The Pax Romana Podcast

On this episode, we examine the religious logic prevalent in the Roman Empire. It may be surprising to learn that belief was far less important to Romans than practice. Christianity turned the order of Roman religion on its head. As a result, Christians were accused of atheism, sedition, immorality, superstition and religious novelty.

How did early Christians negotiate their identity in a polytheistic society? Cultural norms around pluralism, sex and military service presented serious challenges to Christians. Many self-identified Christians sough to merge mainstream culture with their faith.

Christianity adapted, spread, and solidified its identity in the second century AD. What was everyday life like for those who called themselves Christians in this pivotal ancient age? How strict was membership in the early church? To what extent were soldiers permitted?

Septimius Severus entered Rome in AD 197 as undisputed emperor, following several years of bloody civil war. He stationed a full legion near Rome to ensure that no one could do what he had done: conquer his own empire. Septimius was a friend to his soldiers, debasing his own currency to increase soldier soldiers pay. He then turned back to what he knew best: conquest--launching a campaign against the Parthian Empire in Persia.

In the Year of the Five Emperors, Septimius Severus, a governor from Pannonia, maneuvered to become unquestioned emperor amidst several capable rivals. He first allied with Clodius Albinus in the west, naming him Caesar and heir, while eliminating a second rival, Pescennius Niger, in the east. Albinus would subsequently invade Gaul--bringing his forces into a massive battle at Lugdunum. Were these men really emperors, or just warlords?

After the assassination of Commodus, Pertinax, an experienced governor and military officer, steped up to take the purple. He was a fiscal conservative and a disciplinarian. But the Roman Empire had fundamentally changed, and his own praetorian guard soon removed him from office.
he empire bizarrely veered towards an auction-like scenario, where two men vie for power through financial promises to the praetorians.

Following the an epidemic and engineered riot in the capital in A.D. 190, Commodus emerged as a self-proclaimed god and gladiator, reshaping Rome in his image. He renamed cities, months, and even the Senate after himself, declaring his invincibility and divine status. His rule became a spectacle of cruelty and farce, culminating in a plot by his inner circle, leading to his assassination. Today, we explore how Commodus' reign, marked by both survival and excess, mirrored the chaos of his time, ultimately sealing the fate of the Pax Romana.

Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius, faced serious plots against his life. So he isolated himself from senators and other advisors, frittered away his time getting drunk and racing horses and left Rome under the care of ambitious, ruthless and corrupt men. Eventually, an apparent conspiracy of elites took power back by engineering a riot in the capital city. The soldiers responsible for keeping the peace mysteriously allowed and even aided the rioters. How did Commodus handle the disorder in Rome?

Commodus was "born to the purple," inheriting the throne from his father, Marcus Aurelius. The young emperor had much that suggested his reign would be successful: excellent advisors and tutors, charming looks and an inscrutable pedigree in the line of Rome's greatest emperors. As this episode shows, his initial years bore out these high expectations, but strangely, his relationships began to sour. Senators and even members of his own family plotted against his life.

Marcus Aurelius was not just an eye-witness to the Pax Roman's end, but he was a crucial player in the drama as it unfolded. We are fortunate to have a unique insight into Marcus' mind in his Meditations--a collection of private notes to himself that somehow survived the ravages of time. Unfortunately for Marcus, he died shortly after writing them; as did Rome's Golden Age.

This episode explores the tumultuous period of Marcus Aurelius's reign between AD 175-178. Marcus had to deal with a rebellion in Egypt and widespread brigandage in the eastern empire. There may have also been a serious sickness in his family--threatening the entire dynasty. But was it covered up?

Marcus Aurelius, now sole emperor after the death of his brother Lucius Verus, faced the Germanic tribes migrating (if not invading) Rome's northern border. The Marcomannic War was the first stage of a centuries-long struggle against invaders. This episode explores the challenges, strategies, and the sheer will of Rome to defend its northern frontier.

The Antonine plague--the world's first pandemic--did not find the Roman Empire at its strongest. In fact, climate change was affecting some key regions of the Roman Empire decades prior to the Pax Romana's end. The food supply of the empire was in jeopardy, weakening the population and encouraging migration into already crowded Roman cities. What went wrong and why?

In the mid AD 160s, it looked like Rome was winning. The war in Parthia was going well. The two emperors, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, were well supported. But then a sudden and mysterious disease ripped across the Empire and into Italy. The outbreak was one of several jarring events that shook the Roman world.

