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Numerical Anxiety
Sep 2, 2011

Hello.
Can those who know more than me say something about education on the Latin-speaking side of the Empire? I know of it only through the rather entertaining portrait that Augustine gives in the Confessions, but I'm always left wondering when reading ancient texts who was actually reading these things. I assume it's the tiniest of fragments of the overall population that can read, say, Cicero or Augustine, yes?

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thekeeshman
Feb 21, 2007
While we're on the subject of Rome, I found this:

http://orbis.stanford.edu/

From the description:

The model consists of 751 sites, most of them urban settlements but also including important promontories and mountain passes, and covers close to 10 million square kilometers (~4 million square miles) of terrestrial and maritime space. 268 sites serve as sea ports. The road network encompasses 84,631 kilometers (52,587 miles) of road or desert tracks, complemented by 28,272 kilometers (17,567 miles) of navigable rivers and canals.

Messing around with it really made me appreciate how far-flung the empire was, and just how long it took to get information anywhere. How they ever hoped to keep control of Britain or the farther flung inland provinces is beyond me.

Octy
Apr 1, 2010

Numerical Anxiety posted:

Can those who know more than me say something about education on the Latin-speaking side of the Empire? I know of it only through the rather entertaining portrait that Augustine gives in the Confessions, but I'm always left wondering when reading ancient texts who was actually reading these things. I assume it's the tiniest of fragments of the overall population that can read, say, Cicero or Augustine, yes?

Pretty much. I think a lot of these works were often written in Greek rather than Latin too, at least up until towards the end of the Republican period. The elite would have learned to read, write and speak in both. I believe it was Cato the Elder who was the first to write a history in Latin.

Twat McTwatterson
May 31, 2011
What is the obsession with mythically linking Aeneas to the founding of Rome, and when is this idea first espoused in Roman culture? Certainly Virgil did not create the whole idea. And of course I understand the idea of tracing Rome back to a kingly lineage and whatnot, but why specifically a Trojan? Because it's anti-Greek, or Homer is just that dominant and widespread in Mediterranean thought?

Mediochre
Jul 3, 2002
The Praetorian guards seemed totally badass and awesome to have as your protectors, unless of course they decided to kill you.

Why were many Roman emperors unable to secure adequate personal protection for themselves?

Nostalgia4Dogges
Jun 18, 2004

Only emojis can express my pure, simple stupidity.

Is the whole "Some dude invented the steam engine and a Roman emperor had him killed and the plans/machine destroyed because he thought it'd make people lazy" even remotely true?

I've seen it rehashed on these forums at least 4 times. Everytime slightly different.

Amused to Death
Aug 10, 2009

google "The Night Witches", and prepare for :stare:
Well there was Hero of Alexandria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_of_Alexandria

He is known to have produced a steam powered device, but it had no practical effects beyond an amusement device at the time. To my knowledge the Romans never tried to destroy it, in fact the technology for steam engines just didn't exist for Hero's aeolipile to ever be more of anything than an amusement or experiment in forces.

Octy
Apr 1, 2010

Mediochre posted:

The Praetorian guards seemed totally badass and awesome to have as your protectors, unless of course they decided to kill you.

Why were many Roman emperors unable to secure adequate personal protection for themselves?

Well, the Praetorian Guard was originally a small bodyguard for a general. With Augustus they grew into a large, permanent force that protected the emperor. Until Augustus' bloodline died out (as well as his adopted line), the Guard were ludicrously loyal to anyone who was remotely related to the guy, so there wasn't much worry there. Afterwards, it was simply a matter of paying them enough and putting trustworthy people, usually close family members, as the Praetorian Prefects. The Prefects were always the weak links and the first guys you'd approach if you were planning a conspiracy. Funnily enough, I don't think the Praetorian Guard ever tried to establish itself as a military dictatorship. They were just content to back a senator or army general as emperor.


Amused to Death posted:

Well there was Hero of Alexandria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_of_Alexandria

He is known to have produced a steam powered device, but it had no practical effects beyond an amusement device at the time. To my knowledge the Romans never tried to destroy it, in fact the technology for steam engines just didn't exist for Hero's aeolipile to ever be more of anything than an amusement or experiment in forces.

