4 - Rome's new past

Summary

“Not this time,” or “dignus eram a quo res publica inciperet”: Galba and the Flavians

Upon the death of Nero and shortly after his accession, in ad 69 Galba met with his chosen successor, Piso Licinianus, to discuss the handover of power. In the speech Tacitus concocts for him, Galba remarks on Piso's illustrious Republican heritage: he was descended from Pompey the Great and Marcus Crassus, as well as being affiliated with the Sulpicii and Lutatii. Piso himself, Tacitus adds, seemed to look and act the part of an “old school” Roman (vultu habituque moris antiqui, Hist. 1.14). But far from adducing these as advantages on which to capitalize, Galba deems Piso fit for rule in spite of such qualifications. In the political arena, it seems, such things no longer possess any meaning (cf. 1.15); when it comes to choosing a princeps, what matters instead are “outstanding character and patriotism” (praeclara indoles … et amor patriae). Galba, whose coinage had declared the restoration of “freedom” (libertas restituta), then makes a surprisingly frank admission:

“Si immensum imperii corpus stare ac librari sine rectore posset, dignus eram a quo res publica inciperet: nunc eo necessitatis iam pridem ventum est, ut nec mea senectus conferre plus populo Romano possit quam bonum successorem, nec tua plus iuventa quam bonum principem. sub Tiberio et Gaio et Claudio unius familiae quasi hereditas fuimus: in loco libertatis erit quod eligi coepimus.”

“If the huge body of the Empire could stand on its own and be stable in the absence of a single ruler, I would be the right person with whom the Republic might make a new beginning.[…]