As far as we know, Marcus Aurelius grew up in a period of general peace and tranquility. But so did his adoptive brother, Lucius Verus. When the emperor Antoninus Pius died, both men--Marcus and Lucius--had claims to the empire. But could Rome really function with two emperors? The Roman Senate thought Marcus alone should rule. Adding to the awkwardness of the transition, the Parthian empire attacked Rome's client state Armenia. An all out war would follow; but first the Romans needed to resolve their leadership situation.

Antoninus Pius was apparently a great emperor, but we know very little details about his reign. Instead, he is remembered as the emperor who prepared the way for his successor, Marcus Aurelius--one of the most famous emperors in all of Roman history. But Hadrian had put in place two successors, not one, for Antonine Pius. How did Antoninus balance his obvious preferences for Marcus Aurelius while also honoring the wishes of Hadrian?

Antoninus Pius (138-161 AD) ruled peacefully, leaving a lesser-known legacy. What can we know about this often neglected emperor? His coins illuminate some of the story. Gold coins showcase his loyalty: to the Senate, to Hadrian, and to his wife Faustina. Silver coins highlight his concern for the people's well-being, especially the grain supply.

Was the Roman military the well-oiled machine portrayed in many films and works of historical fiction? Today we conclude this short series on the Roman military by looking at discipline. We’ll explore soldiers’ training regimen, from physical conditioning to mock battles. Roman soldiers took strict oaths, endured harsh punishments and sometimes won valuable rewards. But there are plenty of sources that suggest a military plagued by corruption, laziness and even cowardice. So what should we believe? The Pax Romana seems like the peak of Roman power, but was this because of the Roman military, or in spite of it?

Why was the Roman military so powerful? How did its structure work? What men joined up and what did they actually do with their time? Twenty-five years was a long time to serve. Interestingly, the Roman military offered credible opportunities to advance in Roman society. And for non-Romans, military service could get them on the path to becoming citizens themselves.

Here is the first of several episodes on the Roman military. How did the military fuel expansion, secure borders and bolster the emperor's power? How large was the military and what did it cost? What role did soldiers play in both receiving imperial ideology, as well as advancing it?

The Pax Romana may have thrived, but much of its prosperity was born on the backs of million. On this episode, we look at a darker side of the Pax Romana, and the institution of Roman slavery. How did it function--from the brutal realities of capture and sale--to the opportunities for freedom? Roman slavery was of questionable economic benefit, so why did Romans keep this institution around for so long?

Roman society was highly stratified. Rank, wealth, birth and political power--not necessarily merit--determined one's place in the world. The social system was intricated and divided; both masses and elites were subdivided in a variety of ways. And above all was the emperor. He reigned supreme, as not just a ruler, but a patron and father over the entire Roman world.

Scholars tend to think of the Pax Romana as being at the pinnacle of prosperity and its economic and military power. And in a sense that is true, compared to the crisis that followed. But despite the high achievements of the Pax Romana, it remains an open question as to whether highly populated Roman cities were as healthy as we often imagine. In this episode, I discuss the sanitation infrastructure and technology of the Roman Empire: aqueducts, baths and sewers. How much did these improve health in Roman cities?

Hadrian ruled the Roman Empire for 21 years. His legacy, however, is a tangled mess. On the one hand, he left behind impressive architectural marvels, like Hadrian’s Wall; and his epic journeys across land and sea reinforced the notion that he was not just the leader of Rome, but the representative of tens of millions of people across a vast commonwealth. And yet, both his early years and, as we’ll talk about today, his latter years, were strange and shrouded with intrigue and animosity. One senator even cursed Hadrian. But as we’ll see today, amid the mess, Hadrian managed to set up a succession plan that ensured two generations of stability—and place a teenager into the line of succession who would grow up to become Rome’s famed philosopher king: Marcus Aurelius.

By the year AD 130, Hadrian had ruled the Roman Empire for more than a decade—touring its far flung provinces, and transforming it from conquest empire to unified commonwealth. And yet, one peoples in particular were not aligned with Hadrian’s grand vision. The Jewish people had been subjugated to some of the worst brutality imaginable—a fact they had not forgotten. Under eventual Roman emperor Titus, their capital of Jerusalem as well as the great Jewish temple, had been levelled to the ground. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were enslaved or murdered. And now, once again under Hadrian, the Jews in Judea would fight yet once more for what seemed an impossible dream—the rebirth of an independent Jewish state in the holy land. This would be the most serious revolt yet--the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Would it succeed?