And if you've got an endless supply of slaves for all your labour needs, would it ever occur to you that steam power might be applied to something other than opening doors (as an amusement)?

Grand Fromage
Jan 30, 2006

L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?


Octy posted:

And if you've got an endless supply of slaves for all your labour needs, would it ever occur to you that steam power might be applied to something other than opening doors (as an amusement)?

This is essentially my hypothesis. Slave societies don't have motivation to industrialize. The technology wasn't suppressed, they just never thought about developing it into something that could be used industrially. They couldn't have known the world-changing potential that little toy represented, and nothing happened with it.

TildeATH
Oct 21, 2010

by Lowtax
Speaking of slavery, what's the long and short of the slave uprisings and the introduction of chattel slavery from Carthage?

Farecoal
Oct 15, 2011

There he go
How big was the population of Rome/the empire?

Octy
Apr 1, 2010

Farecoal posted:

How big was the population of Rome/the empire?

At the height of the empire? Sixty millionish. There might be some who place it higher, though. As for Rome itself, it was about a million. Geographically it wasn't a big city either so unless you were rich you were living at close quarters with hundreds of thousands of other people. Perfect setting for disease to spread.

Grand Fromage
Jan 30, 2006

L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?


The extent of ancient Rome proper is amazingly small, you can walk across it in a couple hours. It would've been unbelievably crowded. That's why Roman buildings were so tall, ten story apartment complexes were standard. Because of fires there were laws that eventually limited buildings to... seven stories? Something like that, but no one seems to have given a poo poo.

If you want to see one of these, Ostia is the best place I know of. The really tall ones are all gone but there are a couple two story ones that are mostly intact and you can go inside. It's one of the few places where upper stories in a building survived, usually they collapse.

It is really hard to estimate the empire as a whole, I've seen anywhere from 50 to 100 million. ~60 is probably reasonable, 100 is way too high.

Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 07:46 on May 27, 2012

Octy
Apr 1, 2010

While I think of it, do we have any idea just how many people died during say, the Great Fire of Rome? I don't recall any of the sources mentioning it nor would I expect them to, but the number must have been fairly high. Without Crassus' elite 'firefighting' force, it's a wonder they managed to put it out.

9-Volt Assault
Jan 27, 2007

Beter twee tetten in de hand dan tien op de vlucht.
Crassus was the biggest rear end in a top hat though. He raced towards burning buildings and offered to buy it and the surrounding buildings for a vastly reduced price. If you accepted, he would use his firefighters to put out the fire. If you refused, he let it all burn down. :laugh:

Octy
Apr 1, 2010

I know. It's a great way to make money if you can live with yourself.

Shimrra Jamaane
Aug 10, 2007

Obscure to all except those well-versed in Yuuzhan Vong lore.

Octy posted:

I know. It's a great way to make money if you can live with yourself.

His death was pure karmic justice.

TildeATH
Oct 21, 2010

by Lowtax
Oh come on, guys, you mention the story without mentioning that it's the origin of the expression "fire sale". Don't you know the entire point of learning Roman history is to pause at the end, and then note just that kind of thing.

Grand Fromage
Jan 30, 2006

L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?


Octy posted:

While I think of it, do we have any idea just how many people died during say, the Great Fire of Rome? I don't recall any of the sources mentioning it nor would I expect them to, but the number must have been fairly high. Without Crassus' elite 'firefighting' force, it's a wonder they managed to put it out.

Not really but it was probably a shitload. Like most pre-modern cities, Rome was a huge firetrap and with the density of population, god. I would not be surprised if the death toll was in the tens of thousands from one of the big fires.

This also leads into an interesting bit of defending Nero. He was accused of starting the fire, which was nonsense. One of the pieces of evidence used was that he dispatched soldiers to go out and torch buildings. This is probably true, but completely misrepresenting the facts. Romans didn't have any kind of water-based firefighting technology, the only thing you could do is contain the fire by creating a firebreak and then let it burn out. Those soldiers were out demolishing buildings to stop the fire, not spread it.

Nero gets way more poo poo than he deserves (in my opinion). I should write about that later, somebody ask a Nero question.

Mediochre posted:

Why were many Roman emperors unable to secure adequate personal protection for themselves?

