Emperors of Rome | Emperor and Elite (Lecture 29)

Lecture 29: The running of the provinces, as surveyed in the last lecture, was among the most important tasks of the imperial elite and one of the prominent ways in which members of the elite served the emperor. In this lecture, we look at the groups who constituted the elite, focusing on the senators and the equestrians. We will see how the traditional role of the Senate changed from the republic to the Principate, what strategies senators used for adapting to their new role under an autocrat, and how the imperial Senate conducted its business. We will also survey the equestrian class, whose members enjoyed a greatly enhanced public profile and more prestigious careers under the Principate. The Roman elite was obsessed with the struggle for rank, and the emperor determined the winners in that struggle by the offices he dispensed.

Essential Reading:
Juvenal, Satire 4.
Pliny, Epistles, especially book 10.
Tacitus, Agricola.

Supplementary Reading:
Hopkins, Death and Renewal, especially pp. 120–200.
Talbert, Senate of Imperial Rome.