Primary Sources Referenced:

Cassius Dio, Roman History 13.1.

Numbers 24:17.

Hadrian took over for Trajan, and it was a little awkward. As we saw last time, Trajan went to his deathbed without naming a successor; then over the course of several secretive days, Trajan died and Hadrian emerged as the next emperor. Only Trajan’s wife and praetorian prefect seem to know what happened. Others knew what happened, of course, but they were murdered under mysterious circumstances. Then, four leading senators were also executed without a trial. Whispers of a plot swirled, but to this day we still don’t know what happened. Hadrian would forever be treated with suspicion by the Senate, but the population loved him. Why was Hadrian such a beloved emperor and what was his vision for a new Roman commonwealth?

Primary Sources:

Inscription on Debt Cancellation, CIL 6.976.

Inscription at Lambaesis, ILS 2487.

The Pax Romana, and especially its period of five good emperors, is often thought of as a continuous period of peaceful and uncontroversial transitions of power. But, as we’ve seen on this podcast, there is far more to the story than that. Today’s topic is emblematic of the Pax Romana’s strange dissonance between superficial peace and its subtle undercurrents of intrigue and scandal. When Trajan died, and his successor took over, every effort was made to give the transition of power a planned and predicted character. But a deep dive into the source material reveals some inconsistencies and mysteries, and even a few murders.

The Roman emperor Trajan looked to emulate Alexander the Great. In AD 113, he began a campaign to push Roman borders eastward further than ever before. In his way was the Parthian Empire. These two powers were engaged in a complex geo-political chess match for virtually the entirety of the Pax Romana. Would Trajan be able to do what no previous Roman had done, and take Rome's eastern Nemesis?

Our modern economy is miraculous. But did the kinds of market mechanisms that make modern economies so prosperous prevail in the Romain Empire? On the one hand, Rome's economy was impressive. It was highly monetized, unified by law and seemingly vibrant. But to what extent was Rome's economy "free market"?

By the time of Trajan—at the beginning of the second century AD, one man—the emperor of Rome—ruled over 60 million people spread throughout the Mediterranean basin, from damp and dreary Great Britain to the hot dry and desolate wilderness of Syria. And, as I hinted at last time, Trajan would push the boundaries of this massive empire ever further east—and Trajan himself would stand upon the shores of the Persian Gulf. But one thing we haven’t yet addressed, is how the emperor actually managed such a vast imperial apparatus. Well, by an accident of history, we have an incredible collection of letters between Trajan and one of his governors. The letters offer unparalleled insight into the mind of a Roman empire—revealing his ruthless expectations of those under him, his miserly attitude and even his paranoia.

It took two wars, but as we saw last time, the emperor Trajan finally got the job done in Dacia. By the year AD 107, the crafty Dacian king was dead, and Rome had itself a new province—one supposedly flush with gold and silver. And with Trajan’s new one-kilometer long bridge across the broad Danube River, Roman soldiers, merchants, workers and government officials would have no trouble exploiting Dacia for all it was worth. So suddenly, Trajan had several extra zeros in his imperial bank account; and with this new money, Trajan launched into a monumental construction campaign that remade the centre of Rome…

The Roman Emperor Trajan took office in the year AD 98. This new emperor was a friend of Roman soldiers, and he seem poised to expand Roman influence into the farthest reaches of the known world. His first aggressive step was to subjugate the treacherous Dacians—a people rich in gold and silver, and who harassed Roman forts along the Empire’s northern boundaries. But the Dacian king Decebalus was a crafty and clever strategists, with a proven track record against Rome’s legions. Once the war broke out, Trajan quickly found himself outmaneuvered by the Dacian king. As we learned last time, Trajan surged deep into the mountains of what is now modern Romania, but king Decebalus shocked the emperor, and led hordes of Dacians—perhaps more than 100,000 in the opposite direction, towards the Roman Empire’s now undermanned borders. How did Trajan rescue the Empire from such a terrifying threat, overcome a blunder that could have ended his reign barely before it even began and discover a one the largest hoards of buried treasure ever found in human history?