Basically because there was never any kind of set method of succession. As long as you had the military and/or financial prowess to secure power, it was yours. That combined with a political system that already had a long history of assassination, the fact that legions were loyal to their commanders first and the state second, and the way Roman culture encouraged power struggle and naked ambition sets you up for a whole lot of bloodshed at the top.

Numerical Anxiety posted:

Can those who know more than me say something about education on the Latin-speaking side of the Empire? I know of it only through the rather entertaining portrait that Augustine gives in the Confessions, but I'm always left wondering when reading ancient texts who was actually reading these things. I assume it's the tiniest of fragments of the overall population that can read, say, Cicero or Augustine, yes?

Roman schooling was remarkably similar to the system that currently exists in East Asia. Memorize, memorize, memorize. Thinking about the material or using it in any way was irrelevant, you just had to cram constantly. Some lucky noble kids got private tutoring instead and were able to flourish. Marcus Aurelius wrote a bit about this and how lucky he was to avoid schooling.

Literacy was actually quite widespread. It's impossible to get a firm number but all the evidence suggests the majority of citizens were literate. Roman cities had public libraries and walls were absolutely covered with writing. Graffiti, advertisements, public notices, etc--the outer wall of any building (even a tomb) was considered public space and was usually just covered with writing. They'd be repainted regularly so new ads and such could be put up. We also have the Vindolanda tablets I linked earlier, those are mostly written by common legionaries. That even your generic footsoldiers at the edge of the world could read and write is pretty strong support for common literacy.

Educated slaves were also highly valued. There were people who made a living by purchasing slave children who seemed bright, educating them, then reselling them. Like flipping a house.

physeter posted:

Interestingly enough, it did! The Greeks had an early version called the gastrophetes (sp?), and the Latin name manuballista at least indicates that the Romans had something similar. Many were stone throwers but some may have been bolt launchers. As to why there weren't more of them, I can only chalk it up to that wierd Italian prejudice against shooting other people with anything. They'd go to such great lengths to hire mercenaries that could handle slings and bows, but they were ambivalent about using them themselves. I'd call it a taboo except it apparently wasn't. I guess it's just one of those strange wrinkles in social psychology that we can't quite unravel after a thousand years of living in societies that have emphasized ranged warfare.

I had never heard of that, thanks.

It wasn't a taboo, just that in Greek and Roman culture if you didn't fight hand to hand you were a giant pussy. Manly virtue required a sword.

The Romans were fully aware of the value of ranged troops and legions always had archers and slingers, but to my knowledge these were always auxilia recruited from non-Roman provincials. Or mercenaries.

Twat McTwatterson posted:

What is the obsession with mythically linking Aeneas to the founding of Rome, and when is this idea first espoused in Roman culture? Certainly Virgil did not create the whole idea. And of course I understand the idea of tracing Rome back to a kingly lineage and whatnot, but why specifically a Trojan? Because it's anti-Greek, or Homer is just that dominant and widespread in Mediterranean thought?

The Trojans were boss.

Romans are unique in the ancient world (as far as I know) in that their origin myth was never autochthonous, but they always said they came from somewhere else. Some people take this literally and believe the Latin people originated somewhere to the east and migrated to Italy, and this was preserved through these myths. I don't know. Latin culture owes a lot to the Etruscans at least, it's hard to trace the origins. The legend of Rome's foundation is steeped in all kinds of political beliefs, like Rome's cultural inclusiveness and the idea that anyone can become Roman is directly in there where Romulus and Remus collect all the outcasts of Italy to be the citizens of Rome.

The Aeneid is our source for the Aeneas myth, which you're right was around before. Probably similar to how the Trojan War story existed but Homer wrote it down. It's important to remember that Virgil was creating Augustan propaganda with the Aeneid, it wasn't just writing a story. But I think the reason why Aeneas is picked is because The Iliad was just a pervasive story in the culture, and in that Aeneas is said to be destined to be king and fucks off somewhere instead of getting killed, so he's an available character. It gives the Romans a proud warrior past and a divinely laid destiny.

I don't know if that really answers the question but I don't know that there is a good answer. You'd probably have to ask Virgil. Also mythology isn't really my thing, I know it because you have to in order to understand the culture but I haven't studied it extensively, I prefer the history.

Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 17:49 on May 27, 2012

Iseeyouseemeseeyou
Jan 3, 2011
Why was the Varangian Guard not as abused as the Praetorian Guard was?

I slightly assume this is because the Byzantine Empire had a succession method (Monarchy) versus the Roman Empire's Republican Elections?

Two followup questions:

What happened to the German bodyguard of the Roman Emperor's? I remember there were multiple different guards, all from outside of Italy - except the Praetorian Guard, and my next question is why were non-Italian Romans so trusted?

I just can't wrap my head around this idea that Germans would be better bodyguards than the plebeian Romans because they had no where to go in society (social mobility).

Amused to Death
Aug 10, 2009

google "The Night Witches", and prepare for :stare:
The Byzantines despite being a monarchy oddly never had any set in legal set in stone succession method either. Heirs could be named but no one was getting far without the support of the military and the patriarch of Constantinople.


I always found the Roman attitude towards slavery to be interesting, especially when compared to backdrop of slavery in the say the 18th and 19th century. I mean no doubt a lot of slaves were in brutal condition, yet at the same time there was appears to be a general respect for slaves, I mean they could actually earn money and purchase their own freedom, and a large part of the Roman civil service was freedmen. There was also legislation to protect slaves, a few mentioned in "Roman Civilization Volume Two: The Empire"

-Vespasian ordered that any woman who was made a prostitute after being sold on the condition she wouldn't be made one would immediately be a free woman of the former seller.

-The Petronian Law in 33BC forbade owners from forcing their slaves to fight in arenas

-Claudius decreed that if an owner neglected the health of their slave and the slave died that the owner should be tried for murder.

-Hadrian forbid owners to kill their slaves in any circumstances saying it was a matter for the courts, outlawed abuse unless it was to get information in a criminal case, and even then only allowed it on slaves who may have had direct witness of a crime and outlawed private prisons for slaves.(Thankfully the US has now seen the folly out the outlawing of private prisons 1,900 years ago)

Heck, everyone from bottom to top was equal for Saturalia when they all wore the same exact goofy hat. Can you imagine a slave owner in say the Confederacy or Brazil becoming equal for a day with his slaves, and heck maybe even serving them dinner, or the government banishing someone for a couple of years for undue cruelty towards their slaves.

There's a line from Seneca in the book where he mentions that once the idea was taken up "to distinguish slaves from freemen by their dress; it then became apparent how great would be the impending danger if our slaves began to count our number.

Perhaps it was a mix of stoicism and the fact Romans didn't hold anyone particular group to a sub level of slavery. Slaves were just anyone who weren't citizens who by capture or birth happened to wind up as slaves.

Amused to Death fucked around with this message at 20:17 on May 27, 2012

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

Legionaries threw pila before engaging so they weren't 100% melee.

And yeah the slavery practiced in the American South was probably the most brutal and dehumanizing version of slavery in history.

Iseeyouseemeseeyou
Jan 3, 2011

Amused to Death posted:

The Byzantines despite being a monarchy oddly never had any set in legal stone succession method either. Heirs could be named but no one was getting far without the support of the military and the patriarch of Constantinople.


I always found the Roman attitude towards slavery to be interesting, especially when compared to backdrop of slavery in the say the 18th and 19th century. I mean no doubt a lot of slaves were in brutal condition, yet at the same time there was appears to be a general respect for slaves, I mean they could actually earn money and purchase their own freedom, and a large part of the Roman civil service was freedmen. There was also legislation to protect slaves, a few mentioned in "Roman Civilization Volume Two: The Empire"

-Vespasian ordered that any woman who was made a prostitute after being sold on the condition she wouldn't be made one would immediately be a free woman of the former seller.

-The Petronian Law in 33BC forbade owners from forcing their slaves to fight in arenas

-Claudius decreed that if an owner neglected the health of their slave and the slave died that the owner should be tried for murder.

-Hadrian forbid owners to kill their slaves in any circumstances saying it was a matter for the courts, outlawed abuse unless it was to get information in a criminal case, and even then only allowed it on slaves who may have had direct witness of a crime and outlawed private prisons for slaves.(Thankfully the US has now seen the folly out the outlawing of private prisons 1,900 years ago)

Heck, everyone from bottom to top was equal for Saturalia when they all wore the same exact goofy hat. Can you imagine a slave owner in say the Confederacy or Brazil becoming equal for a day with his slaves, and heck maybe even serving them dinner, or the government banishing someone for a couple of years for undue cruelty towards their slaves.

