The Jewish War: First half of Book 2

[cahn]

Last week: Discussion on how Herod stacked up against various Roman emperors in terms of body count of his nearest and dearest; how Friedrich Wilhelm might hear the Josephus text; Herod throwing money around; Cleopatra!

This week: ...uhhhh there was a lot going on and I haven't actually finished the reading yet *ducks* -- I am doing that right now and I should most likely be able to comment tomorrow. (I don't anticipate this being a problem again for at least two more months, and most likely not then either; this was a confluence of various time sinks that doesn't usually happen all at the same time.) But I wanted to go ahead and get the post up because I know you guys have read it... (ETA: have finished the reading now :P :) )

Next week: finishing up Book 2!

Comments

Re: Death of Britannicus: Tacitus / Messalina

[selenak]

Messalina has been the subject of operas, too, but alas for her she didn't get Händel (like Agrippina) or Montiverdi (like Poppea) to immortalize her in music.

Lehndorff comparing both future FW2's first wife and Caroline the young Queen of Denmark to MESSALINA, btw, aims at the cheating in the former case and at the Silius marriage/possible coup plot in the second, because poor Caroline was slandered by stepmother-in-law Julia (herself a sister of EC and Luise, so that's how Lehndorff would have heard about the affair) to have planned keeping husband Christian drugged or possibly killed while she ruled with her lover Struensee the reformminded Doctor, while the frst Mrs. FW2, another Elisabeth Christine, reportedly had affairs with lots of young officers. (Never mind future FW2 had lots of affairs as well.)

Anyway, Silius like Messaline doesn't appear to have been the brightest (whereas Struensee was, so that's another part of the slander), and I did mention in my explanation he got killed!

So basically the important question is whose side the Pretorians are on, right?

Yes, for about a century. To understand why the Praetorians play such an outsize role in deciding who gets to rule, you have to remember that Rome itself is not supposed to have any type of army within its walls in Republican times. When soldiers go there after a completed campaign, they re-enter lives as private citizens. The only reason why they would wear their uniforms within the city walls would be during a triumph. One thing generals are never, ever, supposed to do is lead their armies to Rome itself. Now, in the late Republic (i.e. basically the last century before Christ) when things get pear shaped at an increasing pace, this last taboo gets broken. Sulla does it during his struggle with Marius. Pompey keeps his soldiers close enough that they're lingering when Cicero is supposed to defend Milo, with the net result that Milo gets convicted because Cicero is very nervous and doesn't give the speec he later will publish. And then of course Caesar leads his armies towards Rome and makes himself dictator. By the time we get to the second Triumvirate of Octavian/Antony/Lepidus, it's not even a question that the armies are within city walls.

Once Octavian has won and cleared the field of all competition, starting his transformation to Augustus, he reinstalls the taboo that there should be no army, under no circumstances except during a triumph, within Rome's walls. At the same time, he's aware that there are a lot of people who might not buy into the propaganda of Augustus the peace loving first citizen yet and whose nearest and dearest he had killed when he was still Octavian. So he does need some armed men at hand and under his personal control. Enter the DEFINITELY NOT AN ARMY Praetorians, the only military guys allowed to carry weapons within Rome. The Praetorians really are nothing but a tool in the decades of Augustus' rule, but this changes under Tiberius, because Tiberius can't stand Rome and eventually withdraws to Capri, ruling the Empire from there, living Rome the city under the control of his bff and leader of the Praetorians, Aelius Sejanus. (Patrick Stewart in "I, Claudius".) Sejanus, who isn't of senatorial rank originally but an ambitious go getter, uses this chance for all that it's worth and makes the Praetorians the fearful para military gang of legend. After Sejanus' fall, he's replaced with Macro, and the fact young Gaius (Caligula) cultivates Macro before Tiberius dies is already a signal that by now, it's clear that future Emperors want and need to have the Praetorians on their side. It's the Praetorians who after Caligula's assassination pick Claudius as his successor. The Senate has other ideas, but after a few bloody days it's clear the other ideas won't wash. Claudius has difficulties with the Senate in the first few years of his reign, but eventually things work out, not so coincidentally when he marries Agrippina, who apparantly can work the mixture of flattery and intimidation on the Senate like no one since Augustus. (And also makes sure that one of her clients, Burrus, is appointed head othe Praetorians.) After Nero's death, in the year of the Four Emperors, the Praetorians are instrumental in the picking of the first two Nero replacements but the thing is, by then generals have gotten the idea of marching on Rome again, and the eventual winner, Vespasian, does not win because of the Praetorians. (He's still careful enough to make his son Titus Prefect of the Praetorians after his accession to the throne and the end of the Jewish War (i.e. when Titus is back from Judea). Titus is good at playing grim enforcer to his father's benevolent monarch (so much so that everyone is surprised according to Suetonius when he himself gets to the throne and sheds the bad cop role). Domitian does keep the Praetorians on his side at first but that doesn't save his life. Then we get the series of the "Five Good Emperors" who succeed each other via adoption and all except for the first one, Nerva, are successful generals. The Praetorians don't play an important role in that era. (Trajan is busy campaigning and extending the Roman Empire to its maximum size, and Hadrian is busy travelling all over the Empire. Marcus Aurelius is busy campaigning again. Note this sets decades of precedence of the Emperor not being in Rome itself fo ryears and governing from everywhere else. Then Marcus Aurelius picks his son Commodus the sucky Gladiator guy as a successor, and the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire (tm Gibbons) officially starts. The Praetorians have their hour of most power after the assassination of Commodus when they literally auction off the office of Emperor to the highest bidder in the Year of the Five Emperors, but this is also the beginning of the end for them, because the eventual winner of that year, Septimius Severus, has had it with the Praetorians and dismisses every single one of them, replacing them with his own men. (He's a general, of course.) The Praetorians are no match for actual army soldiers anymore because they never were in the field, they were just busy terrorizing Rome. In the subsequent decades and especially once the Third Century Crisis starts and Emperors start to drop like flies as general after general tries his luck, the city of Rome loses is importance other than the symbolic one entirely, it's no longer the seat of government, and so what some guys playing soldiers within it think doesn't matter anymore.

