The Problem of the Succession

The chief problem presented by the method of succession was that there was no method to speak of. As the Principate was not an overt monarchy, there could be no acknowledgement of the hereditary principle, dominant as it was in practice and, a fortiori, no law of succession to regulate hereditary claims. In theory, the choice belonged to Spqr, but the uncertainty went deeper, for there was no obligation on Spqr to choose a Princeps at all. The office died with each incumbent: between the death of the old Princeps and the conferment of the traditional powers on the new, there was not even a formal interregnum, as existed when there were no consuls in the Republic, to suggest that a replacement was needed. ¹ The view of the Princeps that Augustus had promoted, namely a man exercising various magisterial functions according to the mandate of the sovereign Senate and People, not only justified Tiberius in throwing open for senatorial decision the matter of scope and duration of the Princeps’ power: it also sanctioned the attempt of the consuls and Senate, after Gaius’ assassination, to dispense with a Princeps and revert to the Republic. The fear of renewed civil war and the connivance of elements like the Praetorian Guard and the palace staff, who had a vested interest in the new system, was enough to stifle the last idea in 41 and, effectively, forever.