Under Trajan, members of the Roman Senate had to face facts: the republic was gone, and elements of the military were equally if not more important than them. To us, this sounds like the kind of junta or military dictatorship that rarely lasts long—but in fact, with the accession of Trajan, the Roman Empire would enter its most dominant and prosperous period; it would also be an era free from major civil wars or usurpations; but how did Trajan manage to get this most remarkable phase of the Pax Romana off on the right foot?

With the death of Domitian, we now enter the age that some historians call the High Roman Empire—the pinnacle of the pinnacle. For just shy of a century, from AD 96 to 180, Rome is ruled by a succession of five emperors. And while each of them had their flaws, some more obvious than others, they are generally regarded as among the best that Rome had to offer. Edward Gibbon, who wrote The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published in 1776, would call this span of time: “the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous”. Lofty words, but are they true? Were these years the best years in Roman history, let alone the history of the whole human race?

Augustus Caesar set up a military autocracy in which he, and he alone, would be supreme leader. He then wrapped that autocracy in the tattered remains of Rome’s shredded Republican constitution. Emperors came and went, many of them claiming to secure and uphold the republican system; in reality, the new autocratic system became permanent. As we learned last time, the year AD 81 would mark the beginning of a new and infamous regime—that of the hated emperor Domitian. Ancient writers universally condemn Domitian as one of if not the worst Roman emperor. But was Domitian Rome’s worst emperor?

Primary Sources Referenced:

Suetonius, Life of Domitian 3.

Pliny, Letters 1.12.

Suetonius, Life of Domitian 23.

The reign of the emperor Titus, the son of Vespasian, was short—just a little over two years—but boy was it eventful. And for once, these events have little to do with the emperor—by all accounts Titus was a decent leader—but rather, it was nature that wreaked havoc on tens of thousands of Romans. First, the famous eruption of Vesuvius, the volcanos burial of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Then a major fire in Rome. And finally, a plague that at least once source claims killed 10,000 Romans—in just a single day. But if the Romans thought these deadly natural disasters were the worst that could happen under the new dynasty, they were wrong. Because as we’ll see on this next episode, Titus was soon succeeded by perhaps one of the Pax Romana’s most infamous emperors.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Pliny’s Letters 56. Suetonius, Life of Titus 8.4

Vespasian wrestled control of the empire away from several other claimants through a violent civil war. He marched into Rome with a fresh foreign triumph under his belt; Vespasian, through his son Titus, claimed conquest over the rebellious Jews in Judea. But despite his superficial similarities to Augustus, would Vespasian succeed in founding a lasting dynasty, and leave his mark on the Pax Romana?

Primary Sources Referenced:

Lex de Imperio Vespasiani (CIL 4.930).

Suetonius, Life of Vespasian 7.

Mark 8:23

In AD 70, the second dynasty of the Pax Romana was about to commence. Its founder, Vespasian, earned his opportunity to claim the empire largely because of victories in one of the empire’s most contentious provinces: Judea—the territory which now resides in the modern state of Israel. The relationship between Roman occupiers and the Jewish people gradually soured in the first century AD—culminating in a lengthy and bloody revolt in which Jerusalem, and the historic Jewish temple it contained—were destroyed.

On January 15, AD 69, the Praetorian Guard made Otho, legate of the now deceased Galba, the third emperor in less than a year. The military autocracy established by Augustus was developing serious fractures. Nero and then Galba had been assassinated in Rome. The new emperor, Otho, was hardly established. With so much uncertainty at Rome, ongoing conflicts and rebellions in places like Britain, Germany and Judea offered ambitious generals and governors opportunities to earn victories so epic that their soldiers might decide to proclaim them emperor. That is exactly what happened.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Cassius Dio 64.13.

In the tumultuous year of AD 69, four emperors rose and fell in rapid succession--a period known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Among these fleeting rulers was Galba, an elderly general who seized power after the overthrow of Nero. Galba's reign, however, was short-lived. The new emperor attempted to reinstitute conservative governance, but ended up alienating his own soldiers. Within just a few months, he would be publicly beheaded in Rome's forum.

