ABSTRACT
All the persons acting as extraordinary commanders on Augustus’s and Tiberius’s orders belonged to the small circle of the imperial family and were potential candidates for succession. The importance and nature of the missions entrusted to them varied. The motives of Augustus, and later Tiberius, as they gave those special tasks to members of their immediate family, varied as well. The scale of the military campaigns carried out at the time involved large military forces, which in turn needed to be commanded by experienced and talented generals. Comparing the imperia of the several members of the imperial family and their relative standing in the domus Augusta points to a specific hierarchy within that group. The special rank of the emperor’s relatives active in the provinces was due not simply to their extraordinary imperia, but also to the high-prestige honours they were awarded.
