Leading Rome from a Distance, 300 BCE–37 CE

Asserting Autocracy through Absence

Ralph Lange

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781350325425
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Roman Ancient History
• Index: Literature

Roman political leaders used distance from Rome as a key political tool to assert pre-eminence. Through the case studies of Caesar's hegemony, Augustus's autocracy, and Tiberius's reign, this book examines how these figures' experiences and manipulations of absence established a multipolar focus of political life centred less on the city of Rome, and more on the idea of a single leader. The Roman expansion over Italy and the Mediterranean put the political system under considerable stress, and eventually resulted in a dispersal of leadership and a decentralization of power. Absent generals rivalled their peers in Rome for influence and threatened to surpass them from the provinces. Roman leaders, from Sulla to Tiberius, used absence as a mechanism to act autonomously, but it came at the cost of losing influence and control at the centre. In order to hold influence while being split off from the decision-making powers of the geographical nucleus that was Rome, communication channels to mitigate necessary absences were developed during this period, such as travel, intermediate meetings, letters (propaganda writings) and a complex network of mediators, ultimately forming the circle from which the imperial court emerged. Absent leadership, as it developed throughout the Late Republic, a hitherto neglected issue, eventually became a valuable asset in the institutionalising process of the autocracy of Caesar, Augustus, and Tiberius.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Dedication
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Dealing with Distance: The Impact of res militares (300–49 bce)
• 2 Caesar: The Taming of Distance 87–44 bce
• 3 Augustus: Autocracy through Absence 44 bce–14 ce
• 4 Tiberius: The Tyranny of Distance 14–37 ce
• Conclusion: The Commanding Space
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright