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159-661: In AD 321 Roman Emperor Constantine the Great declared the Christian Church could hold and transmit property. This was the first legal basis for the possessions of the Church of Rome. Subsequently, they were augmented by donations. Constantine himself probably gave the Church the Lateran Palace in Rome. Constantine's gifts formed the historical nucleus for the network of myth that gave rise to

318-604: A cognomen . Early emperors also used the title princeps ('first one') alongside other Republican titles, notably consul and pontifex maximus . The legitimacy of an emperor's rule depended on his control of the Roman army and recognition by the Senate ; an emperor would normally be proclaimed by his troops, or by the Senate, or both. The first emperors reigned alone; later emperors would sometimes rule with co-emperors to secure

477-595: A theocracy . According to George Ostrogorsky , "the absolute power of the Roman emperor was further increased with the advent of Christian ideas". This became more evident after the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, which gave Byzantine imperialism a new sense of purpose. The emperor was the subject of a series of rites and ceremonies, including a formal coronation performed by the Patriarch of Constantinople . The Byzantine state

636-460: A 50-year period that almost saw the end of the Roman Empire. The last vestiges of Republicanism were lost in the ensuing anarchy. In 238, the Senate attempted to regain power by proclaiming Pupienus and Balbinus as their own emperors (the first time since Nerva ). They managed to usurp power from Maximinus Thrax , but they were killed within two months. With the rise of the "soldier emperors",

795-613: A battle against the Franks during the Crossing of the Rhine , Gaiseric became the second most powerful man among the Vandals, after the newly appointed king, his half-brother Gunderic . His status as a noble of the king's family occurred before his more formal accession to the kingship. Jordanes described Gaiseric in the following manner: Gaiseric...was a man of moderate height and lame in consequence of

954-535: A brilliant outward expression by Charlemagne's coronation as emperor in 800. In the later 9th century, such as during the papacy of Pope John VIII , the papal patrimony was severely threatened. From the early 13th century, the Patrimony of Saint Peter was one of the four provinces established by Pope Innocent III as a division of the Ecclesiastical States . It included the part of ancient Tuscia subject to

1113-536: A court title bestowed to prominent figures of the government, and lost even more relevance after the creation of the title sebastokrator by Alexios I Komnenos . Despite this, its regular use by earlier emperors led to the name becoming synonym with "emperor" in certain regions. Several countries use Caesar as the origin of their word for "emperor", like Kaiser in Germany and Tsar in Bulgaria and Russia . After

1272-589: A critical role in Emperor Justinian's sixth-century conquests of north Africa. Sometime in 460, the Emperor Majorian began collecting an invasion fleet for an assault against the Vandals. Once Gaiseric received word of this initiative, he preempted the attack by sending vessels from Carthage to Carthago Nova , where the Vandal ships burned the imperial boats at their moorings, again proving himself "more than

1431-468: A fall from his horse. He was a man of deep thought and few words, holding luxury in disdain, furious in his anger, greedy for gain, shrewd in winning over the barbarians and skilled in sowing the seeds of dissension to arouse enmity. Gunderic's death in 428 paved the way for Gaiseric's ascension to king of the Vandals; his rise to power was accompanied by continued hostilities against competing powers begun by his brother. He likewise sought ways of increasing

1590-535: A family name ( nomen ), styling himself as Imp. Caesar instead of Imp. Julius Caesar . However, the nomen was still inherited by women (such as Julia the Younger ) and appear in some inscriptions. After the death of Caligula , Augustus' great-grandson, his uncle Claudius was proclaimed emperor. He was not an official member of the Julia gens , but he was the grandson of Octavia , Augustus' sister, and thus still part of

1749-563: A large fleet that challenged imperial control over the Mediterranean. Gaiseric presided over a mixture of Vandals, Alans, Goths and Romans in Africa, relying on an ad-hoc administration under auspices of the imperial government to legitimize his rule. Latin literary culture even flourished in Carthage. Gaiseric besieged Panormus (Palermo, Sicily ) in 440 AD but was repulsed. Hunnic invasions into

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1908-471: A large part of the western Roman navy docked in the port of Carthage. The Catholic bishop of the city, Quodvultdeus , was exiled to Naples , since Gaiseric demanded that all his close advisors follow the Arian form of Christianity . The subsequent sermons of Quodvultdeus paint a "dark picture of the Vandal plunderers." Despite the blow to the imperial coffers caused by Gaiseric's seizure of African revenue and

2067-493: A match for the imperial establishments of both West and East." Then in early 462, Gaiseric sent the empress Eudoxia with her daughters Eudocia and Placidia—captured during the sack of Rome—back to Constantinople from Carthage in an act of reconciliation with the Empire, likely intending to preserve the marriage of his son Huneric to Eudocia. While rhetorical writing from the period still distinguished between "barbarian" and Romans and

2226-420: A new caesar . Each pair ruled over a half of the Empire, which led to the creation of a Western and Eastern Roman Empire , a division that eventually became permanent. This division had already a precedent in the joint rule of Valerian / Gallienus and Carus / Carinus . Diocletian justified his rule not by military power, but by claiming divine right . He imitated Oriental divine kingship and encouraged

2385-576: A new deed of gift for the cities thus surrendered to the pope, and laid it with the keys of the cities on the grave of St. Peter in the Second Donation of 756. The Byzantine Government naturally did not approve of this result of Frankish intervention. It had hoped to regain possession of the districts that had been wrested from it by the Lombards. But Pepin took up arms, not for the Byzantine emperor, but for

2544-532: A regime in which the notion of legitimacy is as absent as that of the Augustan principate". Imperial propaganda was often used to legitimize or de-legitimize certain emperors. The Chronicon Paschale , for example, describes Licinius as having been killed like "those who had briefly been usurpers before him". In reality, Licinius was the legitimate emperor of the West (having been appointed by Galerius ), while Constantine

2703-535: A surprise move on 19 October 439, Gaiseric captured Carthage , striking a devastating blow at imperial power, taking advantage of the fact that Aetius remained preoccupied with affairs in Gaul. Classical scholar Stewart Oost observed, "Thus he undoubtedly achieved what had been his purpose since he first crossed to Africa." Historian Chris Wickham argues that Gaiseric's conquest of Carthage presaged Rome's later collapse. The Romans were caught unaware, and Gaiseric captured

2862-554: Is based upon deductions, since no document survives either from the time of Charlemagne or from that of Pepin. Adrian proved himself no mean politician, and is ranked with Stephen II as the second founder of the States of the Church. His agreement with Charlemagne remained authoritative for the relations of the later popes with the Carolingians and the German emperors. These relations were given

3021-556: Is known as the Dominate , derived from the title dominus ("lord") adopted by Diocletian . During his rule, the emperor became an absolute ruler and the regime became even more monarchical. The emperors adopted the diadem crown as their supreme symbol of power, abandoning the subtleties of the early Empire. Beginning in the late 2nd century, the Empire began to suffer a series of political and economic crises, partially because it had overexpanded so much. The Pax Romana ("Roman peace")

3180-616: Is likely that it was the source of the much interpolated Fragmentum Fantuzzianum , which probably dates from 778 to 80. In the original document of Quiercy Pepin promised to restore to the pope the lands of central Italy conquered by Aistulf, especially in the exarchate and the Roman Duchy, and of a number of patrimonies in the Lombard Kingdom and the Duchies of Spoleto and Benevento . These lands had yet to be conquered by Pepin, so his promise