July, AD 64. Much of Rome is still smoldering. Hundreds of buildings had been completed destroyed in the voracious blaze that burned unchecked for over a week in Rome. Thousands of people were dead. As we learned last time, Nero spent huge sums of money to provide relief. He also tortured and murdered Christians—claiming that these blasphemers and atheists were to blame for the calamity. But, deserved or not, Nero was still held responsible. In subsequent years, the chaos surrounding Nero began to swirl at seemingly faster speeds. The treasury was drained. The parties became ever more decadent. The murders stacked up. Eventually, Nero exhausted both Rome, and himself. And the one thing that this whole autocratic system was meant to stop, suddenly re-emerged with a fury: open civil war.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Tacitus, Annals 15.37

Suetonius, Life of Nero 23.2

Nero was finally free of his mother’s influence. Agrippina had been stabbed to death over and over again by Nero’s soldiers in her belly—the place from which her treacherous son had sprung. Nero was 19 and without parents, but he had plenty of help. Many senators believed that this was finally their moment. If the pro-senatorial policies that had characterized the early years of Nero’s reign were a sign of what could be expected in the decades to come, the age of Nero would become a golden age for Rome’s nobility. But the Roman senator Tacitus sees Agrippina’s death as the beginning of the end. After murdering his own mother, Tacitus says, ‘[Nero] approached the Capitol with pride, as victor over a servile people, and gave his thanks—and then let himself loose on all the forms of depravity which, though repressed with difficulty, respect for his mother (such as it was) had managed to check’ (Tacitus 14.13). The beginning of Nero’s slow and painful downfall, on this episode of the Pax Romana Podcast.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Tacitus, Annales 14.13, 15.38, 15.44)

Calpurnius Siculus, Ecologues 1

Agrippina—daughter of Germanicus, brother of Caligula, niece and wife of Claudius and now mother to the newly appointed emperor—likely enjoyed the greatest moment of her life on the day her son Nero was inaugurated as Rome’s fifth emperor. She had murdered so many people—including members of her own family—to get here. And there he was—her little boy, now 17 years old, the great grandson of Augustus—raised to the purple. The praetorian guard took Nero’s money, and would therefore support him. Senators had every expectation of being invited back into the emperor’s inner circle as advisors and strategists; they too were enthusiastic about the change in leadership. And Agrippina had just about killed any family members that might prove disloyal. Well, there was still Claudius’ son Britannicus—Nero’s adopted brother—to deal with. But he was isolated and vulnerable. With Nero, it appeared that the lessons of recent history had been learned—no one was going to take down this golden emperor. They forgot one person, however: Nero himself. How did such a marvelous beginning descend into a symbolic, and literal, suicide?

Primary Sources Referenced:

Tacitus, Annals 13.18-19, 14.11, 14.18

Through deft social and political maneuvers, seduction and pure survival skills, Agrippina—age 34—has won marriage to the fourth Roman Emperor Claudius, her own uncle. Into the marriage she brought her only son—a twelve year old boy who would grow up to become the great villain known as Nero. Although the emperor Claudius already had a son to succeed him—the eight year old Britannicus—he adopted Nero as his own, making Nero legally his son, and older brother to Britannicus. With this move, Agrippina’s placed her son Nero firmly in line to become the next emperor. But Britannicus, just a few years younger, would always be nipping at Nero’s heels. How did Agrippina complete her plan to make an unrivaled emperor out of Nero?

Primary Sources Referenced:

Tacitus, Annals 12.41.Suetonius, Claudius 43.

It is easy to think of Roman emperors as omnipotent rulers who could (and did) whatever struck their fancy. But as we’ve seen so far on this podcast, the truth was far more complex. The senate may not have been in charge anymore, but they still needed managing. The soldiers, especially the praetorians, were a source of power, but had also shown they could topple emperors. In the reign of Claudius, we see a third group that could both support and channel the emperor: his own household. The family members of the emperor—especially daughters, wives and mothers—may not have had formal political power, but they had proximity, access, influence. Between this proximity and their own dynastic credentials, imperial women found themselves being used by emperors and occasionally, as we’ll see with in the next few episodes with Agrippina, using emperors as proxies for their own ambitions. One of the best was Agrippina.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Juvenal Satires 10.329-345

Tacitus, Annals 12.7

Claudius was often ridiculed by his family members, as well as senators. He may not have been as cruel as Caligula, but neither was he sufficiently deferent to the nobility. Claudius, however, carried on as he wished—and ended up creating a sustainable power base with the common people and his former slaves. He won popularity by securing the Roman food supply, and enthusiastically supporting Rome’s growing entertainment scene. But the senate remained hostile. How could the same emperor be so loved by the people, and yet so hated by members of his own senate?

