ABSTRACT
Opposition against the princeps existed not only in the senate, but within the imperial house as well. This was a very different type of “opposition” from that which came from individual senators or small groups of opponents. This type of opposition could and did entail disputes over the succession or influence at court; its source was often the need to check and neutralize potential rivals, particularly those with connections to the imperial family. Delatores were inevitably drawn into the ensuing prosecutions which rivals used in their conflicts. In addition, members of the senate were occasionally attacked as the backers of one side or another in imperial domestic disputes.1 Prosecutions of this sort are particularly in evidence during the reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero and the delator’s role in this context is well attested. Concerning the principates of Gaius and the Flavians, we are much less well informed. Of the three major categories of opposition we shall have considered in this study, it should be noted that that which embroiled members of the imperial family and their supporters was of a sort which was, for the most part, unique to the Principate. That domestic disputes could reach such a level under the Republic is unthinkable; the state was now the property of a single ruling house and the stakes were raised for the members of that house, who sought support from other powerful or influential individuals both within and outside of it.
