ABSTRACT
THE power of the Roman Emperor, among the most absolute which the world has ever known, was nevertheless not monarchical in essence.1 The Princeps is all-powerful, not because he is considered as descended from the gods, like the monarchs of the East and the kings of certain Germanic peoples ; but rather because he embodies in his person the Respublica, the authority of the Roman people, which is absolute. Accordingly his power is not a personal power, still less is it hereditary ; it is delegated. His power depends first and foremost on armed force. The Emperor is he who possesses, by delegation, the command of the army, which like all real command is absolute. This command is called the imperium. During the republican period many persons held the imperium. These were the commanders-inchief, the proconsuls. They were imperatores, but only for the duration of the campaign. On the day after the triumph, this absolute power expired. The establishment of the Empire consisted in limiting the number of those on whom the imperium was conferred to one man, and in conferring upon him this office for life.
