principate
Realm under prince
The principate was the form of Roman government from Augustus (27 BCE) through roughly the third century CE, when emperors ruled while maintaining the fiction of republican institutions.
The emperor held power as "first citizen" (princeps) rather than openly as monarch.
The term distinguishes this period from the later dominate, when emperors dropped republican pretenses and ruled as absolute sovereigns.
Rome's inaugural emperor
- TiberiusSecond Roman emperor
- CaligulaDepraved third Roman emperor
- ClaudiusFourth Roman emperor
- NeroTyrannical first-century ruler
Titus · Trajan · Hadrian · Marcus Aurelius · Pax Romana · praetorian · legions · provinces
Rome's inaugural emperor
- VirgilClassical epic poet
- HoraceMale name from antiquity
- OvidAncient Roman poet
- AeneidRoman founding epic
Metamorphoses · Golden Age · patronage · classicism · propaganda · civic virtue · restoration · forum
Absolute ruling power
- auctoritasInformal power from reputation
- potestasFormal legal authority
- supremacyHighest rank or power
- dominanceSuperior influence over others
command · control · rule · leadership · hegemony · autocracy · sovereignty · prerogative
Male ruler of empire
- senateLegislative governing body
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
- successionFollowing in order
dynasty · reign · provinces · procurator · prefect · edicts · diplomacy · legislation
State with elected leaders
- transitionChange from one state
- dominateControl through superior strength
- crisisDecisive dangerous moment
- third centuryYears 201 through 300
Constantine · imperial · decline · transformation · periodization · chronology · era · epoch
Augustus
Rome's inaugural emperor
Nero · Titus · Trajan · Hadrian · Marcus Aurelius · Pax Romana · praetorian · legions · provinces · limes
Augustus
Rome's inaugural emperor
Aeneid · Metamorphoses · Golden Age · patronage · classicism · propaganda · civic virtue · restoration · forum · Livy
imperium
Absolute ruling power
- auctoritasInformal power from reputation
- potestasFormal legal authority
- supremacyHighest rank or power
dominance · command · control · rule · leadership · hegemony · autocracy · sovereignty · prerogative · legitimacy
emperor
Male ruler of empire
- senateLegislative governing body
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
succession · dynasty · reign · provinces · procurator · prefect · edicts · diplomacy · legislation · centralization
republic
State with elected leaders
- transitionChange from one state
- dominateControl through superior strength
- crisisDecisive dangerous moment
third century · Constantine · imperial · decline · transformation · periodization · chronology · era · epoch
principatedemocracy
Rule by the people
popular sovereignty · constitutional government · republicanism · representative government · theocracy
- school principalChief administrator of school
- vice principalSchool administrator's deputy
- principal's officeSchool leader's workspace
- principal characterStory's central figure
- assistant principalSchool administrator beneath principal
- principal dancerBallet company's lead performer
principal, principally, principals, principality, principalities, vice-principal