3339-586: Is never used. The imperial titles are treated as inseparable of the person, which is reflected in the name Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus . This Lex sometimes related to the Lex regia ("royal law") mentioned in the Corpus Juris Civilis of Eastern emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565), who cites the early 3rd-century writer Ulpian . This was probably a later construct, as its very name, which derives from rex ("king"), would have been utterly rejected in

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3498-611: Is often said to have ended with the tyrannical reign of Commodus. His murder was followed by the accession of Septimius Severus , the victor of the Year of the Five Emperors . It was during his reign that the role of the army grew even more, and the emperors' power increasingly depended on it. The murder of his last relative, Severus Alexander , led to the Crisis of the Third Century (235–285),

3657-461: Is often said to have followed a " Caesaropapist " model, where the emperor played the role of ruler and head of the Church, but there was often a clear distinction between political and secular power. The line of Eastern emperors continued uninterrupted until the sack of Constantinople and the establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204. This led to the creation of three lines of emperors in exile:

3816-508: Is still often regarded as a usurper, similarly to Magnus Maximus , who was briefly recognized by Theodosius I . Western emperors such as Magnentius , Eugenius and Magnus Maximus are sometimes called usurpers, but Romulus Augustulus is traditionally regarded as the last Western emperor, despite never receiving the recognition of the Eastern emperor Zeno . The period after the Principate

3975-399: The pomerium ; and use discretionary power whenever necessary. The text further states that he is "not bound by laws", and that any previous act was retroactively considered legitimate. There is no mention of imperium nor tribunicia potestas , although these powers were probably given in the earlier clauses. There is also no mention of any "imperial office", and the title of "emperor"

4134-637: The Ager Romanus ), which had begun to form in the 7th century, were the most numerous. Most of the remote patrimonies were lost in the eighth century, so the patrimonia around Rome began to be managed with especial care, headed up by deacons directly subordinate to the pope. Other Italian patrimonies included the Neapolitan with the island of Capri , that of Gaeta , the Tuscan, the Patrimonium Tiburtinum in

4293-571: The Avar and Slavic invasions. The most valuable and extensive possessions were those in Sicily, around Syracuse and Palermo . The revenues from these properties in Sicily and Lower Italy were estimated at three and one-half talents of gold in the eighth century, when Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isaurian confiscated them. But the patrimonies in the vicinity of Rome (the successors to the classical latifundia in

4452-615: The Constantinian dynasty , emperors followed Imperator Caesar with Flavius , which also began as a family name but was later incorporated into the emperor's titles, thus becoming Imperator Caesar Flavius . The last use of the formula, rendered as Autokrator Kaisar Flabios... Augoustos (Αὐτοκράτωρ καῖσαρ Φλάβιος αὐγουστος) in Greek, is in the Basilika of Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912). Originally

4611-554: The Duchy of the Pentapolis lying immediately to the south assembled, marched into Rome, and compelled the departure of the emperor's plenipotentiary. In AD 715 the papal chair, which had last been occupied by seven Eastern popes, was filled by a Westerner, Pope Gregory II , who was destined to oppose Leo III the Isaurian in the Iconoclastic conflict. The strange shape which the States of

4770-638: The Exarchate of Ravenna and the other districts seized by Aistulf . The pope then went to St-Denis , near Paris. He concluded a firm alliance of friendship with Pepin and made him the first Carolingian king, probably in January 754. He bound the Franks under the threat of excommunication , never thereafter to choose their kings from any other family than the Carolingian. At the same time he bestowed on Pepin and his sons

4929-576: The Lombard king to give up his conquests but returned without accomplishing their mission. At Quiercy on the Oise , the Frankish nobles finally gave their consent. Pepin promised in writing to give the Church certain territories, the first documentary record for the States of the Church. This document has not been preserved, but a number of citations during the decades immediately following indicate its contents, and it

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5088-637: The Maniots at Kenipolis with heavy losses. In retaliation, the Vandals took 500 hostages at Zakynthos , hacked them to pieces, and threw the body parts overboard on the way to Carthage. In 474, Gaiseric made peace with the Eastern Roman Empire through a treaty negotiated by the Constantinopolitan Senator, Severus, who was acting under Zeno's authority. He gave Sicily to Odoacer in 476, in exchange for an annual tribute. After enjoying just

5247-516: The Papal States . Pepin's son, Charlemagne , was crowned Imperator Romanorum (the first time Imperator was used as an actual regnal title) by Pope Leo III in Christmas AD 800, thus ending the recognition of the Eastern emperor. Western rulers also began referring to the Empire as the "Greek Empire", regarding themselves as the true successors of Rome. The inhabitants of the Eastern half of

5406-553: The Roman Empire , starting with the granting of the title augustus to Octavian in 27 BC. The term emperor is a modern convention, and did not exist as such during the Empire. When a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it generally reflects his accession as augustus , and later as basileus . Another title used was imperator , originally a military honorific, and caesar , originally

5565-470: The Roman Republic and was given to victorious commanders by their soldiers. They held imperium , that is, military authority. The Senate could then award the extraordinary honor of a triumph ; the commander then retained the title until the end of his magistracy . In Roman tradition, the first triumph was that of Romulus , the founder of Rome, but the first attested use of imperator was in 189 BC, on

5724-566: The Tetrarchy the powers of the caesar increased considerably, but following the accession of Constantine I it once more remained as a title for heirs with no significant power attached to it. The title slowly lost importance in the following decades, as emperors started to promote their sons directly to augustus . In the East, the title finally lost its imperial character in 705, when Justinian II awarded it to Tervel of Bulgaria . After this it became

5883-542: The Western Roman Empire during the 5th century. The murder of Roman Emperor Valentinian III , who had betrothed his daughter to Gaiseric's son Huneric , led the Vandal king to invade Italy. The invasion culminated in his most famous exploit, the capture and plundering of Rome in June 455. Gaiseric repulsed two major attempts by both halves of the Roman Empire to reclaim North Africa, inflicting devastating defeats on

6042-556: The de facto sole ruler of Rome in 48 BC, when he defeated his last opposition at the Battle of Pharsalus . His killers proclaimed themselves as the liberatores ("liberators") and the restorers of the Republic, but their rule was cut short by Caesar's supporters, who almost immediately established a new dictatorship. In his will, Caesar appointed his grandnephew Octavian as his heir and adopted son. He inherited his property and lineage,

6201-422: The emperors of Nicaea , the emperors of Trebizond , and the short-lived emperors of Thessalonica . The Nicean rulers have been traditionally regarded as the "legitimate" emperors of this period, as they recovered Constantinople and restored the Empire in 1261. The Empire of Trebizond continued to exist for another 200 years, but from 1282 onwards its rulers used the modified title of "Emperor and Autocrat of all

6360-527: The fall of the Western Roman Empire , as it was used by rulers such as Theodoric the Great . Geiserich Gaiseric ( c.  389 – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric ( Latin : Gaisericus, Geisericus ; reconstructed Vandalic : *Gaisarīx ) was king of the Vandals and Alans from 428 to 477. He ruled over a kingdom and played a key role in the decline of

6519-408: The proconsuls of the few senatorial provinces and allies such as Agrippa . The governors appointed to the imperial provinces only answered to the emperor himself, who could maintain or replace them at will. The tribunician power ( tribunicia potestas ), first assumed by Augustus in 23 BC, gave him authority over the tribune of the plebs without having to actually hold the office – a tribune

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6678-513: The " Year of the Five Emperors ", but modern scholarship now identifies Clodius Albinus and Pescennius Niger as usurpers because they were not recognized by the Roman Senate . Recognition by the Senate is often used to determine the legitimacy of an emperor, but this criterion is not always followed. Maxentius is sometimes called an usurper because he did not have the recognition of Tetrarchs , but he held Rome for several years, and thus had

6837-456: The "res publica Romana" to the extent of giving up not only the conquests of Aistulf in the exarchate and in the Pentapolis, but also earlier conquests of the Lombards in Central Italy, Spoleto and Benevento. But Charles would not listen to any such interpretation of the document. As both parties were anxious to come to an understanding, an agreement was reached in 781. Charlemagne acknowledged

6996-574: The "shadow emperor". In 476, the Heruli Odoacer overthrew the child-emperor Romulus Augustulus , made himself king of Italy and shipped the imperial regalia to the Emperor Zeno in Constantinople. Historians mark this date as the date of the fall of the Western Roman Empire , although by this time there was no longer any "Empire" left, as its territory had reduced to Italy. Julius Nepos , who

7155-573: The 5th century, there was scarcely a single decade without succession conflicts and civil war. During this period, very few emperors died of natural causes. Such problems persisted in the later Eastern Empire, where emperors had to often appoint co-emperors to secure the throne. Despite often working as a hereditary monarchy, there was no law or single principle of succession. Individuals who claimed imperial power "illegally" are referred to as " usurpers " in modern scholarship. Ancient historians refer to these rival emperors as " tyrants ". In reality, there

7314-524: The 9th century. Its last known use was on 866–867 coins of Michael III and his co-emperor Basil I , who are addressed as imperator and rex respectively. In the West, imperator was transformed into a monarchical title by Charlemagne , becoming the official Latin title of the Holy Roman Empire . Originally the cognomen (third name) of the dictator Gaius Julius Caesar , which was then inherited by Augustus and his relatives. Augustus used it as

7473-545: The Alps. While Pope Stephen was preparing for the journey, a messenger arrived from Constantinople, bringing to the pope the imperial mandate to treat once more with Aistulf for the purpose of persuading him to surrender his conquests. Stephen took with him the imperial messenger and several dignitaries of the Roman Church, as well, as members of the aristocracy belonging to the Roman militia, and proceeded first of all to Aistulf. In 753

7632-635: The Apostolic See, i.e. the current province of Viterbo and the district of Civitavecchia . It was governed by a papal appointed official, the Rector . Subsequently, the presence of a Rector General, coordinator of the activities of the provincial rectors and direct referent of the pontiff is also documented. The province of Patrimonio was confirmed in the Constitutiones Aegidianae of 1357, issued by Cardinal Egidio Albornoz . The seat cities of

7791-406: The Church assumed from the beginning is explained by the fact that these were the districts in which the population of central Italy had defended itself to the very last against the Lombards. In 751 Aistulf conquered Ravenna, and thereby decided the long delayed fate of the exarchate and the Pentapolis . And when Aistulf, who held Spoleto also under his immediate sway, directed all his might against

7950-477: The Duchy of Rome, it seemed that this too could no longer be held. Byzantium could send no troops, and Emperor Constantine V , in answer to the repeated requests for help of the new pope, Stephen II , could only offer him the advice to act in accordance with the ancient policy of Byzantium, to pit some other Germanic tribe against the Lombards. The Franks alone were powerful enough to compel the Lombards to maintain peace, and they alone stood in close relationship with

8109-414: The East, the Iberians , and the Perateia ", accepting the Niceans as the sole Roman emperors. However, the Byzantine Empire had been reduced mostly to Constantinople, and the rise of other powers such as Serbia and Bulgaria forced the Byzantines to recognize their rulers as basileus . Despite this, emperors continued to view themselves as the rulers of an "universal empire". During the last decades of

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8268-432: The Empire always saw the emperor as an open monarch. Starting with Heraclius in 629, Roman emperors styled themselves " basileus ", the traditional title for Greek monarchs used since the times of Alexander the Great . The title was used since the early days of the Empire and became the common imperial title by the 3rd century, but did not appear in official documents until the 7th century. Michael I Rangabe (r. 811–813)

8427-440: The Empire used it regularly. It began to used in official context starting with Septimius Severus , and was first officially adopted in coinage by Aurelian . In the East, imperator was translated as autokrator ("self-ruler"), a title that continued to be used until the end of the Empire. This is the modern Greek word for "emperor" ( υτοκράτορας ). There are still some instances of imperator in official documents as late as

8586-431: The Empire, power was once again shared between multiple emperors and colleagues, each ruling from their own capital, notably during the long reign of John V . Constantinople finally fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453; its last emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos , dying in battle. The last vestiges of the empire, Morea and Trebizond , fell in 1461. The title imperator – from imperare , "to command" – dates back to

8745-413: The Empire, while later functioning as de facto separate entities, were always considered and seen, legally and politically, as separate administrative divisions of a single, insoluble state by the Romans of the time. In the West , the office of emperor soon degenerated into being little more than a puppet of Germanic generals such as Aetius and Ricimer ; the last emperors of the West being known as

8904-444: The English translation of the Latin imperator , then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, like several Roman generals before him. Instead, by the end of the Caesar's civil wars , it became clear that there was certainly no consensus to return to the old-style monarchy , but that the period when several officials would fight one another had come to an end. Julius Caesar, and then Augustus after him, accumulated offices and titles of

9063-482: The Lombards became strained again. Adrian I complained that the Lombard king Desiderius had invaded the territories of the States of the Church, and reminded Charlemagne of the promise made at Quiercy. As Desiderius also championed the claims of Charlemagne's nephews, he endangered the unity of the Frankish kingdom, and Charlemagne's own interests therefore bade him to oppose Desiderius. In the autumn of 773 Charlemagne entered Italy and besieged Desiderius at Pavia. While

9222-433: The Lombards, and commended one of the bishops for breaking up and selling church plate for that purpose. The political aspect of the papacy became in time very prominent, as Rome, after the removal of the imperial residence to the East, was no longer the seat of any of the higher political officials. Since the partition of the empire, the Western emperors had preferred to make the better-protected Ravenna their residence. Here

9381-472: The Lombards, he said that to Rome alone would he restore the cities. Thus did Pepin found the States of the Church. The States of the Church were in a certain sense the only remnant of the Roman Empire in the West which escaped foreign conquerors. Gratefully the Roman population acknowledged that they had escaped subjection to the Lombards. Also, temporal sovereignty guaranteed to the pope some level of independence. Under Pepin's son, Charlemagne , relations with

9540-420: The Ostrogothic supremacy, entrusted the care of temporal affairs to Pope John II . When Emperor Justinian issued the Pragmatic Sanction of 554 , the pope and the Senate were entrusted with the control of weights and measures. Thenceforth for two centuries the popes were loyal supporters of the Byzantine government against the encroachments of the Lombards, and were all the more indispensable, because after 603

9699-419: The Patrimony of St. Peter, Pope Gregory (540-604) showed a considerable grasp of detail and administrative capacity. In anticipation of a threatened corn shortage, Gregory filled the granaries of Rome with the harvests of Egypt and Sicily. Numerous poorhouses, hospitals, orphanages and hospices for pilgrims were maintained out of the revenues of the patrimonies. Gregory also spent large sums ransoming captives from

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9858-458: The Republic, Diocletian established at the top of this new structure the Tetrarchy ("rule of four") in an attempt to provide for smoother succession and greater continuity of government. Under the Tetrarchy, Diocletian set in place a system of two emperors ( augusti ) and two subordinates that also served as heirs ( caesares ). When an emperor retired (as Diocletian and Maximian did in 305) or died, his caesar would succeed him and in turn appoint

10017-430: The Republic. From Diocletian , whose reformed tetrarchy divided the position into one emperor in the West and one in the East , emperors ruled in an openly monarchic style. Although succession was generally hereditary, it was only hereditary if there was a suitable candidate acceptable to the army and the bureaucracy, so the principle of automatic inheritance was not adopted, which often led to several claimants to

10176-436: The Roman fleet by Gaiseric's forces was claimed to have cost the imperial coffers upwards of 64,000 pounds of gold and 700,000 pounds of silver. The Romans abandoned the campaign and Gaiseric remained master of the western Mediterranean until his death, ruling from the Strait of Gibraltar all the way to Tripolitania . Following up the Byzantine defeat, the Vandals tried to invade the Peloponnese but were driven back by

10335-421: The Roman state as an autocrat , but he failed to create a stable system to maintain himself in power. His rise to power was the result of a long and gradual decline in which the Republic fell under the influence of powerful generals such as Marius and Sulla . At the end of the Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as

10494-443: The Roman world among them. Lepidus was sidelined in 36 BC, and relations between Octavian and Antony soon deteriorated. In September 31 BC, Octavian's victory at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed his supremacy over Rome. In January 27 BC, Octavian and the Senate concluded the so-called " First settlement ". Until then Octavian had been ruling the state with his powers as triumvir , even though

10653-479: The Senate awarded him the appellation of augustus ("elevated"). The honorific itself held no legal meaning, but it denoted that Octavian (henceforth Augustus ) now approached divinity, and its adoption by his successors made it the de facto main title of the emperor. He also received the civic crown alongside several other insignias in his honor. Augustus now held supreme and indisputable power, and even though he still received subsequent grants of powers, such as

10812-404: The Senate disappeared. The popes were now the only court of judicature, a task more often entrusted to bishops as "Defensor populi". When Emperor Justinian II in 692 attempted to have Pope Sergius I forcibly conveyed to Constantinople, (as had happened to Pope Martin I ), to extract from him his assent to the canons of the Trullan Council, convoked by the emperor, the militia of Ravenna and of

10971-404: The Triumvirate itself disappeared years earlier. He announced that he would return the power to the Senate and People of Rome , but this was only an act. The Senate confirmed Octavian as princeps , the " first among equals ", and gave him control over almost all Roman provinces for a tenure of ten years. This limitation was only superficial, as he could renew his powers indefinitely. In addition,

11130-516: The Vandals did not wreak great destruction in the city; they did, however, take gold , silver and many other things of value. Gaiseric also took with him Empress Eudoxia and her daughters, Eudocia, and Placidia , as well as riches from the city. Across Italy, the shock of the Vandal sack of Rome and the ongoing presence of the Vandals paralyzed the imperial government. Eudocia married Gaiseric's son Huneric after arriving in Carthage. That union produced Hilderic —Gaiseric's grandson—who later played

11289-435: The West acknowledged the Eastern emperors until the accession of Empress Irene in 797. After this, the papacy created a rival lineage of Roman emperors in western Europe, the Holy Roman Emperors , which ruled the Holy Roman Empire for most of the period between 800 and 1806. These emperors were never recognized in Constantinople and their coronations resulted in the medieval problem of two emperors . The last Eastern emperor

11448-614: The West remaining after the death of Julius Nepos in 480. Instead the Eastern emperor Zeno proclaimed himself as the sole emperor of a theoretically undivided Roman Empire (although in practice he had no authority in the West). The subsequent Eastern emperors ruling from Constantinople styled themselves as " Basileus of the Romans" ( Ancient Greek : βασιλεύς Ῥωμαίων , Basileus Romaíon ) but are often referred to in modern scholarship as Byzantine emperors . The papacy and Germanic kingdoms of

11607-423: The West. The Eastern Greek-speaking half of the Empire had always regarded the emperors as open monarchs ( basileis ), and called them as such. The weakest point of the Augustan institution was its lack of a clear succession system. Formally announcing a successor would have revealed Augustus as a monarch, so he and subsequent emperors opted to adopt their best candidates as their sons and heirs. Primogeniture

11766-418: The actions of Petronius Maximus, Gaiseric moved a large seaborne force from Carthage to Italy and sacked the city in a more thorough manner than even Alaric's Goths had carried out in 410. Historian Michael Kulikowski notes that unlike Alaric, who besieged Rome as an itinerant barbarian general in "desperate straits," Gaiseric was the king of a flourishing polity and was therefore able to systematically conduct

11925-700: The adoptive son of the long-deceased Marcus Aurelius , hence why he named Caracalla after him. Later Eastern imperial dynasties, such as the Doukai and Palaiologoi , claimed descent from Constantine the Great . What turns a "usurper" into a "legitimate" emperor is typically that they managed to gain the recognition of a more senior, legitimate, emperor, or that they managed to defeat a more senior, legitimate emperor and seize power. Modern historiography has not yet defined clear legitimacy criteria for emperors, resulting in some emperors being included or excluded from different lists. The year 193 has traditionally been called

12084-474: The authority based on prestige. The honorific was awarded as both a name and a title to Octavian in 27 BC and was inherited by all subsequent emperors, who placed it after their personal names. The only emperor to not immediately assume it was Vitellius , although he did use it after his recognition by the Senate. Later emperors ruled alongside one or several junior augusti who held de jure (but not de facto ) equal constitutional power. Despite its use as

12243-659: The beginning of his reign (Imola, Bologna, Faenza, Ferrara, Ancona, Osimo and Umana); next the patrimonies were specified in various groups: in the Sabine, in the Spoletan and Beneventan districts, in Calabria, in Tuscany and in Corsica. Charlemagne, however, in his quality of "Patricius", wanted to be considered as the highest court of appeal in criminal cases in the States of the Church. He promised on

12402-472: The city and Senate of Rome began to lose importance. Maximinus and Carus , for example, did not even set foot on the city. Carus' successors Carinus and Numerian , the last of the Crisis emperors, did not bother to assume the tribunicia potestas either. After reuniting the Roman Empire in 285, Diocletian began a series of reforms to restore stability. Reaching back to the oldest traditions of job-sharing in

12561-444: The coast of Italy and the Mediterranean characterized the situation during the first years after Gaiseric's successful seizure of Rome. Petronius Maximus, who was foremost among those vying for power in the wake of Valentinian III's murder, fled rather than fight the Vandal warlord. Although history remembers the Vandal sack of Rome as extremely brutal—making the word vandalism a term for any wantonly destructive act—in actuality,

12720-400: The continuance of the Republic. The title had already been used by Pompey and Julius Caesar , among others. It was a purely honorific title with no attached duties or powers, hence why it was never used in official titulature. The title was the most preferred by Augustus as its use implies only "primacy" (is in the " first among equals "), as opposed to dominus , which implies dominance. It

12879-414: The corresponding grain supply, the Vandal king had no intention of depriving Italy of Africa's grain, but instead wished to sell it to the emperor for profit. Meanwhile, his new status was that of Proconsularis and as such, Gaiseric made Carthage his new residence. Inheriting an already economically efficient and effective state, the tax revenues from his new lands enabled the Vandal conqueror to construct

13038-538: The creation of a worship cult . Augustus became pontifex maximus (the chief priest of the College of Pontiffs ) in 12 BC, after the death of the former triumvir Lepidus . Emperors from the reign of Gratian (r. 375–383) onward used the style pontifex inclytus ("honorable pontiff"). The title of pontifex maximus was eventually adopted by the bishops of Rome during the Renaissance . The last known emperors to use

13197-617: The emperor derived from an extraordinary concentration of individual powers and offices that were extant in the Republic and developed under Augustus and later rulers, rather than from a new political office. Under the Republic, these powers would have been split between several people, who would each exercise them with the assistance of a colleague and for a specific period of time. Augustus held them all at once by himself, and with no time limits; even those that nominally had time limits were automatically renewed whenever they lapsed. The Republican offices endured and emperors were regularly elected to

13356-413: The end of the Empire. In the West, the title was also used by Charlemagne and the subsequent Holy Roman Emperors as part of the formula Imperator Augustus . Both Eastern and Western rulers also used the style semper augustus ("forever augustus"). The word princeps , meaning "first", was a republican term used to denote the leading member of the Senate, and it was used by the early emperors to emphasize

13515-493: The failure of the Tetrarchy. This practice had first been applied by Septimius Severus , who proclaimed his 10-year-old son Caracalla as augustus . He was followed by Macrinus , who did the same with his 9-year-old son Diadumenian , and several other emperors during the Crisis. This became even more common from the 4th century onwards. Gratian was proclaimed emperor at the age of 8, and his co-ruler and successor Valentinian II

13674-500: The family. Following the suicide of Nero, the last descendant of Caesar, the new emperor Galba adopted the name of Servius Galba Caesar Augustus , thus making it part of the imperial title. Five days before his murder he adopted Piso Licinianus as his son and heir, renaming him as Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar . After this Caesar came to denote the heir apparent, who would add the name to his own as heir and retain it upon accession as augustus . The only emperor not to assume it

13833-412: The first emperor, whereas Julius Caesar is considered the last dictator of the Roman Republic , a view that is shared by the Roman writers Plutarch , Tacitus , and Cassius Dio . Conversely, the majority of Roman writers, including Pliny the Younger , Suetonius and Appian , as well as most of the ordinary people of the Empire, thought of Julius Caesar as the first emperor. Caesar did indeed rule

13992-412: The forces of Majorian in 460 and Basiliscus in 468. As a result, the Romans abandoned their campaign against the Vandals and concluded peace with Gaiseric. Gaiseric died in Carthage in 477 and was succeeded by his son, Huneric. Through his nearly fifty years of rule, Gaiseric raised a relatively inconsequential Germanic tribe to the status of a major Mediterranean power. After his father's death in

14151-705: The forged document known as the " Donation of Constantine ". Wealthy families of the Roman nobility followed Constantine's example. Their memory frequently survived, after the families themselves became extinct, in the names of the properties they once presented to the Roman See. During his reign, Pope Sylvester became the owner of properties in Italy , Sicily , Antioch , Asia Minor , in the region around Hippo in Numidia , Armenia , and Upper Mesopotamia . The donation of large estates ceased about 600 AD. The Byzantine emperors preferred

14310-522: The gates of Rome were thrown open to him and his men. Once inside the city, the invaders plundered it thoroughly, to the extent that Procopius noted how the Vandals had even stripped the gold from the ceiling of the Jupiter Capitolinus temple—but more significant was the capture of important figures and dignitaries in the city, whose return remained a bargaining point between the Vandals and the Empire for many years to come. Routine Vandal raids along

14469-417: The granting of tribunicia potestas in 23 BC, these were only ratifications of the powers he already possessed. Most modern historians use 27 BC as the start date of the Roman Empire. This is mostly a symbolic date, as the Republic had essentially disappeared many years earlier. Ancient writers often ignore the legal implications of Augustus' reforms and simply write that he "ruled" Rome following

14628-414: The highest imperial title, it was generally not used to indicate the office of Emperor itself, as ordinary people and writers had become accustomed to Imperator . In the East the title was initially translated as Sebastos , but the form Augoustos eventually became more common. Emperors after Heraclius styled themselves as Basileus , but Augoustos still remained in use in a lesser form up until

14787-445: The highest importance in the Republic, making the power attached to those offices permanent, and preventing anyone with similar aspirations from accumulating or maintaining power for themselves. Julius Caesar had been pontifex maximus since 64 BC; held the offices of consul and dictator five times since 59 BC, and was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 44 BC, shortly before his assassination . He had also become

14946-500: The imperial state attempted to exercise control over the empire and its peripheries, the elite population in the lands controlled by the likes of the Germanic chieftains Theodoric and Gaiseric, preferred the certainties of their leadership over "the vagaries and ineptitude of the would-be imperial government in Italy." In 468, Gaiseric's kingdom was the target of the last concerted effort by

15105-475: The lower Danube forced Constantinople to withdraw forces from Sicily to the benefit of Gaiseric. In a 442 treaty with Rome, the Vandals were recognized as the independent rulers of Byzacena and part of Numidia . In 455, Gaiseric seized the Balearic Islands , Sardinia , Corsica , and Malta , and his fleet soon came to control much of the western Mediterranean. During 455, the Roman emperor Valentinian III

15264-459: The loyalty of most of his allies, and – again through a formal process of senatorial consent – an increasing number of the titles and offices that had accrued to Caesar. In August 43 BC, following the death of both consuls of the year , Octavian marched to Rome and forced the Senate to elect him consul. He then formed the Second Triumvirate alongside Mark Antony and Lepidus , dividing

15423-421: The main title of the emperor. According to Suetonius , it was "not merely a new title but a more honorable one, inasmuch as sacred places too, and those in which anything is consecrated by augural rites are called "august" ( augusta ), from the increase ( auctus ) in dignity". It was also connected to the religious practice of augury , which was itself linked to Rome's founding by Romulus , and to auctoritas ,

15582-467: The marginalization of the former heartland of Italy to the empire had a profound cultural impact on the empire and its emperor, which adopted a more Hellenistic character. The Eastern emperors continued to be recognized in the Western kingdoms until the accession of Irene (r. 797–802), the first empress regnant . The Italian heartland was recovered during the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565), but this

15741-411: The most prominent of them: the consulship and censorship . This early period of the Empire is known as the " Principate ", derived from the title princeps used by the early emperors. The most important bases of the emperor's power were his supreme power of command ( imperium maius ) and tribunician power ( tribunicia potestas ) as personal qualities, separate from his public office. Originally,

15900-505: The murder of Caesar, or that he "ruled alone" after the death of Mark Antony. Most Romans thus simply saw the "emperor" as the individual that ruled the state, with no specific title or office attached to him. Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor and pleaded his case to the Senate for inheritance on merit. After Augustus' death in AD ;14, the Senate confirmed Tiberius as princeps and proclaimed him as

16059-447: The new augustus . Tiberius had already received imperium maius and tribunicia potestas in AD 4, becoming legally equal to Augustus but still subordinate to him in practice. The "imperial office" was thus not truly defined until the accession of Caligula , when all of Tiberius' powers were automatically transferred to him as a single, abstract position that was symbolized by his sacred title of augustus . The legal authority of

16218-467: The number was probably closer to 20,000. Whatever the true numbers, there are indications that the Vandals under Gaiseric may have been invited by the Roman governor Bonifacius , who wished to use the military strength of the Vandals in his struggle against the imperial government under the Roman general, Aetius . Crossing at the Straits of Gibraltar, Gaiseric led not only his Vandal brethren and army, but

16377-715: The other hand to protect freedom of choice in the election of the pope, and renewed the alliance of friendship that had been previously made between Pepin and Stephen II. The agreement between Charlemagne and Adrian remained undisturbed. In 787 Charlemagne further enlarged the States of the Church by new donations: Capua and a few other frontier cities of the Duchy of Benevento, besides several cities in Lombardy, Tuscany, Populonia , Roselle , Sovana , Toscanella , Viterbo , Bagnorea , Orvieto , Ferento , Orchia, Marta and lastly Città di Castello appear to have been added at that time. This

16536-572: The patriarchate of Constantinople, and were less liberal in their gifts. The wars with the Lombards likewise had an unfavourable effect, and few families were still in a position to bequeath large estates. Apart from a number of scattered possessions in Dalmatia and southern Gaul , the patrimonies were naturally for the most part situated in Italy and on the adjacent islands. Lands in Dalmatia were lost during

16695-596: The pope left Rome. Aistulf, when the pope met him at Pavia, refused to enter into negotiations or to hear of a restoration of his conquests. Only with difficulty did Stephen finally prevail upon the Lombard king not to hinder him in his journey to the Frankish kingdom. The pope thereupon crossed the Great St. Bernard Pass into the Frankish kingdom . Pepin received his guest at Ponthion , and promised to do all in his power to recover

16854-522: The pope. Charles Martel had on a former occasion failed to respond to the entreaties of Gregory III, but meanwhile the relations between the Frankish rulers and the popes had become more intimate. Pope Zachary had only recently (751), at Pepin's accession to the Merovingian throne, spoken the word that removed all doubts in favour of the Carolingian mayor of the palace. It was not unreasonable, therefore, to expect an active show of gratitude in return, when Rome

17013-484: The power and wealth of his people (Vandals and some Alans), who then resided in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica in southern Hispania . The Vandals had suffered greatly from attacks from the more numerous Visigothic federates , and not long after taking power, Gaiseric decided to leave Hispania to his rivals. In fact, he seems to have started building a Vandal fleet for a potential exodus even before he became king. Before he could make his move to Africa, Gaiseric

17172-410: The powers of command where divided in consular imperium for Rome and proconsular imperium for the provinces . This division became obsolete in 19 BC, when Augustus was given consular imperium – despite leaving the consulship in 23 BC – and thus control over all troops. This overwhelming power was referred to as imperium maius to indicate its superiority to other holders of imperium , such as

17331-448: The protectors of the Church. The territorial divisions of the Tetrarchy were maintained, and for most of the following century the Empire was ruled by two senior emperors, one in the West (with Milan and later Ravenna as capital) and another in the East (with Constantinople as capital). This division became permanent on the death of Theodosius I in 395, when he was succeeded by his sons Honorius and Arcadius . The two halves of

17490-440: The recognition of the Senate. Other "usurpers" controlled, if briefly, the city of Rome, such as Nepotianus and Priscus Attalus . In the East, the possession of Constantinople was the essential element of legitimacy, yet some figures such as Procopius are treated as usurpers. Rival emperors who later gained recognition are not always considered legitimate either; Vetranio had the formal recognition by Constantius II yet he

17649-425: The rectors were Montefiascone and Viterbo . Each patrimonium was not necessarily a single unit, but could consist of other lands not joined to the central nucleus ( ex corpore patrimoniae ). Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). " States of the Church ". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Roman Emperor The Roman emperor was the ruler and monarchical head of state of

17808-406: The reverence of the emperor, making anything related to him sacer (sacred). He declared himself Jovius , the son of Jupiter , and his partner Maximian was declared Herculius , son of Hercules . This divine claim was maintained after the rise of Christianity, as emperors regarded themselves as the chosen rulers of God. The emperor no longer needed the Senate to ratify his powers, so he became

17967-408: The sack. More than just systematically attack Rome, Gaiseric's invasion was a devastating blow to the empire itself, so much so that historian Michael Grant claims, "Gaiseric contributed more to the collapse of the western Roman Empire than any other single man." Before Gaiseric marched upon Rome, Pope Leo I implored him not to destroy the ancient city or murder its inhabitants. Gaiseric agreed and

18126-412: The sake of the pope. Kings at that time founded monasteries and endowed them with landed properties, so that prayers might be offered for them there; Pepin wished to provide the pope with temporal territories, so he might be certain of the prayers of the pope. Therefore, when the Byzantine ambassadors came to him before the second expedition of 756 and asked him to return to the emperor the cities taken from

18285-399: The siege was in progress, Charlemagne went to Rome at Easter, 774, and at the request of the pope renewed the promises made at Quiercy. Soon after this Desiderius was forced to capitulate, and Charlemagne had himself proclaimed King of the Lombards in his place. Charlemagne's attitude toward the States of the Church now underwent a change. With the title of King of the Lombards he also assumed

18444-485: The siege), taking it after 14 months of bitter fighting . Gaiseric and his forces then began subduing the interior of Numidia. A peace between Gaiseric and the Roman Emperor Valentinian III was concluded in 435, and in return for recognizing Gaiseric as king of the lands he had conquered, the Vandals would desist from further attacks on Carthage, pay a tribute to the Empire, and Gaiseric's son Huneric

18603-436: The sole source of law. These new laws were no longer shared publicly and were often given directly to the praetorian prefects – originally the emperor's bodyguard, but now the head of the new praetorian prefectures – or with private officials. The emperor's personal court and administration traveled alongside him, which further made the Senate's role redundant. Consuls continued to be appointed each year, but by this point, it

18762-442: The sovereignty of Adrian in the Duchy of Rome and in the States of the Church founded by Pepin's donations of 754–756. He now executed a new document in which were enumerated all the districts in which the pope was recognized as ruler. The Duchy of Rome (which had not been mentioned in the earlier documents) heads the list, followed by the exarchate and the Pentapolis, augmented by the cities which Desiderius had agreed to surrender at

18921-474: The sovereignty of the Franks. For the cities in the exarchate and in the Pentapolis, which Aistulf promised to return, Pepin executed a separate deed for the pope. This is the first "Donation of 754". But Pepin had hardly recrossed the Alps on his way home, when Aistulf again advanced against Rome, and lay siege. The pope summoned Pepin to fulfill anew his pledge of loyalty. In 756 Pepin set out with an army against Aistulf and again hemmed him in at Pavia . Aistulf

19080-429: The specifically Christian idea that the emperor was God's chosen ruler on earth, a special protector and leader of the Christian Church, a position later termed Caesaropapism . In practice, an emperor's authority on Church matters was frequently subject to challenge. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century after multiple invasions by Germanic barbarian tribes, with no recognised claimant to Emperor of

19239-420: The succession or to divide the administration of the empire between them. The office of emperor was thought to be distinct from that of a rex ('king'). Augustus, the first emperor, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. For the first three hundred years of Roman emperors, efforts were made to portray the emperors as leaders of the Republic, fearing any association with the kings who ruled Rome prior to

19398-463: The throne . Despite this, elements of the republican institutional framework (Senate, consuls, and magistrates) were preserved even after the end of the Western Empire. Constantine the Great , the first Christian emperor, moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople , formerly known as Byzantium , in 330 AD. Roman emperors had always held high religious offices; under Constantine there arose

19557-405: The title as "Patricius Romanorum", which his father had never used, and read into this title rights which under Pepin had never been associated with it. Moreover, differences of opinion arose between Adrian and Charlemagne concerning the obligations which had been assumed by Pepin and Charlemagne in the document of Quiercy. Adrian construed it to mean that Charlemagne should take an elastic concept of

19716-418: The title continued to be used for a time, with emperors registering the number of times they were hailed imperator . The title became the main appellation of the ruler by the time of Vespasian . After the Tetrarchy , emperors began to be addressed as dominus noster ("our Lord"), although imperator continued to be used. The appellation of dominus was known and rejected by Augustus, but ordinary men of

19875-525: The title of caesar . The Senate still exercised some power during this period, as evidenced by his decision to declare Nero a "public enemy", and did influence in the succession of emperors. Following the murder of Domitian in AD 96, the Senate declared Nerva , one of their own, as the new emperor. His "dynasty", the Antonine , continued the adoptive system until the reign of Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180). Marcus

20034-527: The title of " Patrician of the Romans", the title the Exarchs , the highest Byzantine officials in Italy, had borne. In their stead now the King of the Franks was to be the protector of the Romans and their Bishop. However, to fulfill the wishes of the pope, Pepin had eventually to obtain the consent of his nobles to a campaign into Italy. This became imperative, when several embassies attempted by peaceful means to induce

20193-468: The title of consul was Constans II , who was also the last Eastern emperor to visit Rome. It's possible that later emperors also used it as an honorary title, as the office of consul was not abolished until 892, during the reign of Leo VI . During the Dominate it became increasingly common for emperors to raise their children directly to augustus (emperor) instead of caesar (heir), probably because of

20352-418: The title was Junius Blaesus in AD 22, after which it became a title reserved solely for the sovereign. Augustus used Imperator instead of his first name ( praenomen ), becoming Imperator Caesar instead of Caesar Imperator . From this the title slowly became a synonym of the office, hence the word "emperor". Tiberius , Caligula and Claudius avoided using the title, but it is recorded that Caligula

20511-540: The title were Valentinian III and Marcian , in the 5th century. The only surviving document to directly refer to the emperor's power is the Lex de imperio Vespasiani , written shortly after Vespasian 's formal accession in December 69. The text, of which only the second part survives, states that Vespasian is allowed to: make treaties; hold sessions and propose motions to the Senate; hold extraordinary sessions with legislative power; endorse candidates in elections; expand

20670-409: The tribunes, such as sacrosanctity , since 36 BC. With this powers, he could veto any act or proposal of any magistrate, propose laws and convoke the Senate. His sacrosanctity also made him untouchable, and any offence against him could be treated as a crime of treason. The tribunician power was arguably the most stable and important of the emperor's powers. Despite being a perpetual title, it

20829-514: The triumph of Aemilius Paulus . It was a title held with great pride: Pompey was hailed imperator more than once, as was Sulla and Julius Caesar . However, as noted by Cassius Dio , the meaning of the title changed under the new monarchy, and came to denote "the possession of the supreme power". Both Dio and Suetonius refer to Caesar as the first one to assume imperator as a proper name (a praenomen imperatoris ), but this seems to be an anachronism . The last ordinary general to be awarded

20988-442: The two-halves of the Roman Empire. They wished to subdue the Vandals and end their pirate raids, so Emperor Leo sent an armada from Constantinople led by Basiliscus . Gaiseric sent a fleet of 500 Vandal ships against the Romans, losing 340 ships in the first engagement, but succeeded in destroying 600 Roman ships in the second battle, during which fireships were employed by Gaiseric to devastating effect. This catastrophic defeat of

21147-507: The vague terms of "second" or "little emperor". Despite having a successful reign himself, Diocletian's tetrarchic system collapsed as soon as he retired in 305. Constantine I , the son of tetrarch Constantius I , reunited the empire in 324 and imposed the principle of hereditary succession which Diocletian intended to avoid. Constantine was also the first emperor to convert to Christianity , and emperors after him, especially after its officialization under Theodosius I , saw themselves as

21306-463: The vicinity of Tivoli, estates around Otranto , Osimo , Ancona , Umana , estates near Ravenna and Genoa , and lastly properties in Istria , Sardinia and Corsica . Revenues from the patrimonies were used for administration, to maintain and build churches, to equip convents, run the papal household and support the clergy, but also to a great extent to relieve public and private want. In administering

21465-654: Was Constantine XI Palaiologos , who died during the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. After conquering the city, Ottoman sultans adopted the title " Caesar of the Romans" ( kayser-i Rûm ). A Byzantine group of claimant emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461, although they had used a modified title since 1282. Modern historians conventionally regard Augustus as

21624-415: Was Vitellius , who adopted the name Germanicus instead. Most emperors used it as their nomen – with Imperator as their praenomen – until the reign of Antoninus Pius , when it permanently became part of the formula Imperator Caesar [full name] Augustus . In the 3rd century, caesars also received the honorific of nobilissimus ("most noble"), which later evolved into a separate title. During

21783-534: Was murdered on orders of Petronius Maximus , who usurped the throne. Petronius Maximus also married Valentinian's widow, Licinia Eudoxia , and likewise wedded the imperial couple's daughter Eudocia to his own son; the latter had formerly been promised to Gaiseric's son, Huneric, which contributed a possible casus belli that was exploited by the Vandal king. Gaiseric was of the opinion that these acts voided his 442 peace treaty with Valentinian, and on 31 May, he and his men landed on Italian soil. Responding to

21942-517: Was again compelled to promise to the pope the cities granted him after the first war and, in addition, Commachio at the mouth of the Po . But this time a promise was not sufficient. Pepin's messengers visited the various cities of the exarchate and of the Pentapolis , demanded and received the keys to them, and brought the highest magistrates and most distinguished magnates of these cities to Rome. Pepin executed

22101-502: Was also used to distinguish a junior co-emperor ( basileus ) from his senior colleague ( basileus autokrator ). By the times of the Palaiologos , there were two distinct ceremonies for the accession of an emperor: first an acclamation as basileus , and later a coronation as autokrator (which also included being raised on a shield). These rites could happen years apart. The Eastern Empire became not only an absolute monarchy but also