Praetorians

[cahn]

Enter the DEFINITELY NOT AN ARMY Praetorians, the only military guys allowed to carry weapons within Rome.

Ahhhh wow! okay!

It's the Praetorians who after Caligula's assassination pick Claudius as his successor.

Ohhhh. Why?

In the subsequent decades and especially once the Third Century Crisis starts and Emperors start to drop like flies as general after general tries his luck, the city of Rome loses is importance other than the symbolic one entirely, it's no longer the seat of government, and so what some guys playing soldiers within it think doesn't matter anymore.

Oh wow, okay!

I really appreciate all these writeups. I feel like with each one of them I'm getting a sliiiiightly better sense of what's going on with Rome (when you wrote your fic for Mildred I really had no idea :) )

Re: Praetorians

[selenak]

The Praetorians & Claudius: for starters, he was the only male adult of the family left. (And the other male was little Nero, whose mother Agrippina was currently in exile on an island. Kid!Nero was living with one of his paternal aunts.) The Praetorians wanted to get paid. If the Senate picked a non-Julian-Claudian as Princeps or went back to a Republic of sorts (in retrospect, the assassination of Caligula was probably the last time this could have happened, though then we'd still be back to the same old problems of the late Republic), the Praetorians might get dissolved instead of paid. The scene where they drag Claudius from literally behind a curtain where he was hiding when all hell broke loose (unsuprisingly so, given that not just his nephew Gaius Caligula but also Caligula's wife Caesonia and toddler daughter got killed and it must have looked like a free for all slaughter) and present him to the Senate as the new Princeps is one of the great blackly comical set pieces in Suetonius. Claudius then became the first Emperor to do what all the subsequent Emperors had to do, which was to significantly raise the pay of the Praetorians, all of them, not just the boss, on the occasion of his accession to the throne.

(This said: Emma Southon is sideeying the "poor old Claudius didn't want to be Emperor and got dragged from behind a curtain" story and speculates that he might have been in communication with the Praetorians before nephew Caligula got assassinated. If so, there was no proof, so it's pure speculation.)

In I, Claudius he does get dragged from behind the curtain, and it's bleakly ironic that he would have been on board with the return of the Republic thing if only the Senators had told him ahead of time, but as it is he doesn't want to get killed by the Praetorians and so becomes Emperor. The scene where he goes from being seen as Claudius the idiot to taking control of the Senate, revealing he's faked his "harmless fool" persona (in addition to the very real physical handicaps) in order to remain alive in his murderous family, is a wonderful acting showcase for Derek Jacobi, of course. Long before the tv show was made, there was an attempt by Alexander Korda to film I, Claudius as an epic movie, but alas it fell apart due to a combination of finances and sick leading lady (Merle Oberon as Messalina). But he did get to film the scene where Claudius, played by Charles Laughton, sheds his Poor Uncle Claudius persona and takes control of the senate as well, and Laughton is fantastic in it, and makes one deeply regret the movie never was finished. You can watch the scene here.

Re: Praetorians

[cahn]

the Praetorians might get dissolved instead of paid

Ohhhhh. That makes a lot of sense.

The scene where they drag Claudius from literally behind a curtain where he was hiding when all hell broke loose

Ahhhh -- this is maybe the only thing I remember from Graves! I really need to read it again.

and it's bleakly ironic that he would have been on board with the return of the Republic thing if only the Senators had told him ahead of time, but as it is he doesn't want to get killed by the Praetorians and so becomes Emperor.

This I didn't remember :) (And, idk, maybe didn't even pick up on at the time -- I was pretty young when I read it.)

But he did get to film the scene where Claudius, played by Charles Laughton, sheds his Poor Uncle Claudius persona and takes control of the senate as well, and Laughton is fantastic in it, and makes one deeply regret the movie never was finished.

Thank you for the link! That was indeed quite impressive.