Pax Romana

by Adrian Goldsworthy

  15 Delegation led by philosophers, see Pausanius 7. 11. 4–8, Polybius 33. 2, Plutarch, Cato the Elder 22; on Menippus see L. Robert & J. Robert, Claros Vol. 1: Décrets hellénistiques (1989), Menippus 23–44 with Kallet-Marx (1995), p. 128.

  16 Cicero, ad Att. 15. 15; Sallust, Bell. Jug. 35. 10; ban on delegation borrowing money, see Diodorus Siculus 40. 1. 1.

  17 Sallust, Bell. Jug. 33. 1; Polybius 30. 18. 1–19. 17, cf. Gruen (1984), p. 574; on Roman attitudes towards monarchs see E. Rawson, ‘Caesar’s Heritage. Hellenistic kings and their Roman equals’, JRS 65 (1975), pp. 148–59.

  18 Valerius Maximus 5. 1f, Diodorus Siculus 31. 18. 1–2, with comments in Gruen (1984), pp. 694–6.

  19 In general see J. Prag, ‘Auxilia and gymnasia: A Sicilian model of Roman Imperialism’, JRS 97 (2007), pp. 68–100; on Caesar and the pirates and Mithridates see Suetonius, Caesar 4. 2, 74, Plutarch Caesar 2.

  20 Slave rebellions in Sicily, see the useful collection of sources in B. Shaw (ed.), Spartacus and the Slave Wars. A Brief History with Documents (2001), pp. 79–129; one or two slave revolts against Athens, see Orosius 5. 9. 5, Athaneus 6. 272e; house at Segesta, see Prag (2007), pp. 98–9 with references.

  21 Cicero, Verrines 2. 2. 95–100, cf. 2. 4. 41; Silanus, see Valerius Maximus 5. 8. 3, Cicero, de finibus 1. 7. 24, Livy, Pers. 54.

  22 Ref. Popillius Laenas from Lintott in 173 attacking the Ligurians; Livy 43. 2–3 (Loeb translation for quote).

  23 On the repetundae court see A. Lintott, ‘Leges Repetundae and associate measures under the Republic’, ZSS 98 (1981), pp. 162–212 and Imperium Romanum. Politics and Administration (1993), pp. 97–107, J. Richardson, ‘The purpose of the Lex Calpurnia de Repedundis’, JRS 77 (1987), pp. 1–12, A. Sherwin-White, ‘The date of the Lex Repetundarum and its consequences’, JRS 62 (1972), pp. 83–99; Lintott (1981), pp. 209–12 for results of trials between 149–50 BC.

  24 Verres’ comment from Cicero, Verrines 1. 14; in general see T. Frazel, ‘The composition and circulation of Cicero’s “In Verrem”’, The Classical Quarterly 54. 1 (2004), pp. 128–42, A. Vasaly, ‘Cicero, domestic politics and the first action of the Verrines’, Classical Antiquity 28. 1 (2009), pp. 101–37 and the papers in J. Prag, Sicilia Nutrix Plebis Romanae. Rhetoric, Law, and Taxation in Cicero’s Verrines (2007).

  25 For the sums of money involved in Verres’ trial see Lintott (1993), pp. 106–7, quoting Cicero, Verrines 1. 56 for forty million and Plutarch, Cicero 8 for three million.

  26 Cicero, de Officiis 2. 26–7 (Loeb translation, slightly modified).

  27 On Caesar see A. Goldsworthy, Caesar. The Life of a Colossus (2006), pp. 70–74; for the theme of changing attitudes to the empire see L. Beness & T. Hillard, ‘Rei Militaris Virtus . . . Orbem Terrarum Parere Huic Imperio Coegit: The transformation of Roman Imperium’, in Hoyos (2013), pp. 141–53.

  28 Cicero, de imperio Cn. Pompei 2. 6 (Loeb translation).

  29 Power over the globe, e.g. Cicero, de Republica 3. 35, with Beness & Hillard (2013), pp. 142–3, cf. the theme of Pompey’s triumph in 61 BC see Pliny, NH 7. 97, Plutarch, Pompey 45, Dio 37. 21. 1–4, Appian, Mith. 116–17; Sicily see Cicero, Verrines 2. 2, 3. 12; Cicero, de prov. consularibus 31 (Loeb translation).

