Leading Rome from a Distance, 300 BCE-37 CE - Asserting Autocracy through Absence

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.>

Product details

• Authors: Ralph Lange
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 14.11.2024
• EAN: 9781350325401
• ISBN: 978-1-350-32540-1
• No. of pages: 248
• Dimensions: 162 mm x 238 mm x 20 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > Classical linguistics / literary studies; HISTORY / Ancient / Rome, Latin, POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory, LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, Classical texts, Political leaders & leadership, Communication Studies, Ancient Rome, Literature: history & criticism, Ancient History, Ancient history: to c 500 CE, Political leaders and leadership, Ancient Greek and Roman literature, Historical research: source documents, Historical states, empires, territories and regions, c 200 BCE to c 400 CE (Spanish Roman period)