Principate

The Principate is the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The Principate is characterised by the reign of a single emperor (princeps) and an effort on the part of the early emperors, at least, to preserve the illusion of the formal continuance, in some aspects, of the Roman Republic. 'Principate' is etymologically derived from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, and therefore represents the political regime dominated by such a political leader, whether or not he is formally head of state or head of government. This reflects the principate emperors' assertion that they were merely "first among equals" among the citizens of Rome. Under the Republic, the princeps senatus, traditionally the oldest or most honoured member of the Senate, had the right to be heard first on any debate. Scipio Aemilianus and his circle had fostered the (quasi-Platonic) idea that authority should be invested in the worthiest citizen (princeps), who would beneficently guide his peers, an ideal of the patriot statesman later taken up by Cicero. In a more limited and precise chronological sense, the term Principate is applied either to the entire Empire (in the sense of the post-Republican Roman state), or specifically to the earlier of the two phases of Imperial government in the ancient Roman Empire before Rome's military collapse in the West (fall of Rome) in 476 left the Byzantine Empire as sole heir. This early Principate phase began when Augustus claimed auctoritas for himself as princeps, and continued (depending on the source) up to the rule of Commodus, of Maximinus Thrax, or of Diocletian. Afterwards, Imperial rule in the Empire is designated as the Dominate, which is subjectively more like an absolute monarchy while the earlier Principate is still more Republican.