizen like in spirit: he had brought back the law of treason"

"This had the same name in the time of the ancient but different matters came to the court such as the impairment of an army by betrayal or of the plebs by sedition or in a fine of the sovereignty of the Roman people by the maladministration of the government. Actions were prosecuted, talk had impunity. Augustus was the first to handle a trial of defamatory documents under the category of that law being roused y the passion which Cassius Severus had defamed illustrious men and ladies through provocative writings subsequently Tiberius consulted by the praetor Pompeius Macer on the question of whether legal proceedings would be allowed in cases of treason replied that the laws should be enforced he too having been stung by the publication of poems of uncertain authorship against his savagery and haughtiness and his disaffected relations with his mother"

How does Tacitus present Libertas as impacting his own historiographical writing?

(1.1) "The Roman people of old had their successes and adversities recalled by brilliant writers and to tell of Augustus's times there was no dearth of deserving talents until they were deterred by swelling sycophancy. The affairs of Tiberius and Gaius as of Claudius and Nero were falsified through dread while the men themselves flourished and composed with fresh hatred after their fall. hence my plan is a transmission of a mere few things about Augustus and of his final period then of Tiberius and the remainder without anger of partiality for things I keep at a distance"

How does Tacitus present the Cremutius Cordus trial?

AD 25

"Cremutius Cordus was arraigned on the charge which was new and heard only then for the first time - that having published his annals and praised M Brutus he had spoke on C Cassius as the last of the Romans"

"it is my words conscript fathers that are being criticised so completely innocent am I of deeds but not even they were directed at the princeps or his parent whom the law of treason embraces"

"The creation of the books by the aediles was proposed by the fathers but they survived having been concealed and published. Wherefore it is pleasant to deride all the more the insensibility of those who by virtue of their present powerfulness believe that the memory of a subsequent age too can be extinguished. on t he contrary the influence of punished talents swells nor have foreign kings or those who have resorted to the same savagery accomplished anything except disrepute for themselves and for their victims glory"

How does Tacitus present the destructive influence of the revival of maiestas in the senate? - The role of the delator

Trial of Granius Marcellus AD 15

"Not long after the praetor of Bithynia Granius Marcellus was arraigned for treason by his own quaestor Caepio Crispinus with the supporting signature of Romanius Hispo. (He entered upon a form of life which afterward was notoriously common by the wretchedness of the times he wormed his way using secret documents into the princeps savagery). He subsequently made defendants of all the most brilliant people and having achieved power in his dealings set an example which was followed by those who transformed the rich and dreaded from being poor and contemptible contrived ruin for others and ultimately themselves)

After Tacitus retirement to Capri AD 26 - (Tac 4.69) AD 27-28 the imprisonment of Titius Sabinus - a group of former praetors (stueret dolum) attacked in their desire for consulships 'to which there was no access to except through Sejanus' atiaris produced a show of close friendship ( the other senators lurked (tectum) in their 'turpi latebra' and applied their ear to aperture. He produced a show of close friendship 'speciem artae amicitiae

What does Tacitus say Marcellus has been incriminated for by Crispinus?

"He incriminated Marcellus for having malicious conversations about Tiberius - an inescapable charge since the accuser selected the foulest of the princeps's habits and blamed their dissemination on the defendant"

"Hispo added that Marcellus's statue had been sited higher than those of the Caesar's and that on on another statue Augustus's head had been sliced of and Tiberius's likeness imposed"

How does Tacitus present Tiberius reaction to the charges?

"At this Tiberius flared up to such an extent that shattering his taciturnity he announced that he too would express his opinion in the case openly and on oath so that the same constraint should apply to all others"

How does Tacitus present Gaius Piso response to Tiberius?

"Even then there remained the traces of dying freedom so Gn Piso said "In what place will you vote Caesar? If first I will have something to follow of after everyone else I am afford lest I dissent improvidently"

"Shaken. by these words and passive from penitence at having boiled over too incautiously he allowed the defendant to be released from the charges of treason and the question of extortion went to the recoveres"

How doe Tacitus present the trials worsening under Claudius?

The move of trials from the senate to the princeps's house 'intra cubiculum"

Valerius Asiasticus trail AD 47 "he was heard in the bedroom before Messalina"

Who does Tacitus present as an exemplum of Libertas?

(4.20-23) - Agricola mould - model of moderation

Trial of Silius AD 24

"Sosia was driven into exile on the motion of Asinius Gallus who had proposed that part of her property be confiscated and left to her children but Marcus Lepidus ensured the granting of 1/4 to her accusers as the law required and the remainder to her children" (I am discovering for myself that Lepidus was a weight and wise man. He frequently steered issues away from the save sycophancies of others in a better direction but at the same time he did not lack balance since he thrived much by continuing influence with Tiberius as much as the latter favour toward him)

"something in our own policies permits is to proceed between a policy of sheer truculence and grotesque compliance"

How does the epigraphical evidence contrast with Tacitus's picture of the senate?

The presentation of Piso:

Tiberius sympathetic attitude toward Piso

"On the day of the senate Caesar delivered a speech with considered balance: Piso's had been his fathers legate and friend and had been given by himself on the senate's authority to Germanicus as his helper in the administration of affairs in the East"

Mitigation of Punishment

"Cotta proposed that Piso's name should be erased from the fast part of his property confiscated and part should be granted to Gn Piso the son who should change his forename. M Piso shedding his rank and in receipt of five million sesterces should be relegated for two years with immunity granted to Plancina on account of the pleas of Augusta"

"Many aspects of that opinion were softened by the princeps: Piso's name should not be removed from the fast since tho of M Antonius who had war of the fatherland and Iullus Antonius who had violated Augustus's family still remained. and he exempted M Piso from degradation and granted him his fathers property being quite firmly set against money and in that occasion more amenable because of the shame of Plancina's acquittal"

How do the Senate in the epigraphical evidence present Piso?

Presentation of Piso – Piso representation ‘ferocia’ - Piso’s ‘wicked plans’ (nefaris consilìs), whilst Piso’s crimes are considered to have been ‘most flagrant’ (SCPP line 18: cum manufestissuma sint Cn(aei) Pisonis patris scelera) and ‘brutish behaviour’ (SCPP line 27: feritate morum)

Presentation of Germanicus - "the Senate wonders at the fact that the exceptional restraint and patience of Germanicus Caesar was exhausted by the brutish behaviour of Gnaeus Piso Senior"

Piso behaviour after Germanicus's death

Tacitus presentation of Piso's hearing about the news of Germanicus's death "he slaughtered victims and visited temples" Plancina exchanged grief for the clothing of delight 'all the more overbearing'

Senate portrayal - He rejoiced in Germanicius' death was obvious to the senate from the following evidence: that wicked sacrifices were offered by him, that the ships in which he sailed were dec- orated, that he [64] reopened the temples of the immortal gods which the most unwavering devotion of the whole Roman empire had closed; evidence of the same attitude was to be found in the fact that he had given a [66] gift of money to the man who informed him of the death of Germanicus Caesar; and it was also proven that [67] on several occasions he had held banquets during those very days on which the announcement had been made to him about the death of Germanicus Caesar

How else does the SCPP present that the senate had power?

The Senate highlight in the opening that Tiberius has asked them for their opinion

"quod ..senatum rettulit" vs "quod.... verba fecit"

Whereas Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of deified Augustus, [5] supreme pontiff, holding tribunician power for the twenty-second time, consul for the third time, consul designate for the fourth time, referred to the Senate for decision

Why is it important that the senate control the publication of decrees?

The Senate use the publication to highlight their own importance

The Senate gives detailed instructions for its decree to be disseminated around the empire and put on display in different contexts. It orders for the SCPP to be inscribed on bronze and displayed in the most frequented city of each province and in military legionary winter quarters. This would have resulted in roughly fifty copies of the inscription on display around the empire at a minimum, given the multiple copies in Baetica alone.

Instructions for the publciation

And in order that the course of the proceedings as a whole might be more easily transmitted to the memory of future generations and so that they might know what the Senate’s judgement was [167] concerning the excep- tional restraint of Germanicus Caesar and the crimes of Gnaeus Piso Senior, the Senate has decided that the speech which our Princeps had delivered [169] and also these decrees of the Senate, inscribed on bronze, should be set up in whatever place seemed best to Tiberius Caesar Augus- tus and that likewise this decree of the Senate, inscribed on bronze, should be set up in the most frequented city of each province and in the most fre- quented place in that city; [172] and that likewise this decree of the Senate should be set up in the winter quarters of each legion where the standards are kept.

How does the SCPP comment on Tiberius facial expression?

Tacitus portrayal of Tiberius facial expressions

Tacitus contrast to Germanicus - 'mira comitas et diversa ab Tiberii sermone vultu, adrogantibus et obscuris' (Tac.1.33) 'remarkable affability quite different from Tibeirus conversation and looks arrogant and dark as they were'

SCPP on Tiberius facial expressions - One of the most unexpected parallels between the SCPP and Tacitus is the Senate's reference to Tiberius' 'appearance', his vultus: 'for which reason he (Tiberius) should end his grief and regain for his country not only the frame of mind, but also the appearance appropriate to public happiness' (quo nomine debere eum finire dolorem / ac restituere patriae suae non tantum animum, sed etiam voltum, qui / publicae felicitati conveniret) (SCPP lines 130-32).

How does Tacitus's portrayal of Plancina compare with the SCPP?

Tacitus highlights Plancina's guilt

The charge of poisoning

"The savage violence of the disease was increased by his conviction that he had been given poison by Piso and in fact that there were discovered unearthed from the ground and walls the remains of human bodies spells and cures and the name Germnaicus etched on lead tablets half burned ashes smeared with putrid matter and other malefic devices"

He links the poison to Plancina

Martina a famous Syrian poisoner "dear to Plancina"

SCPP presentation of Plancina

"very serious charges" against Plancina

at the request of his mother and [114] had very just reasons presented to him by her for wanting to secure her request, the Senate considers that to Iulia Augusta, who has served the state superlatively not [116] only in giving birth to our Princeps but also through her many great favours towards men [117] of every rank, who rightly and deservedly ought to have supreme influence in what [118] she asked from the Senate, but used that influence sparingly, and to the supreme piety of our Princeps towards [119] his mother, support and indulgence should be accorded and has decided that the punishment of Plancina should be waived.