But what are the monarchs of the Roman East doing in Ravenna? Neither Justinian nor Theodora ever set foot in the city that is forever associated with their names. They ruled from Constantinople. Like Ravenna’s lost imperial palace, they are ghosts.
Yet one other thing remains of the presence of the Roman emperor in Ravenna. That is the name of the region where Ravenna sits: Romagna, “the land of the Romans,” as it is still called today. The term was first used in the four hundreds and then again when the area was under Byzantine rule. It is understandable that people would be proud of their connection to that empire. Under Justinian, the Roman Empire was one of the greatest powers in the world, and Constantinople was one of the greatest cities.
Yet when Augustus created the Roman Empire, he could never have guessed that it would be in little Ravenna, a port city far from Rome, that the empire’s last afterglow in the west would linger.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Gratitude, says Cicero, contains the memory of friendships and of kindness on the part of others, and the desire to repay them (Cicero, On Invention, 2.161). If so, then my memory is sweet, my desire is ardent, but my ability to repay is poor. What follows is inadequate as a way of saying thank you for the friendship and generosity shown to me in the course of writing this book.
I’m deeply grateful to the colleagues, friends, and students who read all or part of the manuscript in draft. They made it much better. The faults, of course, remain my own. Thank you to Maia Aron, Kathleen Breitman, Serhan Güngör, Adam Mogelonsky, Jacob Nabel, and Tim Sorg.
Dr. Francesco M. Galassi, University of Zurich, shared his expertise on ancient medicine. Mary McHugh shared her work and thoughts on the two Agrippinas. Waller Newell offered many stimulating conversations on ancient tyranny. Walter Scheidel shared ideas from his forthcoming project on Roman emperors. Barry Weingast offered insights on institutions and paradigms, ancient and modern. Kevin Bloomfield and Jonathan Warner provided expert research assistance. Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Timothy Wilson, Royal Artillery, proved a generous guide to Hadrian’s Wall Country.
Four institutions generously offered support for this project: the American Academy of Rome, where I was a visiting scholar; the Bogliasco Foundation, where I was a fellow; the Hoover Institution, where I was a visiting scholar; and Cornell University, which was kind enough to grant me leave to research and write. At the American Academy in Rome, there are too many people to thank, but I would like especially to mention current and former directors John Ochsendorfer and Kim Bowes. At the Bogliasco Foundation, I would like to thank Laura Harrison as well as many others. At the Hoover Institution, I would like to thank Victor Davis Hanson for his friendship and hospitality as well as for the example he sets as a historian. I would also like to thank David Berkey and Eric Wakin. At Cornell, I would like to thank my colleagues and the staffs of the Departments of History and of Classics. I would also like to express my gratitude to Cornell’s wonderful John M. Olin Library.
A long list of people shared expertise, displayed hospitality, offered guidance around ancient sites, served as sounding boards, offered encouragement, and provided the most important service of all: they were there when needed. Thank you to Benjamin Anderson, Darius Arya, Jed Atkins, Ernst Baltrusch, Elizabeth Bartman, Colin Behrens, Leo Belli, Sandra Bernstein, Lisa Blaydes, Nikki Bonanni, Philippe Bohström, Dorian Borbonus, Elizabeth Bradley, Mary Brown, Judith Byfield, Holly Case, Christopher Celenza, Giordano Conti, Bill Crawley, Craig Davis, Angelo De Gennaro, Megan Drinkwater, Ertürk Durmus, Radcliffe Edmonds, Gary Evans, Michael Fontaine, Bernard Frischer, Adam Friedman, Lorenzo Gasperoni, Rick Geddes, Genevieve Gessert, Giovanni Giorgini, Stephen Greenblatt, Meyer Gross, Stephen Haber, John Hyland, Isabel Hull, Brian Jay Jones, Eleanor Leach, Susann Lusnia, Craig Lyons, Sturt Manning, Harvey Mansfield, Brook Manville, Adrienne Mayor, Kelly McClinton, J. Kimball McKnight, Alison McQueen, Ian Morris, Thomas J. Morton, Josiah Ober, Grant Parker, Piergiorgio Pellicioni, Verity Platt, Danielle Pletka, Sergio Poeta, David Pollio, Eric Rebillard, Claudia Rosett, Lukasz Rzycki, Aaron Sachs, Daniel Szpiro, Ramie Targoff, Robert Travers, Christian Wendt, Greg Woolf, and M. Theodora Zemek.