  30 Cicero, de prov. consularibus 4 (Loeb translation, slightly modified).

  31 Cicero, de prov. consularibus 31 (Loeb translation).

  32 Cicero, de imperio Cn. Pompei 55 (Loeb translation).

  33 On the pirate problem see Appian, Mith. 91–3, Plutarch, Pompey 24–5, and for Pompey’s campaign see Appian, Mith. 94–6, Plutarch, Pompey 26–8.

  34 Epirus, see Polybius 30. 15, Livy 45. 34. 1–6, Plutarch, Aemilius Paullus 29. 1–3; Caesar in Gaul, see Plutarch, Caesar 15, Pliny, NH 7. 92, Velleius Paterculus 2. 47. 1, with comments in C. Goudineau, César et la Gaule (1995), pp. 308–11; publicani enslaving debtors see Diodorus Siculus 36. 3. 1–2.

  35 On supply of slaves, see W. Harris, ‘Demography, Geography, and the supply of slaves’, JRS 89 (1999), pp. 62–75; Spartacus, see Appian, BC 1. 118.

  36 On slavery in general see K. Bradley, ‘Slavery in the Roman Republic’, in K. Bradley & P. Cartledge (eds), The Cambridge World History of Slavery Vol. 1: The Ancient Mediterranean (2011), pp. 241–64 and W. Scheidel, ‘The Roman slave supply’, in Bradley & Cartledge (2011), pp. 287–310.

  37 For Flamininus see Polybius 18. 46. 1–15, with Gruen (1984), pp. 133–47, 448–9; on free and other cities see Lintott (1993), pp. 36–41.

  38 For the framing of legal questions in the Roman style, see the law discussed in J. Richardson, ‘The Tabula Contrebiensis: Roman law in Spain in the early first century BC’, JRS 73 (1983), pp. 33–41; Cicero, ad Att. 6. 1 for quote, with Kallet-Marx (1995), pp. 130–35.

  39 See Hillard & Beness (2013), pp. 138–40, Beness & Hillard (2013), pp. 141–53.

  40 F. Millar, ‘The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution: Politics, war and the economy’, Past & Present 102 (1984), pp. 3–24.

  41 For Cleopatra’s career see A. Goldsworthy, Antony and Cleopatra (2010), passim.

  42 For an introduction to the depiction of Cleopatra see A. Goldsworthy, Augustus. From Revolutionary to Emperor (2014), pp. 180–85, with more detail in K. Scott, ‘The Political Propaganda of 44–30 BC’, Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 11 (1933), pp. 7–49, esp. 33–49, J. Osgood, Caesar’s Legacy: Civil War and the Emergence of the Roman Empire (2006), pp. 335–49, Pelling in CAH2 X, pp. 40–48, and R. Syme, The Roman Revolution (1960), pp. 276–8.

  CHAPTER VII – EMPERORS

  1 Virgil, Aeneid 6. 851–3 (Loeb translation, slightly modified).

  2 Dio 47. 25. 3, and Appian, BC 4. 100–01; for examples of Brutus’ coinage see M. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (1974), pp. 498–508.

  3 Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 14. 314–16, and 14. 301–12 (quotes from Loeb translation); see also in general J. Osgood, Caesar’s Legacy: Civil War and the Emergence of the Roman Empire (2006), pp. 105–6.

  4 On the Parthian invasion see D. Kennedy, ‘Parthia and Rome: eastern perspectives’, in D. Kennedy (ed.), The Roman Army in the East. JRA Supplementary Series 18 (1996), pp. 67–90, esp. 77–81, Osgood (2006), pp. 185, 225–8, G. Bowersock, ‘The mechanics of subversion in the Roman Provinces’, in Opposition et résistance à l’empire d’Auguste à Trajan, Entretiens sur L’antiquité classique (1987), pp. 291–317, esp. 295–6.

  5 Historia Augusta, Hadrian 15. 13; on the emperor and the army in general see J. Campbell, The Emperor and the Roman Army 31 BC–AD 235 (1984), passim; on Augustus and the army see A. Goldsworthy, Augustus. From Revolutionary to Emperor (2014), pp. 245–53, 436–7.

  6 For concise introductions to the career of Augustus and the system he created see D. Shotter, Caesar Augustus (2nd edn, 1991), W. Eck, The Age of Augustus (2003), K. Galinsky, Augustus. Introduction to the Life of an Emperor (2012), J. Richardson, Augustan Rome 44 BC to AD 14. The Restoration of the Republic and the Establishment of the Empire (2012), and for more detail see Goldsworthy (2014).

