John D Grainger analyses the Roman imperial succession, demonstrating that the empire organized by Augustus was fundamentally flawed in the method it used to find emperors. Augustus' system was a mixture of heredity, senatorial and military influences, and these were generally antagonistic. Consequently the Empire went through a series of crises, in which the succession to a previous, usually dead, emperor was the main issue. The infamous 'Year of the Four Emperors', AD 69, is only the most famous of these crises, which often involved bouts of bloody and destructive civil war, assassinations and purges. These were followed by a period, usually relatively short, in which the victor in the 'crisis' established a new system, juggling the three basic elements identified by Augustus, but which was as fragile and short lived as its predecessor; these 'consequences' of each crisis are discussed. The lucid and erudite text is supported by numerous genealogical tables and dozens of depictions of emperors.
Author(s): John D. Grainger
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Year: 2020
Language: English
City: Barnsley
Cover
Book title
Copyright
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Genealogical Tables
List of Tables (Emperors)
Introduction
Part I Augustus Defines the System
Chapter One
Augustus
Part II The Augustan Process
Chapter Two The First Imperial Family
Chapter Three The Crisis of 68–69
Chapter Four The Consequence of Civil War:The Flavian Dynasty
Chapter Five The Crisis of 96–97
Chapter Six The Consequences of Trajan:The Antonine ‘Dynasty’
Chapter Seven The Crisis of 193
Chapter Eight The Consequences of Septimius
Part III The Senate’s Revival
Chapter Nine The Crisis of 238
Chapter Ten The Consequences of Gordian (1):Successful Emperors
Chapter Eleven The Consequences of Gordian (2):Unsuccessful Emperors
Part IV Heredity and Absolutism
Chapter Twelve The Tetrarchy
Chapter Thirteen The Crises of 306–312
Chapter Fourteen The Consequences of Constantine
Chapter Fifteen The Crises of 375–379
Chapter Sixteen The Consequences of Theodosius
Part V Breakdown
Chapter Seventeen The Crises of 455–457
Chapter Eighteen The Consequences of Ricimer and Aspar
Chapter Nineteen The Crisis of 474–476
Conclusion
List of Emperors
Notes
Bibliography
Back
cover