Primary Sources Referenced:

Seneca, Apocolocyntosis, 11.3-4.

Suetonius, Claudius 21.

Much of what we’ve talked about on this podcast has been focused on events in Rome, and especially with the major players in what would become Rome’s first imperial dynasty. But during the reign of Claudius, the Roman legions invaded the island of Great Britain, and this monumental event gives us an opportunity to better understand the wrecking ball that was the Roman military. Claudius never had the senate on his side, but his successes in Great Britain made many Romans feel like Rome was winning again—that lost glory was being restored. Why did the Romans want to conquer Britain, and how did they do it? We’ll answer those questions on this episode of the Pax Romana Podcast.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Julius Caesar, The Gallic Wars 4.23.

Tacitus, Agricola 13.

Cassius Dio, Roman History 60.19.

Statue of Claudius Conquering Britannia.Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

The conspiracy to assassinate Caligula was a smashing success. But did the senate really wish to keep the Principate going? Why not go back to the republic? Well, the choice would be made for them; by the Praetorian Guard. For the first of many times, the right to rule the Roman Empire was simply purchased.

Primary sources Referenced:

Suetonius, Life of Claudius 3, 30.

Claudius Coin ('Emperor Received').

Claudius Coin ('Praetorians Received').

Cassius Dio, Roman History 60.3.2-3Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

Was the emperor Caligula mad or just bad? No one really knows. But on todays podcasts, we recount some of the worst excesses of Rome’s third emperor. At this point, not only was the republic dead and gone, but it seemed the arrangements put in place by Augustus were also reaching a devastating end. As Caligula’s antics, eccentricities and outright malice created a climate far worse—far more deadly—than any living Roman could recall, it became clear that a new member of Augustus family needed to be found and made emperor. The problem? Caligula was having them killed—his own family members—one after another. Would Rome ever rid itself of its worst emperor yet?

Primary sources Referenced:

Suetonius, Life of Caligula 37.

Suetonius, Life of Caligula 24.

Cassius Dio, Roman History 59.14.7.

Cassius Dio, Roman History 59.29.6-7, 30.1.

Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

Caligula—one of the most infamous names in Roman history. But before he became the cruel and debased monster that history would remember, he began his reign with all signs pointing to a return to the good old days of Augustus. Unlike the previous emperor Tiberius, Caligula was engaged and active—a princeps prepared to fulfill the calling of his office, to be an example of morality and nobility that would provide a renewed sense of purpose to a senate that had lost its way during the treason trials under Tiberius. But as we’ll learn today, the wild optimism that began was quickly snuffed out.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Cassius Dio, Roman History 59.6.1-4

Suetonius, Caligula 15

CIL VI, 00892

Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

Tiberius rules Rome—the second man now to serve as princeps—a new autocratic ruler with a lifetime term—an all-powerful guardian to keep the Republic from descending into civil war. But Tiberius seemed a reluctant emperor. He refused titles and honors—undermining his own regime’s propaganda. He lacked patience for senatorial politics—alienating the Roman nobility. And, in the year AD 26, just twelve years into his reign, he abandoned Rome forever. The imperial capital was rudderless. And into the void stepped the praetorian prefect Sejanus. And he seems to have had a plan to become Tiberius’ heir, and the next Roman emperor. Would it succeed?

Primary Sources Referenced:

Suetonius, Life of Tiberius 43-45.

Cassius Dio, Roman History 58.

Tacitus, Annals 3.65.

Suetonius, Life of Tiberius 75.

Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

Augustus was a tough emperor to follow. When he died in 14 AD, his personal state was passed on to a man who seemed unsure of whether he wanted it—Augustus’ adopted son Tiberius. Tiberius was clearly not Augustus’ first choice—only being adopted after Augustus’ grandchildren conveniently died. And Tiberius would only be in charge a few years before many others in Rome also began to question whether this new emperor was up to the job.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Tacitus Annals 1.4Tacitus Annals 4.3Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

Despite Augustus’ attempt to project his reign as unquestioned and unifying, he in fact faced several forms of rebellion, from culture wars to outright conspiracies. How did the Augustan regime come to an end?Primary Sources Referenced:

Ovid, Amores 1.9Tacitus, Annals 1.2-3Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

Octavian’s new name, Augustus, signified Augustus’ new job; he was now personally responsible to preserve the newly won peace. The gods demanded a Roman representative. The chaos of the late republic was a direct result of impiety: the Romans had grown lax in their worship and committed grievous sins. Rome needed an anointed one—a messiah. How did Augustus convince Romans to place him at the center of a major religious reformation?