  7 The fullest discussion of the imagery of the Augustan regime is P. Zanker (trans. A. Shapiro), The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (1988).

  8 Dio 53. 12. 2–16. 3, with W. Lacey, Augustus and the Principate. The Evolution of a System (1996), pp. 89–95, J. Liebeschuetz, ‘The settlement of 27 BC’, in C. Deroux, Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History (2008), pp. 346–53, J. Ferrary, ‘The powers of Augustus’, in J. Edmondson (ed.), Augustus (2009), pp. 90–136, esp. 90–99; on the role of provinces and warfare in general for Caesar’s justification of his position see J. Rich, ‘Augustus, War and Peace’, in Edmondson (2009), pp. 137–64, esp. 153–7.

  9 Dio 53. 13. 1.

  10 For quote see Res Gestae 34 (Loeb translation, slightly modified), on the ara pacis Augusti see D. Conlin, The Artists of the Ara Pacis. Studies in the History of Greece and Rome (1997), M. Torelli, Typology and Structure of Roman Historical Reliefs (1982), pp. 27–61, Zanker (1990), esp. pp. 158–60, 179–83, 20
3–4, K. Galinsky, Augustan Culture (1996), pp. 141–55, and R. Billows, ‘The religious procession of the Ara Pacis Augustae: Augustus’ supplicatio in 13 BC’, JRA 6 (1993), pp. 80–92.

  11 Horace, Epodes 7. 1–10 (Loeb translation); on the popular desire for a victory over the Parthians and conquests in Britain see Rich (2009), pp. 137–64, esp. 143–6, = L. de Blois, P. Erdkamp, G. de Kleijn & S. Mols (eds), The Representation and Perception of Roman Imperial Power: Proceedings of the Third Workshop of the International Network, Impact of Empire (Roman Empire 200 BC to AD 476). Netherlands Institute in Rome, March 20–23, 2002 (2003), pp. 329–57.

  12 Ovid, Fasti 1. 709–18 (Loeb translation) for the ara pacis.

  13 Dio 51. 20. 4–5, 53. 26. 1–5, 27. 1–2 and 54. 36. 2 (where a third opening was ordered, but then countermanded because a fresh war broke out), Suetonius, Augustus 22, Res Gestae 13, with comments in T. Barnes, ‘The Victories of Augustus’, JRS 64 (1974), pp. 21–6.

  14 Rich (2009), pp. 137–64, and E. Gruen, ‘The expansion of the Empire under Augustus’, in CAH2 X, pp. 147–97.

  15 Virgil, Aeneid 6. 853, Horace, Odes 3. 5. 2–4 (Loeb translation, slightly modified).

  16 On the Temple of Mars Ultor and the Forum of Augustus see Zanker (1990), pp. 81–2, 113–14, 193–215, S. Dyson, Rome. A Living Portrait of an Ancient City (2010), pp. 128–31, and Lacey (1996), pp. 193, 197–202; embassies from India and Britain, Res Gestae 31–2.

  17 R. Syme, ‘Military Geography at Rome’, Classical Antiquity 7 (1988), pp. 227–51.

  18 For accounts of the campaigns see Goldsworthy (2014), pp. 433–9, 446–55; ten legions concentrated, see Velleius Paterculus 2. 113. 1.

  19 Suetonius, Augustus 23. 2 for the quote about Varus; Tacitus, Ann. 1. 11 for Augustus’ advice.

  20 There is an especially useful discussion of this question in T. Cornell, ‘The end of Roman imperial expansion’, in J. Rich & G. Shipley (eds), War and Society in the Roman World (1993), pp. 139–70.

  21 See Suetonius, Augustus 25. 2, Velleius Paterculus 2. 110. 6–111. 2, with L. Keppie, The Making of the Roman Army (1984), pp. 168–9; Tacitus, Ann. 2. 5 on Gaul and other provinces.

  22 Cornell (1993), pp. 145–9 provides a good survey with references of the debate over these questions, and B. Rankov, ‘A“secret of empire” (imperii arcanum): an unacknowledged factor in Roman imperial expansion’, in W. Hanson (ed.), The army and the frontiers of Rome: papers offered to David Breeze on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday and his retirement from historic Scotland. JRA Supplementary Series 74 (2009), pp. 163–72.

  23 Strabo, Geog. 17. 3. 24, and 2. 5. 8.

  24 Appian, praef 7.

  25 Suetonius, Nero 18 for the claim that he considered abandoning Britain, with the scepticism of M. Todd, Roman Britain (3rd edn, 1999), pp. 67–8.

