Septimius Severus et senatores. Septimius Severus’ Personal Policy Towards Senators in the Light of Prosopographic Research (193–211 A.D.), Szczecin 2012. (original) (raw)
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2020
“Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers and ignore all the others”. These, so Cassius Dio tells us, were the last words of emperor Septimius Severus to his sons Antoninus (later to be nicknamed Caracalla) and Geta. In Dio’s eyes, this sort of political testament was telling of Severus’ autocratic style of government, which, according to the historian, prioritized the relationship between the emperor and the army above anything else. Also, it was during the Severan age that emperors started to be addressed as domini (“lords”) and the imperial family as domus divina (“divine house”) in honorary inscriptions. Hence the impression that the reign of Severus marked an autocratic shift in imperial politics, thus prefiguring the absolutism of late-antique rulers. Yet by analyzing coins and inscriptions attesting to his relationship with the cities of the empire, it is possible to note that Severus’ policies were not markedly different from those of his predecessors. Like Vespasian, Trajan and the Antonines, he promoted the diffusion of Roman municipal administration in the provinces, supported the establishment of civic festivals and encouraged rural communities to assemble in civic bodies. All in all, he devoted considerable attention to administrative issues affecting local communities. This well harmonizes with the fact that, before becoming emperor after a bloody civil war, Severus had been a senator whose cursus honorum had focused more on civilian administration rather than military training. If, on the one hand, he cultivated his popularity in the army with a view to strengthen his dynastic projects, on the other he seems to have regarded the dialogue with civilian institutions as an essential part of his duties.
2013
First and foremost, I would like to thank the Director of the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, Katariina Mustakallio, for providing me with help and encouragement from the very beginning of my journey into the history and culture of ancient Rome. My deepest gratitude goes also to Docent Jussi Hanska, whose support has been absolutely crucial during these years; for this I am truly grateful. A great number of people have provided valuable advice for my work. Of these, I would like to single out Professor Christian Krötzl and Docent Ville Vuolanto whose comments have been very helpful. I would also like to thank Professor Ray Laurence and Docent Maijastina Kahlos for their valuable criticism. Moreover, my discussions about the history, culture and religion of ancient Rome with MA Outi Sihvonen and MA Jaakkojuhani Peltonen have been a great source of inspiration, and for this I give them my thanks. Furthermore, I would like to thank collectively all other members of the various seminars and working groups in which I have participated, as well as my many colleagues and teachers at the history department of the Tampere University School of Social Sciences and Humanities. Needless to say, all the possible defects and mistakes of this work are solely my responsibility. I would like to express my gratitude to the various institutions and foundations which have provided support: the Finnish Academy, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation, the Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation, the H. Weijola Foundation and Villa Lanten Ystävät Ry. I would also like to thank the School of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University of Tampere for a grant to cover the costs of proofreading of my work, as well as Céline Murphy, who checked the language. With my project I have been working in various scientific libraries, both in Finland and abroad, and I would especially like to thank the people of the Finnish Institute in Rome. Over the years, I have worked and lived in Villa Lante on many occasions, and every single one has been a pleasure. Finally, the biggest thanks of all go to my parents for the support, love and encouragement they gave me all my life. With gratitude, I dedicate my work to my mother Asta, and to the memory of my father
Journal of Roman Studies 87 (1997), 1997
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Undoubtedly, the last comprehensive study on the Roman Senate elites, i.e. consuls and consulars, which is so important in view of the history of the Severan period, was the prosopographical study by P.M.M. Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander 111 . This is a continuation of G. Alföldy's deliberations (Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter den Antoninen. Prosopo graphische Untersuchungen zur senatorischen Führungsschicht 112 ) related to an earlier period -that of the Antonines. Both of these books constitute a solid foundation in contemporary science for the evaluation of the changes that this group of senators had undergone in these two periods. However, recent research has contributed many new findings and new information has been supplemented. Hence, these issues need to be re-examined 113 .