Saturday, July 9, 2011

Hail Caesar: The evolution of family name to imperial title

"The princes who by their birth or their adoption belonged to the family of the Caesars, took the name of Caesar.    After the death of Nero, this name designated the Imperial dignity itself, and afterwards the appointed successor. - Footnote, Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

However, scholars in Gibbon's time were unsure of the exact point in the Roman succession that the name transitioned to an imperial title.

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus
photographed at the Palazzo
Massimo in Rome by Mary
Harrsch.
"The time at which it was employed in the latter sense, cannot be fixed with certainty. Bach (Hist. Jurisprud. Rom. 304) affirms from Tacitus, H. i. 15, and Suetonius, Galba, 17, that Galba conferred on Piso Lucinianus the title of Caesar, and from that time the term had this meaning: but these two historians simply say that he appointed Piso his successor, and do not mention the word Caesar.  [Actually, Galba himself assumed the title "Servius Galba Imperator Caesar" then passed it on by adoption to his successor.]

Aurelius Victor (in Traj. 348, ed. Artzen) says that Hadrian first received this title on his adoption; but as the adoption of Hadrian is still doubtful, and besides this, as Trajan, on his death-bed, was not likely to have created a new title for his successor, it is more probable that Aelius Verus was the first who was called Caesar when adopted by Hadrian. Spart. in Aelio Vero, 102.- W."   - Footnote, Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Adoption certainly accounts for Augustus, who was adopted by Julius Caesar, and Tiberius, who was subsequently adopted by Augustus.  Claudius assumed the name of Caesar upon accession without previous adoption but he was a direct descendant of Caesar's bloodline.  Claudius later adopted Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (Nero) thus transmitting the name Caesar to him. So Gibbon's initial observations are correct.  However,  Gibbon seems to become a bit confused with the successions occurring in the Year of the Four Emperors.

Roman emperor Otho in 69 CE.  
Photographed at The Louvre in Paris
by Mary Harrsch.
"Galba's reign did not last long and he was soon deposed by Marcus Otho. Otho did not use the title "Caesar", but occasionally used the title "Nero" as emperor. Otho was then defeated by Aulus Vitellius who acceded with the name "Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Imperator Augustus." Vitellius did not at first adopt the cognomen "Caesar" as part of his name, and may have intended to replace it with "Germanicus" (he bestowed the name "Germanicus" upon his own son that year).

Publis Septimus Geta 3rd century CE.
Photographed at the Palazzo Altemps
in Rome by Mary Harrsch.
Nevertheless, Caesar had become such an integral part of the imperial dignity that its place was immediately restored by Titus Flavius Vespasianus ("Vespasian"), whose defeat of Vitellius in 69 [CE] put an end to the period of instability and began the Flavian dynasty. Vespasian's son, Titus Flavius Vespasianus became "Titus Caesar Vespasianus". - Wikipedia

Following the Flavians, the emperor Nerva assumed the title as well then passed it on through adoption to his heir  Caesar Nerva Traianus who, supposedly, adopted his heir Hadrian, passing the title to him.  At this point our path once more converges with Gibbon.


I thought it was also interesting to read that to further distinguish the use of the name to designate the imperial heir, the title Nobilissimus (meaning "most noble") was added in the 3rd century CE beginning with  Publius Septimius Geta.


If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!


4 comments:

MjH said...

Nice blog post, Mary! Glad to see you are making headway with Gibbons' work...Perhaps I will take it on someday...But I'm now in the 2nd round of reading C. McCullough's, "Masters of Rome" series for the 2nd time.

Mary Harrsch said...

Thanks, Michael. I think it certainly helps to be able to digest Gibbon a little at a time through Daily Lit. I could easily see myself glazing over if I was assigned his works to read in their entirety in a short time.

Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series of novels are certainly more enjoyable. I actually listened to them on audio with them performed by such notable actors as Michael York which made the experience even more vivid. At present I'm reading "Claudius" by Douglas Jackson about the Roman invasion of Britain as seen through the eyes of one of Claudius' elephant handlers on the Roman side and Caratacus on the Britons' side. Then next up is "Lion of the Sun" by Harry Sidebottom, another installment in his series about the fascinating barbarian Roman officer Ballista of the 3rd century who battled the Sassanids.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I have added your latin blog to my blog. My blog have more than 350 latin sites.

Rawra said...

Great post! I love Romnan history, there is always something new to be found! I never knew ceasar was adopted.