Primary Sources Referenced

Kneeling Parthian Denarius (RIC 287).

Augustus, Res Gestae 26.

Horace, Secular Hymn.

Virgil, Aeneid 6.1062-1076.

Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

The victory against Antony at Actium won Octavian sole control over Rome’s empire. No opposition remained, and Octavian was just 33 years old. For the next four and a half decades, Octavian thoroughly reshaped Roman society—from religion, to politics, to the social hierarchy—into an autocratic system centered upon a single semi-divine, all-powerful emperor. How did he unify an empire which had been torn apart by factionalism, political purges, violence and civil war? Find out on this episode of thePax Romana Podcast.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Tacitus,Annals 1.2

Cassius Dio,Roman History 53.16.

Augustus,Res Gestae34.

Buy Professor Elliott's newest book:⁠⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

The battle of Phillipi was over. Tens of thousands of Romans were dead, including Brutus and Cassius—leaders of the last republican faction. The victors in that battle—Mark Antony and Octavian—parted ways. Octavian marched back to Rome, and its furious elites who had been taxed, stolen from and murdered. And Rome's poor were starving. Mark Antony, meanwhile, found his way into the arms of Cleopatra, and a tragic romance that changed history forever.

Primary Sources Referenced:

Plutarch,Life of Antony 27

Cassius Dio,Roman History 50.5

Plutarch,Life of Antony 54

Denarius of Antony and Cleopatra (RRC 543/1)Buy Professor Elliott's newest book:⁠⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

Mark Antony, Lepidus and Caesar—and their combined armies—marched into Rome late in the year 43 BC. Thus began a reign of terror and atrocities that ended all hope of restoring the Roman republic. But there was the matter of Caesar’s assassins to contend with, and the triumvirs needed to move before they lost the advantage gained by their sudden alliance and drastic power grab in Rome.

Primary Sources Referenced:

• Appian, Civil Wars 4.2.7
• Plutarch, Life of Antony 19
• Plutarch, Life of Antony 24
• Plutarch, Life of Antony 25

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Everyone gathered for Julius Caesar's funeral—Caesar’s friends, as well as his enemies. It was perhaps the most awkward funeral in history. Everyone just wanted the thing to be over, so the city could move on, and the republic could heal. But that's not what happened. Instead, one man gave a fiery eulogy that turned this sham of a funeral into a raging riot. That arsonist was Mark Antony.

Primary Sources Referenced:

• Plutarch, Life of Antony 14-15
• Suetonius, Life of Caesar 88
• Cicero, Second Philippic, 18.44-46

Buy Professor Elliott's newest book: ⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

Caesar's death left a power vacuum that sucked the breath out of Rome. Who of Rome’s surviving elites were most prepared to rally the shell-shocked city? The derelict drunkard Mark Antony held formal power, but would anyone follow him? Caesar’s general Lepidus had an army in the city, but would he have the guts to use it? Then there were the assassins themselves; they held their daggers in their hands as they marched through the city, but could they really expect to revive the republic after such a grisly murder?

Primary Sources Referenced:

• Caesar,Civil Wars1.120
• Appian,Civil Wars 2.128

Buy Professor Elliott's newest book:⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠, published by Princeton University Press.

To many in Rome, Caesar was a heroic figure. Caesar’s family, the Julii, were older than the Roman Republic itself. And yet he was a populist through and through—a man who had disregarded many of the norms of his fellow elites. Many Roman senators saw Caesar’s violent politics, excessive honors and increasing popularity as threatening to tear down the Roman Republic, only to replace it with a monarchy. Rome had not had a king for almost 500 years, and many senators would stop at nothing—even murdering one of their own—to preserve that republic for future generations.

Primary sources referenced:

• Cicero,On Duties 3.82-3
• Caesar,Civil Wars 1.9
• Suetonius,Life of Caesar76

Buy Professor Elliott's newest book:⁠Pox Romana: The Plague that Shook the Roman World⁠, published by Princeton University Press.