The Transmission of Imperial Power in Tacitus' Histories and Annals

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C o n t eSt e d
S uC CeS Si o nS
The Transmission of Imperial Power
in Tacitus’ Histories and Annals
Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor
aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
op gezag van de rector magnificus prof. mr. S.C.J.J. Kortmann,
volgens besluit van het college van decanen
in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 7 juli 2014
om 12.30 uur precies
door
Ylva Klaassen
geboren op 13 november 1984 te Leiden
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Promotor
Prof. dr. o.J. Hekster
Copromotoren
dr. B.M.C. Breij
dr. R. Ash (Merton College, oxford university)
Manuscriptcommissie
Prof. dr. M.G.M. van der Poel (voorzitter)
Prof. dr. C. damon (university of Pennsylvania)
dr. L. Foubert
Ylva Klaassen, 2014
Illustratie op omslag
Giovanni Battista Piranesi,
‘Veduta di Campo Vaccino’, Vedute di Roma (1772)
(Foto door René Seindal:
sights.seindal.dk/photo/10090,s873f.html)
ISBN/EAN
978-94-6108-651-8

Vormgeving
Sabine van der Wiel – Gember ontwerp
www.gember-ontwerp.nl
Druk
Gildeprint drukkerijen – enschede, the netherlands
Dit boek is gedrukt op FSC-gecertificeerd papier
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Proefschrift_Ylva.indd 3 30-04-14 10:52
Acknowledgements
Many people and institutions have contributed to the conception and realization
of this thesis; whilst i cannot mention every one of them here by name, i am deeply
thankful to them all for their help. the research for this thesis was funded by the
netherlands organisation for Scientific Research (nWo) and facilitated by the
Radboud university nijmegen, its Graduate School for the Humanities (GSH)
and the eu’s Lifelong Learning Programme. the national Research School in
Classical Studies in the netherlands, oiKoS, offered me the opportunity to meet
fellow researchers, to present my work, and to learn more about the ancient world.
Merton College and the Faculty of Classics at the university of oxford kindly of-
fered me their hospitality on various occasions. this research project was part of
the nWo-funded project emperors and Ancestors: the Creation of an imperial
image, overseen by prof. olivier Hekster; i would like to thank Liesbeth Claes,
nathalie de Haan, erika Manders and daniëlle Slootjes, with whom it has been a
true pleasure to work.
in writing this thesis, i have been fortunate to have the best and most dedicated
team of supervisors that anyone could ever wish for: oliver Hekster, whose sharp
insight, open(minded)ness, and belief in me and my work motivated me to formu-
late my own ideas and opinions; Bé Breij, whose enthusiasm, attention to detail,
and extraordinary ability to encourage new ideas were a constant source of help and
inspiration; and Rhiannon Ash, whose profound knowledge of tacitus, expertise in
the field of Roman literature, and numerous insightful suggestions proved invalua-
ble in developing this thesis. olivier, Bé and Rhiannon, i could not have written this
dissertation without your guidance, learning and support – thank you.
the development of my ideas and reseach benefitted greatly from the stimu-
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lating discussions that i had with various scholars, whom i gratefully acknowledge
here: Bram ten Berge, Leen van Broeck, Simon day, Lien Foubert, Coen van Galen,
Ruurd nauta, Chris Pelling, Luke Pitcher, Kelly Shannon, Andrew Stiles, Jan Wasz-
ink, the attendants of the Classics Graduate Work in Progress Seminars at oxford,
as well as the participants in several oiKoS seminars. i would like to express par-
ticular gratitude to Katherine Clarke, whose curiosity and warm enthusiasm for my
work greatly inspired me, and to Marco van der Schuur, for our many thought-pro-
voking and enjoyable conversations on Roman literature. nelleke Haverkate,
Raphaël Hunsucker, erika Manders, daniëlle Slootjes and Claire Stocks read parts
of this dissertation and significantly improved upon its texts and arguments; i am
grateful for their insightful remarks. So too am i much indebted to Simon Malloch
and Christopher Whitton, as well as to Bettina Reitz and Kelly Shannon, for allow-
ing me to read parts of their unpublished work. Bart Hekkert and Lisette de Jong
assisted me by counting kin terms; Vincent Hunink presented me with a copy of his
impressive translation of the Histories, and the Leiden university Library lending
desk provided assistance in several book-related matters. Special thanks must be
offered to Sabine van der Wiel of Gember ontwerp, who took care of the beautiful
layout of this book.
Warm thanks are due, too, for the inspiring teaching of Frits naerebout, Herman
Paul and Rens tacoma, which motivated me to study for a Phd. My colleagues at
the departments of History and Classics have been an exceptional source of encour-
agement, distraction and happiness; lack of space prevents me from naming them
individually, but i would like to address a huge ‘thank you’ to all of them for mak-
ing my time at the Radboud university both fruitful and rewarding. in addition i
would like to thank Roald dijkstra and André Lardinois, with whom i worked in the
oiKoS office, as well as my fellow board members Anoek, neele, Sten and Anne
at the Phd organization nijmegen (Pon). Also, my fellow oiKoS Phd students,
who enlivened many a seminar.
Without the love and trust of my friends and relatives, writing this thesis would
have been infinitely more difficult, and a lot less enjoyable. My family has always
believed in me and supported me in every possible way, and i cannot thank them
enough for that. i am happily grateful to Lennert, for being there at exactly the right
moment(s) to cheer me up and calm me down. My last words of thanks are re-
served for the three girls who have been a cherished presence in my Phd life right
from the start, and whose friendship and day-to-day encouragement made all the
difference. dankjewel, Soem, Sanne, and nelleke.