  26 B. Levick, Claudius (1990), pp. 29–39 for discussion of the circumstances of his accession.

  27 Campbell (1984), pp. 59–69, 417–27.

  28 Tacitus, Ann. 11. 20; for a range of views on the invasion of Britain see Todd (1999), pp. 45–6, G. Webster, The Roman Invasion of Britain (rev. edn, 1993), pp. 84–5, and Levick (1990), pp. 137–44.

  29 ‘Shameful peace’, Tacitus, Ann. 15. 25; suicide of Corbulo, note the interesting comments in Bowersock (1987), pp. 316–17.

  30 Comparisons with Alexander, Dio 68. 29. 1–4.

  31 Dio 69. 1. 1 denied Hadrian’s adoption.

  32 Hadrian’s prediction of his own death, Historia Augusta, Hadrian 16. 7; Marcus Aurelius’ campaigns, see A. Birley, Marcus Aurelius (rev. edn, 1987), pp. 159–79, 206–10.

  33 Dio 75. 3. 2–3

  34 Contrast Dio 68. 6. 1–2, with 68. 17. 1.

  35 Strabo, Geog. 6. 4. 2 (Loeb translation).

  36 Velleius Paterculus 2. 126 .3

  CHAPTER VIII – REBELLION

  1 Josephus, BJ 2. 356 (Loeb translation).

  2 For the invasion army in AD 43 see G. Webster, The Roman Invasion of Britain (rev. edn, 1993), pp. 85–92.

  3 Dio 60. 19. 1–22. 2, Suetonius, Vespasian 4. 1, with discussion in Webster (1993), pp. 94–110; on the Roman army in the field and levels of fighting see A. Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War 100 BC–AD 200 (1996), pp. 79–105 and ‘War’, in P. Sabin, H. van Wees & M. Whitby (eds), The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare Vol. 2: Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Empire (2007), pp. 76–121, esp. 85–9.

  4 Tacitus, Ann. 12. 34–37, with quote from 12. 37.

  5 Togidubnus, see Roman Inscriptions in Britain 91, Tacitus, Agricola 14, with G. Webster, Rome against Caratacus (rev. edn, 1993), pp. 24–7, 124–30, J. Manley, AD 43. The Roman Invasion of Britain – A Reassessment (2002), pp. 64–5, 114–15, 120–21; J. Hind, ‘A. Plautius’ campaign in Britain: an alternative reading of the narrative in Cassius Dio (60. 19. 5–21. 2)’, Britannia 38 (2007), pp. 93–106, esp. 96–100, argues that Togidubnus was the Togodumnus, son of Cunobelinus who fought the Romans in AD 43, but then made peace and became a client king. While possible, the evidence is inadequate to prove the case one way or the other.

  6 Tacitus, Ann. 12. 31–2 for the rebellion; in general see P. Brunt, ‘Did Imperial Rome disarm her subjects?’, Phoenix 29 (1975), pp. 260–70.

  7 Tacitus, Ann. 14. 31.

  8 The main narratives of the rebellion are Tacitus, Ann. 14. 29–39 and Agricola 5, 14–16, Dio 62. 1. 1–12. 6; a concise and critical survey of the evidence is provided by M. Johnson, Boudicca (2012).

  9 Tacitus, Ann. 12. 32, 14. 31–2.

  10 Caesar, BG 6. 13–14, 16–18; for an insightful assessment of the changing role of druids before and after conquest by Rome see J. Webster, ‘At the end of the world: Druidic and other revitalization movements in post-conquest Gaul and Britain’, Britannia 30 (1999), pp. 1–20; on Roman attitudes to the cult see also M. Goodman, The Ruling Class of Judaea. The Origins of the Jewish Revolt against Rome AD 66–70 (1987), pp. 240–48.

  11 Roman hostility to human sacrifice, see Pliny, NH 30. 13, with comments and further references in Webster (1999), p. 13; on the destruction of the groves on Mona see S. Rutledge, ‘The Roman destruction of sacred sites’, Historia 56 (2007), pp. 179–95, esp. 191–2; for the tendency for rebellion to catch the Romans by surprise see S. Dyson, ‘Native Revolts in the Roman Empire’, Historia 20 (1971), pp. 239–74, esp. 250, 252–4, 263–4.

