Aldarion
Archmage
Roman Army and Society During Dominate
Wars in the late antiquity are led for more-or-less the same reasons as today: resources and profit, which means control of the trade routes (Roman – Persian wars) as well as robbery and/or living …
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Wars in the late antiquity are led for more-or-less the same reasons as today: resources and profit, which means control of the trade routes (Roman – Persian wars) as well as robbery and/or living space (barbarian migrations). Societal structure determines the exact causes however, but wars also change society itself.
In Rome, the army had been setting the emperors since the beginning of the Principate. Roman emperor was a military dictator, and while this fact had been disguised during the early years of the Principate, it could not remain hidden forever. Ever since Julius Caesar, ruler’s legitimacy is connected directly to his military authority. While Sulla and Marius used army to try and take power by force, Caesar used his military campaigns for propaganda – Commentaries on Gallic War is essential propaganda.
Octavian took authority through military success, but once in power he used the title “primus inter pares” or the “first among the equals”, which gave name to this type of rule – the principate.
But over time, emperors increasingly lose control of the army, which leads to appearance of military emperors or soldier emperors. These emperors are in power typically for a very short period of time, have gained power by a military coup or murdering the predecessor, and most of them also die violently. Especially the Praetorians, the military unit that Augustus had founded for protection of the imperial person, are more often a threat to the emperor than protection. For this reason Diocletian replaced them with Comitatenses units, the Iovianensis and Herculianensis, which protected Diocletian and his co-ruler Maximian.
