Leading the Roman Army: Soldiers and Emperors, 31 BC – 235 AD

Leading the Roman Army investigates all ranks of the imperial army to explore how officers and troops owed their allegiance to the emperor. The Roman imperial army represented one of the main factors in the exercise of political control by the emperors. The effective political management of the army was essential for maintaining the safety and well-being of the empire as a whole. This book analyzes the means by which emperors controlled their soldiers and sustained their allegiance from the battle of Actium in 31 BC, to the demise of the Severan dynasty in AD 235. Recent discoveries have revolutionized our understanding of the Roman army. This study provides an up to date synthesis of a range of evidence from archaeological, epigraphic, literary and numismatic sources on the relationship between the emperor and his soldiers. It demonstrates that this relationship was of an intensely personal nature. He was not only the commander-in-chief, but also their patron and benefactor, even after their discharge from military service. Yet the management of the army was more complex than this emperor-soldier relationship suggests. An effective army requires an adequate military hierarchy to impose discipline and command the troops on a daily basis. This was of particular relevance for the imperial army which was mainly dispersed along the frontiers of the empire, effectively in a series of separate armies. The emperor needed to ensure the loyalty of his officers by building mutually beneficial relationships with them. In this way, the imperial army became a complex network of interlocking ties of loyalty which protected the emperor from military subversion. The Roman imperial army represented one of the main factors in the exercise of political control by the emperors. The effective political management of the army was essential for maintaining the safety and well-being of the empire as a whole. This book analyzes the means by which emperors controlled their soldiers and sustained their allegiance from the battle of Actium in 31 BC, to the demise of the Severan dynasty in AD 235. Recent discoveries have revolutionized our understanding of the Roman army. This study provides an up to date synthesis of a range of evidence from archaeological, epigraphic, literary and numismatic sources on the relationship between the emperor and his soldiers. It demonstrates that this relationship was of an intensely personal nature. He was not only the commander-in-chief, but also their patron and benefactor, even after their discharge from military service. Yet the management of the army was more complex than this emperor-soldier relationship suggests. An effective army requires an adequate military hierarchy to impose discipline and command the troops on a daily basis. This was of particular relevance for the imperial army which was mainly dispersed along the frontiers of the empire, effectively in a series of separate armies. The emperor needed to ensure the loyalty of his officers by building mutually beneficial relationships with them. In this way, the imperial army became a complex network of interlocking ties of loyalty which protected the emperor from military subversion. **

A historian and archeological scholar examines the complex relationship between Roman emperors and their armies. For the emperors of Ancient Rome, effective political management of the army was vital to the overall stability of the empire. In Leading the Roman Army, historian Jonathan Mark Eaton examines how emperors endeavored to control the military from the battle of Actium in 31 BC, to the demise of the Severan dynasty in AD 235. This study draws on the latest evidence from archaeological, epigraphic, literary and numismatic sources on the relationship between the emperor and his soldiers. It demonstrates that the emperor was not only the army's commander-in-chief, but also their patron and benefactor, even after their discharge from military service. With forces dispersed along the frontiers of the empire, the emperor needed a strong military hierarchy to impose discipline. He also needed to ensure the loyalty of his officers by building mutually beneficial relationships with them. To this end, the imperial army became a complex network of loyalty ties which protected the emperor from military subversion.

Provides a cutting-edge synthesis of the relationship between imperial power and the army during the imperial period. Illustrates the interdependency of the imperial court on the inner workings of the army camps across the Empire.