At Simon & Schuster, my editor, Bob Bender, outdid himself as far as the care and attention he devoted to this manuscript and the wisdom and good judgment that he was always ready to share. His assistant, Johanna Li, was helpful and patient. I would like to thank them as well as Marketing Director Stephen Bedford. My literary agent, Cathy Hemming, is an author’s best friend.
Adjectives don’t begin to express my gratitude to my wife, Marcia, and to my children, Sylvie and Michael, for their continuing support and affection.
I dedicate this book to my students, past and present. I can think of no better way to express my appreciation for their energy, their insights, and their friendship than the statement of the Talmud: “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, and the most from my students.”
CAST OF CHARACTERS
AUGUSTUS
Octavian, later Augustus
Rome’s first emperor, 27 BC–AD 14
Atia
Augustus’s mother
Octavia
Augustus’s sister
Julius Caesar
Dictator, Augustus’s great-uncle and adoptive father
Marcus Agrippa
Augustus’s second in command and eventually his son-in-law
Cicero
Rome’s greatest orator
Mark Antony
Octavian’s greatest rival
Cleopatra
Queen of Egypt
Livia
Augustus’s wife
Julia
Augustus’s daughter
Tiberius
Livia’s son, eventually Augustus’s adopted son and successor
TIBERIUS
Tiberius
Augustus’s successor, emperor 14–37
Livia
Tiberius’s mother, Augustus’s widow, honored with title of Julia Augusta
Vipsania
Tiberius’s wife, later divorced
Julia
Tiberius’s wife, later divorced
Germanicus
Tiberius’s nephew, named by Augustus as Tiberius’s successor
Agrippina the Elder
Augustus’s granddaughter, married to Germanicus
Sejanus
Praetorian prefect, Tiberius’s second in command and a threat to his power
Antonia
Augustus’s niece
Gaius, also known as Caligula
Son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, later Tiberius’s successor
NERO
Gaius, also known as Caligula
Emperor, 37–41
Claudius
Emperor, 41–54
Nero
Emperor, 54–68
Messalina
Claudius’s wife, later executed
Agrippina the Younger
Nero’s mother, Claudius’s wife
Seneca
Nero’s tutor and advisor; philosopher, man of letters
Poppaea Sabina
Nero’s greatest love, later his wife
VESPASIAN
Galba
Emperor, 68–69
Otho
Emperor, 69
Vitellius
Emperor, 69
Vespasian
Emperor, 69–79
Caenis
Vespasian’s mistress
Titus
Vespasian’s older son, emperor 79–81
Mucianus
Governor of Syria, ally of Vespasian
Berenice
Jewish princess, Titus’s mistress
Antonius Primus
General, politician, ally of Vespasian
TRAJAN
Domitian
Emperor, 81–96
Nerva
Emperor, 96–98
Trajan
Emperor, 98–117
Plotina
Trajan’s wife, later Augusta
Marciana
Trajan’s sister, later Augusta
Sura
Trajan’s second in command
Pliny the Younger
Intellectual, imperial propagandist, provincial governor
HADRIAN
Hadrian
Emperor, 117–138
Sabina
Hadrian’s wife, later Augusta
Plotina
Augusta, Hadrian’s patron and promoter
Suetonius
Hadrian’s chief secretary, imperial biographer
Antinous
Hadrian’s boyfriend, divinized after death
MARCUS AURELIUS
Antoninus Pius
Emperor, 138–161
Marcus Aurelius
Emperor, 161–180
Domitia Lucilla
Marcus Aurelius’s mother
Fronto
Tutor to Marcus Aurelius
Lucius Verus
Co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, 161–169
Faustina the Younger
Antoninus Pius’s daughter, Marcus Aurelius’s wife, Augusta and Mother of the Camp
Galen
Physician to Marcus Aurelius
Commodus
Marcus Aurelius’s son, emperor 180–192
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
Pertinax
Emperor, 192–193
Julianus
Emperor, 193
Pescennius Niger
Emperor, 193–195
Clodius Albinus
Emperor, 193–197
Septimius Severus
Emperor, 193–211
Julia Domna
Severus’s wife
Caracalla
Severus’s older son, emperor, 211–217
Geta
Caracalla’s younger brother, co-emperor, 211
Elagabalus
Emperor, 218–222
Julia Mamaea
Mother of Alexander Severus, virtual regent
Alexander Severus
Emperor, 222–235
DIOCLETIAN
Aurelian
Emperor, 270–275
Numerian
Emperor, 283–284
Diocletian
Emperor, 284–305
Aurelia Prisca
Diocletian’s wife
Valeria
Diocletian’s daughter, Galerius’s wife
Maximian
Western Augustus
Maxentius
Son of Maximian
