62-3 Principate Julio-Claudian dynasty

The term Julio-Claudian dynasty refers to the first five Roman emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero^[1]—or the family to which they belonged. They ruled the Roman Empire from its formation under Augustus in the second half of the 1st century (44/31/27) BC, until AD 68 when the last of the line, Nero, committed suicide.^[2]

The "father-to-son" form of succession is notably absent in the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Neither Augustus, Caligula or Nero fathered a natural and legitimate son; Tiberius' own son, Drusus, predeceased him; only Claudius was outlived by his son, Britannicus, although he opted to promote his adopted son, Nero, as his successor to the throne. Adoption ultimately became a tool that most Julio-Claudian emperors utilized in order to promote their chosen heir to the front of the succession. Augustus, himself an adopted son of his great-uncle, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, adopted his stepson and son-in-law Tiberius as his son and heir. Tiberius was, in turn, required to adopt his nephew Germanicus, the father of Caligula. Caligula adopted his cousin, Tiberius' grandson Tiberius Gemellus shortly before executing him; Claudius adopted his great nephew and stepson Nero, who, lacking a natural or adopted son of his own, ended the reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty with his fall from power and subsequent suicide.

The ancient historians who dealt with this period—chiefly Suetonius (c. 69 – after 122 AD) and Tacitus (c. 56 – after 117 AD)—write in generally negative terms about their reign. Tacitus wrote of the historiography of the Julio-Claudian emperors:

But the successes and reverses of the old Roman people have been recorded by famous historians; and fine intellects were not wanting to describe the times of Augustus, till growing sycophancy scared them away. The histories of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius, and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror, and after their death were written under the irritation of a recent hatred

The Julio-Claudian Dynasty (27 B.C.–68 A.D.)

The Julio-Claudian principate commenced with 

Tiberius followed the instructions left by Augustus upon his death not to undertake any expansive foreign wars. Relying more on diplomacy than military force, the empire reached an unprecedented peak of peace and prosperity. He maintained a strict economy and spent little on grandiose building projects. The most impressive sculpture begun during his reign and completed under Claudius was the Ara Pietatis, a monumental altar with classical representations that recall those on the Ara Pacis Augustae (late first century B.C.). Tiberius bequeathed a great surplus to his successor, Caligula, whose enormously extravagant games and spectacles eventually emptied the imperial treasury. In matters of government, Caligula favored a monarchy of Hellenistic type and accepted elaborate honors in Rome and in the provinces. The dissemination of imperial portraiture in the provinces, in sculpture,

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Rome prospered during the succeeding reign of Claudius (Caligula’s uncle), who achieved administrative efficiency by centralizing the government, taking control of the treasury, and expanding the civil service. He engaged in a vast program of public works, including new aqueducts, canals, and the development of Ostia as the port of Rome. To the Roman empire, he added Britain (43 A.D.) and the provinces of Mauritania, Thrace, Lycia, and Pamphylia. Imperial expansion brought about colonization, urbanization, and the extension of Roman citizenship in the provinces, a process begun by Julius Caesar, continued by Augustus, slowed by Tiberius, and resumed on a large scale by Claudius.

Under the next emperor, Nero, the frontiers of the empire were successfully defended and even extended. Experienced generals, such as Corbulo and Vespasian, led triumphant campaigns in Armenia, Germany, and Britain. Nero himself was more of a dilettante, and a connoisseur and patron of the arts; his coins and imperial 

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