  12 For these towns and the rebellion in general see J. Wacher in CAH2 X, pp. 508–9, 511–13.

  13 Dio 52. 7. 2 (Loeb translation). It should be noted that this lurid passage comes from a later epitome of Dio’s longer history. The author of this summarised version was inclined to include the most dramatic passages and make them more prominent than in the original version, but it is unlikely that he invented them; Tacitus, Ann. 14. 33 for casualties and the rebels’ unwillingness to take prisoners.

  14 RIB 12.

  15 M. Todd, Roman Britain (3rd edn, 1999), pp. 71–3.

  16 On rebellions in general see S. Dyson, ‘Native Revolts in the Roman Empire’, Historia 20 (1971), pp. 239–74 and ‘Native Revolt Patterns in the Roman Empire’, ANRW 2. 3 (1975), pp. 138–75.

  17 For an overview of AD 9 see A. Goldsworthy, Augustus. From Revolutionary to Emperor (2014), pp. 446–53, and for more detail see P. Wells, The Battle that Stopped Rome (2003) and A. Murdoch, Rome’s Greatest Defeat. Massacre in the Teutoburg Forest (2006).

  18 On Lanhau-Waldgirmes see R. Wolters, Die Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald (2008), pp. 65–9.

  19 Dio 54. 21. 1–8.

  20 For Varus see Velleius Paterculus 2. 117. 2–4 including the quotes, Dio 56.l 18. 1–5; for Pannonia see Dio 56. 16. 3 (Loeb translation).

  21 Tacitus, Ann. 4. 72–4; for the size of cattle and livestock see M. Todd, The Early Germans (2nd edn, 2004), pp. 76–8.

  22 Tacitus, Ann. 4. 46–51; for the quote see Tacitus, Hist. 4. 14; on the origins of the Batavian rebellion see Dyson (1971), pp. 264–7 and K. Wellesley, The Year of Four Emperors (3rd edn, 2000), pp. 168–83.

/>   23 For Arminius and his early life see esp. Velleius Paterculus 2. 118. 1–3, Tacitus, Ann. 2. 9–10, 88.

  24 For attempts to interpret the remarkable archaeology of part of this battle, see A. Rost, ‘The Battle between Romans and Germans in Kalriese: Interpreting the Archaeological Remains from an ancient battlefield’ and S. Wilbers-Rost, ‘The site of the Varus Battle at Kalkriese. Recent Results from Archaeological Research’, both in A. Moirillo, N. Hanel & E. Martín, Limes XX: Estudios sobre la frontera romana. Roman Frontier Studies. Anejos de Gladius 13 Vol. 3 (2009), pp. 1339–45, 1347–52; the main ancient sources are Dio 56. 19. 1–22. 2, Velleius Paterculus 2. 119. 1–5, Tacitus, Ann. 1. 61–2.

  25 Tacitus, Germania 37.

  26 Josephus, BJ 2. 39–79 for Varus in 4 BC; there is much of relevance to the way rebellions develop in the early twentieth-century military manual, C. Callwell, Small Wars. A Tactical Textbook for Imperial Soldiers (rev. edn, 1990), pp. 26, and esp. 71–84.

  27 Tacitus, Ann. 12. 31.

  28 Tacitus, Ann. 14. 37, Dio 62. 8. 1.

  29 Tacitus, Ann. 2. 88.

  30 Tacitus, Ann. 1. 57–9, Velleius Paterculus 2. 118. 4.

  31 E.g. Dio 54. 20. 4–6, Suetonius, Augustus 23. 1, with Dyson (1975), pp. 154–6.

  32 Dyson (1975), pp. 156–8.

  33 See J. Spaul, Ala2 (1994), pp. 52–3.

  34 Caesar, BG 6. 15 for aristocrats basing their power on the number of warriors in their household.

  35 For the full narrative see Tacitus, Ann. 3. 41–7.

  36 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 54 for druidic prophecies and 2. 61 for Mariccus.

  37 For instance, G. Woolf, ‘Roman Peace’, in J. Rich & G. Shipley, War and Society in the Roman World (1993), pp. 171–94, esp. 186–8, and S. Mattern, Rome and the Enemy. Imperial Strategy in the Principate (1999), pp. 100–03, esp. 101 fn. 95, citing T. Pekàry, ‘Seditio: Unruhen und Revolten im römischen Reich von Augustus bis Commodus’, Ancient Society 18 (1987), pp. 133–50, but of his list, pp. 136–45, only a handful of incidents could be described as revolts against Roman rule.