There's a line from Seneca in the book where he mentions that once the idea was taken up "to distinguish slaves from freemen by their dress; it then became apparent how great would be the impending danger if our slaves began to count our number.

Perhaps it was a mix of stoicism and the fact Romans didn't hold anyone particular group to a sub level of slavery. Slaves were just anyone who weren't citizens who by capture or birth happened to wind up as slaves.

Where would Romans that were "outlawed" go? Specifically around the peak of the Roman Empire.

Amused to Death
Aug 10, 2009

google "The Night Witches", and prepare for :stare:
I think it generally involved banishment from a certain area, such as Rome itself or Italy, or to a more distant area of the empire, basically just far away from Rome. Don't quote me on that though.

Iseeyouseemeseeyou
Jan 3, 2011

Amused to Death posted:

I think it generally involved banishment from a certain area, such as Rome itself or Italy, or to a more distant area of the empire, basically just far away from Rome. Don't quote me on that though.

Alright that makes far more sense. I was under the opinion it banished them from the Empire altogether for their sentence. I couldn't figure out where they'd go if this were the case - Germany and upper? Britain would be hostile to them, so maybe the East / Africa. Or for that matter how they would even keep track.

Iseeyouseemeseeyou fucked around with this message at 19:15 on May 27, 2012

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

You could go to Parthia.

Iseeyouseemeseeyou
Jan 3, 2011

euphronius posted:

You could go to Parthia.

I thought they conquered Parthia?

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

The Euphrates was about as far east as the Romans got, minus some campaigning that did not last very long.

Alexander did conquer what is now Iran.

euphronius fucked around with this message at 19:34 on May 27, 2012

meatbag
Apr 2, 2007
Clapping Larry
In your opinion, does Nero get way more poo poo than he deserves? :pseudo:

Alhazred
Feb 16, 2011




NM

Iseeyouseemeseeyou
Jan 3, 2011
I asked this a few months ago in the Military History thread, but figured yall might be able to answer it better. Following the (second) Dacian War,

How did the Roman Economy deal with having 1x its GDP in gold and (idk how many times) it's GDP in silver added to it?

If it wasn't put into the economy, what exactly did the Romans do with it? I assume some the troops took as loot and the powerful families took a share.

This is based off of the amount of gold and silver they took from Dacia once it was conquered (165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver).

Nothingtoseehere
Nov 11, 2010


Iseeyouseemeseeyou posted:

I asked this a few months ago in the Military History thread, but figured yall might be able to answer it better. Following the (second) Dacian War,

How did the Roman Economy deal with having 1x its GDP in gold and (idk how many times) it's GDP in silver added to it?

If it wasn't put into the economy, what exactly did the Romans do with it? I assume some the troops took as loot and the powerful families took a share.

This is based off of the amount of gold and silver they took from Dacia once it was conquered (165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver).

Just wondering, why was there so much gold and silver in Dacia? Not exactly a rich place, I would think.

Iseeyouseemeseeyou
Jan 3, 2011

nothing to seehere posted:

Just wondering, why was there so much gold and silver in Dacia? Not exactly a rich place, I would think.

Tons of Gold & Silver Mines. I think it had 2x as many as the entirety of Italy alone. Also, after the First Dacian War the Romans had Dacia as a "Client State" or something along those lines and gave them money, etc. The Gold Mines alone contributed 700 Million Denari per year (GDP of around 10 billion) to Roman Empire after the second war (according to Wikia).

General Panic
Jan 28, 2012
AN ERORIST AGENT

meatbag posted:

In your opinion, does Nero get way more poo poo than he deserves? :pseudo:

Don't want to upstage the OP, but a few years ago now the BBC did a dramatised documentary about Nero that portrayed him as more of a rational but misguided figure than the eye-rolling fruitloop from I, Claudius or Quo Vadis . I don't know how accurate either version is.

Amusingly, they picked Michael Sheen to play Nero. Since he's played Tony Blair at least three times, it was a bit like "Tony Blair reacts to the Great Fire of Rome/argues with Seneca/whacks out his mother."