Galerius
Eastern Caesar
Romula
Galerius’s mother
Constantius
Western Caesar
Constantine
Son of Constantius
CONSTANTINE
Constantius
Constantine’s father, Caesar and Augustus
Helena
Constantine’s mother, later a saint
Constantine
Emperor, 306–337
Fausta
Constantine’s second wife
Crispus
Constantine’s oldest son
Maximinus Daia
Emperor, 305–314
Maxentius
Emperor, 306–312
Licinius
Emperor, 308–324
Eusebius
Bishop of Caesarea
RAVENNA
Romulus Augustulus
Emperor, 475–476
Justinian
Emperor, 527–565
Theodora
Empress, 527–548
THE FAMILY OF AUGUSTUS/THE JULIO-CLAUDIAN DYNASTY
THE FLAVIAN FAMILY TREE
THE FAMILY OF TRAJAN AND HADRIAN/THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS
THE SEVERANS
THE FIRST TETRARCHY
THE FAMILY OF CONSTANTINE
More from the Author
The Death of Caesar
Masters of Command
The Spartacus War
The Trojan War
The Battle of Salamis
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
© CORNELL UNIVERSITY
BARRY STRAUSS is Professor of History and Classics, Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies at Cornell University. He is the author of seven books on ancient history, including The Death of Caesar,The Spartacus War, and The Trojan War: A New History. His books have been translated into eleven foreign languages. Strauss has a BA from Cornell University and an MA and PhD from Yale University.
Follow his podcast, Antiquitas: Leaders and Legends of the Ancient World.
Visit www.BarryStrauss.com
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
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ALSO BY BARRY STRAUSS
The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination
Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership
The Spartacus War
The Trojan War: A New History
The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece—and Western Civilization
What If?: The World’s Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (contributor)
Western Civilization: The Continuing Experiment (with Thomas F. X. Noble and others)
War and Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Korean War and the Peloponnesian War (with David McCann, coeditor)
Rowing Against the Current: On Learning to Scull at Forty
Fathers and Sons in Athens: Ideology and Society in the Era of the Peloponnesian War
Hegemonic Rivalry: From Thucydides to the Nuclear Age (with Richard Ned Lebow, coeditor)
The Anatomy of Error: Ancient Military Disasters and Their Lessons for Modern Strategists (with Josiah Ober)
Athens After the Peloponnesian War: Class, Faction, and Policy, 403–386 BC
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NOTES
PROLOGUE: A NIGHT ON THE PALATINE
Circus Maximus: A Roman circus was an oblong-shaped space used for horse and chariot races and other events. The Circus Maximus or Greatest Circus was the largest of several circuses in the city.
dining with Jupiter in midheaven: Statius, Silvae, 4.2.18.
the emperor had the walls painted black: Cassius Dio, Roman History, 67.9.3.
another emperor turned the palace into a brothel: Suetonius, Caligula, 41.1.
the palace steps: Suetonius, Nero, 8.1; Suetonius, Vitellius, 15.2.
the grand entrance: Cassius Dio, Roman History, 68.5.5.
the back door: Suetonius, Claudius, 18.2.
“money has no smell”: Suetonius, Vespasian, 23.3; Cassius Dio, Roman History, 66.14.5.
CHAPTER 1: AUGUSTUS, THE FOUNDER
“When I had extinguished the flames of civil war”: Res Gestae Divi Augusti, 34, trans. Loeb Classical Library, here and throughout.
By “nobility,” the Romans meant a very small group: See Ronald Syme, “The Nobilitas” in The Augustan Aristocracy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), 1–14.
Her name was Atia: On Atia, see Ilse Becher, “Atia, die Mutter des Augustus—Legende und Politik,” Ernst Günther Schmidt, ed., Griechenland und Rom, Vergleichende Untersuchungen zu Entwicklungstendenzen und-höhepunkten der antiken Geschichte, Kunst und Literatur (Tbilissi: Universitätsverlag Tbilissi in Verbindung mit der Palm & Enke, Erlangen und Jena, 1996), 95–116.
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