The constitution of the jewish republic of 66–70
About: This article is published in Journal of Semitic Studies.The article was published on 1964-10-01. It has received 56 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Constitution & Judaism.
Citations
More filters
08 Feb 1996
136 citations
[...]
01 Feb 1996
TL;DR: The work of the last generation of historians has represented a large step towards a better understanding of the early imperial court as mentioned in this paper, and several major studies have extended the detailed knowledge of the freedmen personnel, the equestrian amici principis, and links among the senatorial elite.
Abstract: The work of the last generation of historians has represented a large step towards a better understanding of the early imperial court. Several major studies have extended the detailed knowledge of the freedmen personnel, the equestrian amici principis, and of links among the senatorial elite. Above all, study of contacts between emperors and their subjects, the decision-making process and the distribution of resources and patronage, show the network of imperial personnel in operation and reveal something of the structures within which they operate. In discussing the nascent court of the Julio-Claudian period, it is necessary to generalize more broadly about the function of the court in the structure of imperial power. The social rituals of a court may act as a facade to screen the realities of power. Between Augustus and Nero the patterns of court life were developing, and still far from fixed. The court was a system of power which tended to its own perpetuation.
120 citations
01 Feb 1996
TL;DR: In any case, the new formula for Agrippa was only the first stage in a bigger reformulation, the 'constitutional settlement' of 23 BC Augustus made many other political dispositions in the eastern provinces as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The two major literary sources, apart from the Histories of Dio, are Suetonius' lives of Augustus and Tiberius: the Lives are immensely important, but they are organized thematically rather than chronologically. In any case, the new formula for Agrippa was only the first stage in a bigger reformulation, the 'constitutional settlement' of 23 BC Augustus made many other political dispositions in the eastern provinces. In AD 13 the constitutional powers of Augustus and Tiberius were renewed again for ten years, and the imperium of Tiberius was at last declared equal to that of Augustus: he was collega imperil. Factual power would depend on whether the system had become sufficiently ingrained in Roman political life to survive, without seriously imaginable alternative, the rule of successors less skilful and less ruthless than Augustus; and in that respect his long reign had helped to make success somewhat more likely than not.
102 citations
[...]
01 Feb 1996
TL;DR: The most interesting source of information about the Julio-Claudians is to be found in the surviving portions of Tacitus' Annals as mentioned in this paper, where Tiberius' first reported action after Augustus' death was to write to all the Roman armies.
Abstract: From Augustus on, as Cassius Dio noted, politics had ceased to be 'public'. The most fascinating source of the information about the Julio-Claudians is to be found in the surviving portions of Tacitus' Annals. Tiberius' first reported action after Augustus' death was to write to all the Roman armies. By inheriting the imperial household, the domus Caesaris, Tiberius controlled greater material resources than were available to any other Roman, either in a private capacity or as a magistrate. A number of the peculiar stories told about Gaius Caligula suggest that, more clearly than other emperors, he saw that the emperor's role symbolized the struggle of man against nature. Most ancient sources treat Claudius as a fool who became emperor by accident. Like other Romans excluded from politics, Claudius turned to intellectual pursuits, and in particular to the study of history. Like Caligula and Claudius at their accessions, Nero promised a new start, and a return to the principles of Augustus.
81 citations
01 Feb 1996
TL;DR: The triumviral period was to be one of the great men feeling their way, unclear how far a legion's loyalty could simply be bought, whether the propertied classes or the discontented poor of Rome and Italy could be harnessed as a genuine source of strength, how influential the old families and their patronage remained as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The triumviral period was to be one of the great men feeling their way, unclear how far a legion's loyalty could simply be bought, whether the propertied classes or the discontented poor of Rome and Italy could be harnessed as a genuine source of strength, how influential the old families and their patronage remained. Philippi is a very long way east, and the battles there were fought very late in the year. Even before Philippi, eighteen Italian cities had been marked down to provide land for the triumvirs' veterans; and it fell to Octavian to organize the settlement. Octavian firmly held Tarentum and Brundisium, the two great harbours of southern Italy, and it would be no easy matter for Antony to transport large quantities of troops in several waves and land them on hostile beaches. Octavian himself entered Alexandria without resistance, and in a careful speech announced his forgiveness of the city.
76 citations