FourLeaf
Dec 2, 2011
I've read that women's status in Roman society was the most advanced in world history until the 20th century. I knew Roman women had relatively more rights, but is this an exaggeration?

What led to women being granted more rights?

What made women's status regress during the Middle Ages? Christianity?

Farecoal
Oct 15, 2011

There he go
[quote="Grand Fromage" post=""404"]
Basically because there was never any kind of set method of succession.
[/quote]

Wait, what? I must not be as educated as I thought I was about Rome, I thought the position of emperor just passed down from father to son?

Iseeyouseemeseeyou
Jan 3, 2011

Farecoal posted:

Wait, what? I must not be as educated as I thought I was about Rome, I thought the position of emperor just passed down from father to son?

Republic.. Elections.. :p sons rarely followed their fathers if I'm remembering right.

e: I'm talking about Biological Sons.

Iseeyouseemeseeyou fucked around with this message at 01:19 on May 28, 2012

Foyes36
Oct 23, 2005

Food fight!

Farecoal posted:

Wait, what? I must not be as educated as I thought I was about Rome, I thought the position of emperor just passed down from father to son?

De facto this is what often happened (or at least it was passed down to adopted sons, a passage from biological father to son didn't happen until Vespasian died, which was nearly a 100 years after the foundation of the principate, and it's rare to find orderly succession from father to son until the Dominate, Marcus Aurelius to Commodus and Septimus Severus to Caracalla/Geta the most famous examples).

But formally speaking, there was no de jure procedure for inheriting the empire (like there is, for example, with the British crown). The office of 'Emperor' (at least for much of its use) wasn't so much a single title as it was a complicated collection of offices that effectively concentrated most power into one man. Why? Because Romans loving hated kings, and the idea of a de jure monarchy was abhorrent even to the staunchest supporters of Augustus. The office of Emperor provided a convenient fiction for 'maintenance' of the Republic, even though it was in effect a monarchy. So there was no automatic inheritance like one would see with a kingship.

The Senate reserved the right to approve new Emperors, but this was often predetermined by outside causes (for example, effective control of the military, or purchasing the support of the Praetorian guard). The few times the Senate had real discretion in appointing a new Emperor, they always managed to gently caress it up (read up on Pupienus and Balbinus, perhaps the most underwhelming dynamic duo ever cobbled together). Most emperors named heirs (often with the title of Caesar, sometimes as co-emperors), so it was clear who they expected to succeed them. Effectively, emperors only ruled so long as they had support of the various legions around the empire and the support of the various political entities of the day. The year of the four emperors (69 CE) is a good lesson in what it exactly takes to seize and keep the office.

Foyes36 fucked around with this message at 01:26 on May 28, 2012

physeter
Jan 24, 2006

high five, more dead than alive
The way I always try to explain Roman slavery is they were sort of treated like cars. Just because someone owns a car doesn't mean they wake up every morning and kick it in the grill. It's got resale value if nothing else.

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Amused to Death
Aug 10, 2009

google "The Night Witches", and prepare for :stare:

Pfirti86 posted:

But formally speaking, there was no de jure procedure for inheriting the empire (like there is, for example, with the British crown). The office of 'Emperor' (at least for much of its use) wasn't so much a single title as it was a complicated collection of offices that effectively concentrated most power into one man.

This is also something to keep in mind between the Principate and Dominate. Most of the emperors during the principate to varying degrees basically tried to follow the model of Augustus in regards to keeping the illusion of the Republic alive, and the emperor having his power in theory by political and religious titles/offices bequeathed to him by the Senate was important. Even the title given to Augustus, princeps, basically means first citizen, that of highest precedence among equals. I think to compare it to something modern, the illusion they were going for was that the Roman state operated basically as a semi-presidential system, with the emperor basically being head of state, the one who embodies the glory of Rome, and who was given certain powers to help in the efficiency of government or to settle disputes, and of course lead the army. Meanwhile the Senate and two Consuls were in fact supposed to be operating organs of government and highest government positions. Augustus helped set the political standard by chairing Senate meetings usually flanked by both Consuls on each side of him.

Of course that's the illusion when in reality it was near an autocracy. At least Diocletian finally just dropped the formalities and gave himself the title of dominus.

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