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Table of contents
intRoduCtion 11
1. GALBA 43
Introduction 44
1.1 | The background of the adoption 48
1.1.1 the opening of the Histories 48
The significance of the starting point 48
The prologue to the work (1.1-3): civil war 53
1.1.2 the survey: status urbis (1.4-11) and mens exercituum (1.8-11) 57
1.1.3 the situation at the start of the narration 67
Comparison with the parallel sources 68
1.2 | Galba’s new system of imperial succession 73
1.2.1 the decision to adopt (1.12-14) 73
The centrality of the adoption episode 73
The immediate reason for the adoption (1.12) 76
The consilium eligendi successoris and the comitia imperii (1.13-14) 78
1.2.2 Galba’s speech in front of his council (1.15-16) 83
Speeches in Tacitus’ historical works 83
Galba’s speech 85
1.2.3 the aftermath of the adoption (1.17-1.49) 94
Piso’s response (1.17) 94
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The announcements of the adoption (1.17-19) 95
Otho’s usurpation 99
1.3 | The choice of a successor 102
1.3.1 the candidates for the succession 102
1.3.2 the imperial successor: Piso 105
Galba’s reasons for choosing Piso 105
Piso’s characterization 106
1.3.3 the obvious candidate: otho 111
Otho’s characterization 111
Otho and Nero 118
1.3.4 the consequences of Galba’s criteria 119
1.4 | Contextualizing the adoption 123
1.4.1 the adoption in the parallel sources 123
Dio and Suetonius 123
Plutarch 125
1.4.2 Framing the adoption: Galba’s characterization 127
Old age and weakness 127
Misunderstanding and anachronism 133
Failure to live up to his own ideals 135
The final verdict: Tacitus’ characterization of Galba 138
1.4.3 Contemporary echoes: Pliny’s Panegyricus 140
Conclusion 144
2. tiBeRiuS 153
Introduction 154
2.1 | Dynastic tendencies in imperial succession 157
2.1.1 the Principate as hereditary monarchy 157
The starting point of the Annals 157
Augustus’ subsidia dominationi (1.3-4) 160
2.1.2 dynastic expectations in the succession to tiberius 163
Drusus, Germanicus and their children 163
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The Tiberian evidence 168
2.1.3 evocations of dynastic strife and civil war 172
Monarchy and intra-familial conflicts 173
The succession and civil war 176
2.2 | Tiberius’ successors: Germanicus and Drusus 179
2.2.1 Germanicus and drusus as equal successors 179
The parallel representation of Drusus and Germanicus 180
Parallel inequalities 183
2.2.2 the opposition between (the houses of) drusus and Germanicus 185
2.2.3 the prominence of Germanicus 189
Narrative prominence 190
Germanicus in other sources 194
2.2.4 Germanicus’ threatening connotations 196
2.3 | Criteria for succession 203
2.3.1 tiberius as successor to Augustus 203
Augustus’ choice of Tiberius as his successor 204
The characterization of Tiberius 213
2.3.2 Germanicus’ unjustified popularity 217
Germanicus’ widespread popularity and his characterization 217
Germanicus’ idealized incompetence 220
2.3.3 drusus’ second place 225
Drusus’ character 225
Drusus’ achievements in the narrative 228
2.3.4 the invisible successors: tiberius Gemellus, Caligula, and Claudius 230
2.3.5 the non-dynastic alternative: the capaces imperii of 1.13 236
2.4 | Kinship 243
2.4.1 Kinship by blood and through adoption 243
Kinship relations and kin terms 244
The values of consanguinity and adoption 248
2.4.2 the blood-ties of Germanicus and his family 250
2.4.3 the consanguineous connections of tiberius, drusus the Younger
and Livilla 255
2.4.4 Kinship and legitimacy: challenges to tiberius’ position 259
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Conclusion 265
3. CLAudiuS 269
Introduction 270
3.1 | The candidates for succession and criteria of selection 274
3.1.1 the candidates for the succession 274
Nero and Britannicus 274
Other candidates 275
3.1.2 nero’s rise and Britannicus’ downfall 278
The lusus troiae (11.11.2-12.1) 278
Agrippina’s marriage to Claudius (12.1-3) 280
Nero’s engagement to Octavia (12.3-4 and 12.9) 282
Nero’s adoption by Claudius (12.25-26) 285
Nero’s assumption of the toga virilis and Britannicus’ increasing isolation
(12.41-42) 288
The marriage of Nero and Octavia and Nero’s speeches in the Senate
(12.58) 292
Narcissus’ opposition to Agrippina (12.65) 295
Nero’s succession to Claudius (12.68-69) 298
3.1.3 nero’s smooth succession 301
The inevitability of Nero’s rise to power 301
Britannicus’ marginalization 306
An undisputed succession? 307
3.1.4 Criteria of selection: the characterization of the successors 310
The role of the candidates in the narrative 311
Characterization and qualities 314
3.2 | Claudius’ passivity 319
3.2.1 Claudius’ passive characterization 319
3.2.2 Claudius chooses Agrippina as his new wife 325
3.2.3 Claudius’ lack of agency in the question of the succession 332
3.2.4 the tacitean portrait in context 338
3.3 | Agrippina’s scheming 344
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