22260-512: Was always renewed each year, which often coincided with the beginning of a new regnal year (although " regnal years " were not officially adopted until Justinian I ). The office of censor was not fully absorbed into the imperial office until the reign of Domitian , who declared himself "perpetual censor" ( censor perpetuus ) in AD 85. Before this, the title had been only used by Claudius (47), Vespasian and Titus (both in 73). The emperor also had power over religious affairs, which led to

22419-446: Was an office often occupied by the emperor himself, who now had complete control over the bureaucratic apparatus. Diocletian did preserve some Republican traditions, such as the tribunicia potestas . The last known emperor to have used it was Anastasius I , at the start of the 6th century. Anastasius was also the last attested emperor to use the traditional titles of proconsul and pater patriae . The last attested emperor to use

22578-552: Was attacked by a large force of Suebi under the command of Heremigarius , who had managed to take Lusitania . However, this Suebic army was later defeated during the Battle of Mérida (428) and its leader drowned in the Guadiana River while trying to flee. After defending the aforementioned Suebian attack at Mérida, Gaiseric led most of his people—possibly as many as 80,000 persons to Northern Africa in 428/429; some scholars claim that this figure represents an exaggeration and

22737-401: Was by definition a plebeian , whereas Augustus, although born into a plebeian family, had become a patrician when he was adopted into the gens Julia . By adopting the role of a tribune, Augustus was presenting himself as the representative of the common man and the protector of democracy. As always, this was not a sudden grant of power; Augustus had been receiving several powers related to

22896-419: Was hailed imperator by the Senate on his accession, indicating that it was already considered an integral part of the dignity. It was not until the late reign of Nero , in AD 66, that imperator became once more part of the emperor's nomenclature. Virtually all emperors after him used the praenomen imperatoris , with only a few variations under his successors Galba and Vitellius . The original meaning of

23055-458: Was likely accompanied by a contingent of Alans and Goths. Once there, he won many battles over the weak and divided Roman defenders and quickly overran the territory now comprising modern Morocco and northern Algeria . His Vandal army defeated the Bonifatius' army in the battle of Calama and laid siege to the city of Hippo Regius (where Augustine had recently been bishop and who died during

23214-408: Was most grievously pressed by Aistulf. Accordingly, Stephen II secretly sent a letter to king Pepin by pilgrims, soliciting his aid against Aistulf and asking for a conference. Pepin in turn sent Abbot Droctegang of Jumièges to confer with the pope, and a little later dispatched Duke Autchar and Bishop Chrodegang of Metz to conduct the pope to the Frankish realm. Never before had a pope crossed

23373-426: Was no distinction between emperors and usurpers, as many emperors started as rebels and were retroactively recognized as legitimate. The Lex de imperio Vespasiani explicitly states that all of Vespasian's actions are considered legal even if they happened before his recognition by the Senate. Ultimately, "legitimacy was a post factum phenomenon." Theodor Mommsen famously argued that "here has probably never been

23532-600: Was not relevant in the early Empire, although emperors still attempted to maintain a familiar connection between them; Tiberius , for example, married Julia the Elder , making him Augustus ' son-in-law. Vespasian , who took power after the collapse of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the tumultuous Year of the Four Emperors , was the first emperor to openly declare his sons, Titus and Domitian , as his sole heirs, giving them

23691-450: Was on condition that he did. In the summer of 754 Pepin and the pope began their march into Italy, and forced King Aistulf, who had shut himself up in his capital, to sue for peace. The Lombard promised to give up the cities of the exarchate and of the Pentapolis, which had been last conquered, to make no further attacks upon or to evacuate the Duchy of Rome and the northwest Italian districts of Venetia and Istria , and also acknowledged

23850-407: Was overthrown and expelled to Dalmatia in favor of Romulus, continued to claim the title until his murder in 480. The Eastern court recognized this claim and Odoacer minted coins in his name, although he never managed to exercise real power. The death of Nepos left Zeno as the sole emperor of a (technically) reunited Roman Empire. The Roman Empire survived in the East for another 1000 years, but

24009-412: Was proclaimed emperor at the age of 4. Many child emperors such as Philip II or Diadumenian never succeeded their fathers. These co-emperors all had the same honors as their senior counterpart, but they did not share the actual government, hence why junior co-emperors are usually not counted as real emperors by modern or ancient historians. There was no title to denote the "junior" emperor; writers used

24168-413: Was replaced with dominus ("lord"); the use of princeps and dominus broadly symbolizes the differences in the empire's government, giving rise to the era designations Principate and Dominate . The title is still found in some later sources, however. The poet Claudian , for example, describes Honorius as having been raised from " caesar " to " princeps " (instead of augustus ). The title survived

24327-498: Was reverted by the end of the century. Rome technically remained under imperial control , but was completely surrounded by the Lombards . Africa was lost to the Arabs in the early 7th century, and Rome eventually fell to the Lombards in 751, during the reign of Constantine V . The Frankish king Pepin the Short defeated them and received the favour of Pope Stephen II , who became the head of

24486-415: Was sent—as a hostage—to Rome. Gaiseric's treaty with the Romans also included Vandal retention of Mauretania and part of Numidia as foederati (allies under special treaty) of Rome. Prosper of Aquitaine wrote that Gaiseric had four of his Hispano-Roman counsellors executed after they refused to convert to Arianism. He later banned all non-Arians from serving in his court in the 450s or 460s. In

24645-668: Was the centre of Odoacer's power and of the Ostrogothic rule; here also, after the fall of the Ostrogoths, the viceroy of the Byzantine emperor in Italy, the exarch , resided. In Rome, the pope appeared with increasing frequency in political negotiations; Pope Leo I negotiated with kings Attila of the Huns and Geiserich of the Vandals , and Pope Gelasius I with king Theodoric of the Ostrogoths . Cassiodorus , as praefectus praetorio under

24804-434: Was the first emperor to actually use the title of "Roman emperor" (βασιλεύς Ῥωμαίων, Basileus Romaíon ). This was a response to the new line of emperors created by Charlemagne – although he was recognized as basileus of the Franks . By the 9th century the full imperial title became " basileus and autokrator of the Romans", usually translated as "Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans". The title autokrator

24963-409: Was the first emperor to rule alongside other emperors, first with his adoptive brother Lucius Verus , who succeeded jointly with him, and later with his son Commodus , who was proclaimed co- augustus in 177. Despite being the son of a previous emperor and having nominally shared government with him, Commodus' rule ended with his murder at the hands of his own soldiers. From his death in 192 until

25122-602: Was the real "usurper" (having been proclaimed by his troops). There were no true objective legal criteria for being acclaimed emperor beyond acceptance by the Roman army , which was really the true basis of imperial power. Common methods used by emperors to assert claims of legitimacy, such as support of the army, blood connections (sometimes fictitious) to past emperors, distributing one's own coins or statues, and claims to pre-eminent virtue through propaganda, were pursued just as well by many usurpers as they were by legitimate emperors. Septimius Severus notably declared himself as

25281-408: Was the title used by early writers before the term imperator became popular. In his Res Gestae , Augustus explicitly refers to himself as the princeps senatus . The title was also sometimes given to heirs, in the form of princeps iuventutis ("first of the youth"), a term that continued to be used during the Tetrarchy . In the era of Diocletian and beyond, princeps fell into disuse and

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