Chapter 5: Principate to Dominate
Due to other commitments, the updates from now on will be shorter and less detailed; at least until I have time for a more comprehensive rewrite. The ATL has now moved clearly out of the Rome vs. Macedonia phase, but rather than starting a new thread I shall continue in this one.
With the defeat and death of Varro, Tiberius was hailed by a grateful Senate and people as the saviour of Rome and the Republic. Having established his pre-eminence, Tiberius did not create an autocracy or a dyarchy, but rather an aristocracy based on his family, supporters and clients. Only in hindsight is he recognized as Rome’s first Emperor.
Tiberius and his immediate successors bore the titles Imperator and Princeps - Commander and First Citizen. His principate rested solely upon his auctoritas (personal authority), which derived from the loyalty of the army, the support of the people and the compliance of the Senate (and, when necessary, the suppression of residual senatorial opposition). Nevertheless, Tiberius was respected more than liked, his successors more feared than loved.
The Senators reluctantly and sullenly accepted what was in fact to imperial rule. They would not tolerate a dynastic succession which ignored republican traditions. Tiberius realized that he and his successors must either reach a reconciliation and accommodation with the Senate or else find an alternative to assist in the administration of the empire. One man could not rule such a vast empire without the assistance of an educated, experienced governing class; while the army was not a suitable platform for civil administration.
In reforming the constitution, Tiberius also began the process - accelerated by his successors - of integrating provincials into the bureaucracy and the army. The purpose was to unify the empire but also to dilute the influence of the traditional aristocracy.
(The distinction is drawn here with OTL’s Augustan principate which was a more clear-cut autocracy. In the ATL, Tiberius establishes a new aristocracy which is less centralized but also less dependent on the personal abilities and qualities of the Princeps.)
In 770, Tiberius held his second consulship. His colleague was Gaius Caudinus, a popularis ally.
Opposition to the Tiberian hegemony was led in the Senate by his political foes Metellus and Marcellus; but his prestige was clearly the greater. Tiberius relentlessly publicized his victories, his clementia towards the defeated soldiers of Varro, and his ability to secure pensions for his veterans. The compliant Senate and assembly ratified the enabling legislation, including the organization of the three new provinces in Germania and the foundation of colonies (to follow through on his promise that no free landholders in Italia would be dispossessed of their property).
For his proconsular command, Tiberius demanded Hispania Citerior as well as the Germanian provinces.
The Senate, recovering its composure after the Pisonian and Varronian debacles, began to rally in its efforts to dispense with his services. The Consuls for 771 were another of the Marcelli, C. Claudius Marcellus, and a non-aligned conservative, C. Popillius Laenas. The opponents of Tiberius referred to themselves as republicans, but they were the clients and partisans of Metellus. Except for their large senatorial component, they had no more reason to call themselves republican than Tiberius and his supporters. Their strongholds were in North Africa (including Aegypt) and Illyricum. The Tiberian bastions were Gallia, Germania and Hispania.
In 772, tensions continued to build between the Tiberian and Metellan factions. In anticipation of open conflict, the Senate appointed the outgoing Consuls to strategically important "neutral" provinces, Sicilia and Sardinia. All of the provinces were now in one of the two camps:
Tiberians - Baleares, Belgica, Corsica, Gallia Alpina, Gallia Citerior, Gallia Maritima, Germania Inferior, Germania Superior, Hispania Citerior, Hispania Ulterior, Sardinia
Metellans - Aegypt, Africa, Africa Nova, Creta, Cyprus, Cyrenaica, Hellas, Illyricum, Macedonia, Sicilia, Thracia
However, of the 24 legions in what was now a standing army, fourteen were under the command of Tiberius, who also had far greater reserves of auxiliaries.
The prospect of civil war loomed in 773, as the rival factions manoeuvred for control of Rome. L. Aemilius Lepidus and Q. Caecilius Metellus shared the consulship, Lepidus for the second time and Metellus for the third (including his suffect consulship). Both were in violation of the lex Varia Claudia, but Lepidus had at least waited ten years. Metellus’s was highly irregular. Neither side was paying more than lip service to the constitution.
The Metellans began construction of a fleet in Africa and fortifying the harbours in Sicilia, a clear signal to Tiberius of aggressive intentions. His supporters inflamed the assembly with allegations of an impending invasion. The Metellans retaliated with a threat to cut off Italia’s grain lifeline; but this was a serious blunder which undermined their credibility in Rome. The elitist conservatores fatally underestimated the importance of public opinion in a civil conflict. Tiberius returned to the capital, to a hero’s welcome. Once more he could pose as the saviour of Rome against traitorous fellow Romans.
Breaches began to open up in the ranks of the conservatores. Metellus, still aspiring to be the people’s champion, approved grain shipments from the African provinces, but in Sicilia, proconsul Marcellus held them up. He was denounced in Tiberian propaganda as a common pirate threatening Italia’s food supply - or, alternatively, as a potential tyrant in the mould of Piso. Nevertheless, the inability to curb the actions of Marcellus created restlessness in Rome, as rising grain prices provoked riots. The intimidated Senate censured Marcellus for insubordination. Tiberius began gathering in ships and constructing a new fleet.
When Lepidus moved for his recall, Marcellus called on his allies, in particular Metellus, to rally to his support. Impending war created a credit crisis in Rome, further undermining support for the Metallans. At last, the Senate reluctantly declared Marcellus an enemy of the state and authorized Tiberius to take action.
War, however, was averted. Metellus had no intention of being declared a traitor and withdrew his support from Marcellus. The errant ex-consul fled to Lydia, Rome’s and Metellus's ally, to escape prosecution. There he died in exile, six years later.
In the wake of the crisis of 773, the pre-eminence of Tiberius Germanicus Imperator was unchallenged. As a result of his ambivalence during the most recent crisis, Metellus found his support ebbing away, as all but the most doctrinaire Senators moved into the Tiberian camp. In 774, Metellus retired into private life; but in a final act of petulance, he discharged his legions rather than have them mustered under the standards of Tiberius.