Quote:
Originally Posted by ukrkoz
Ask yourself simple question. If Roman emperors were such tyrants and despots, why did they fear - every single one of them - Roman populous, the people, so badly? Little known is that, both Roman and Byzantine emperors were nothing more but a paid for highest rank public servants that could be overthrown any time by the crowd they served.
|
That's too broad of a brush. Roman emperors power ranged from all inclusive (i.e. Augustus) to being merely powerless puppets to barbarian kingdoms (during the decline of the Roman empire). They didn't fear the people, the mobs can be manipulated, roman citizenship was used as a tool for control. No, they feared the other elites in the Roman world, the competitors to the throne, and in particular they feared the military and their commanders. Civil Wars were a common occurance in ancient rome, pitting one faction against each other.
20% of Roman rulers were assassinated. None were assassinated by mobs, but by those that wanted to take leadership - sometimes by his own guard, sometimes by generals or other rich romans with the backing of the military, many times by family members who were next in line. The first step when a Roman was made ruler was usually to kill those competitors to the throne, including brothers, children of former enemies, etc.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
