ady had a son of his own, Drusus.

Then came years of ne military servicewhich put the Roman world deeply in his debt, when he crushed the revoltsin Pannonia and Illyricum and then saved the situation on the German frontafter the disaster to Varus. After his return to Rome he triumphed in . . 12,and in the following year his tribunician power was prolonged and hereceived proconsular imperium like that held by the emperor: he became in factalmost a co-regent, though he la cked above all the auctoritas of Augustus.He might therefore appear an ideal successor: he had shown skill in dip-lomacy and brilliance in war; he was popular with the army, the rst andindispensable need for any successor; nor did he lack experience of civil administration. But his character was not well adapted to his task. Silent andre served by nature, often obscure and ambiguous in expression, he appearedsevere a nd suspicious to many. His innate di dence and his family pride (theClaudii had an ancient reputation for superbia ) were aggravated by his experi-ence of having been set aside by Augustus and ad opted by him only as a lastresort. Thus when he became Princeps, he was already disillusioned, souredand embittered.The life-work of Augustus might easily have been undone if his powerscould not be transmitted smoothly to another: there mus t be no long disputethat would open again the ood-gates of civil war. He had not, it is true,attempted to establish any law of succession (this would have o ended thenobility too deeply), but his more circuitous method in practice worked outwell. The only conceivable rivals to Tiberius were Agrippa Postumus, whomAug ustus had adopted in . . 4, and Germanicus. The latter, as will be seen,was easily controlled; Postumus, whom Augustus himself had exiled becauseof his depraved character, was killed im mediately after the death of Augustus.This was perhaps done on the order of Augu stus and even without theknowledge of Tiberius, though Tacitus blamed Tiberius.A ugustus died on 19 August . . aqueducts; as aedile in 33 he had not hesitated to make a personal inspectionof Rome s main sewer, the Cloaca Maxima, by boat. On his death in 12 . . Augustus put Agrippa s sta of 240 trained slaves in the charge of three curatores aquarum , of whom the chief was a consular. Thus Rome gaineda Metropolitan Water Board, which was maintained by the Senate withoccasional help from the Princeps. Measur es were also taken to preventthe Tiber ooding the city: a permanent board was set up later in . . 15,comprising

ve curatores riparum Tiberis under a consular. To maintain the foodsupply, Augustus was given a cura annonae in 22 . . after he had relieved afamine at his own expense. Further di culties led to the appointment in . . 6 of two consulars, but a few years later a permanent food commissionerwas estab lished, the praefectus annonae of equestrian rank. Though Augustus atone time contemplated abolishing the corn dole, he limited himself toreducing the list of recipients to 200,000 (in 2 . . ); the distribution since22 . . had been in the hands of praefecti frumenti dandi ex senatus consulto .Then the danger of re must be faced, especially as the ambitious EgnatiusRufus had won popularity i n 26 by organizing a private re-brigade(cf. p. 182). At rst Augustus put some public slaves under the command of the aediles (21 . . ), but in . . 6 he established seven cohorts (eachof 1000 freedmen) of Vigiles, 31 commanded by an equestrian praefectus vigilum .Each cohort assumed charge for two of the fourteen regiones , into whichAugustus had divided the city in 7 . . , when partly in order to help with reghting he revived the vicomagistri , four of whom were elected by each of the 265 wards or parishes ( vici ). Another public service that the Republic hadlacked, as men like Clodius and M ilo knew only too well, was a police force.Augustus made good this de ciency by creating three cohortes urbanae (each athousand strong), commanded ultimately by the praefectus urbi (an o cewhich did not become permanent until perhaps . . 13). Unlike mostother prefects who were equestrians, the Prefect of the City was

a consular,who held o ce for long periods and exercised some powers of summaryjurisdiction; later in t he Empire this o ce became one of very great import-ance. 32 The Urban Cohorts were a semi-military body, and if they neededfurther support t o keep order, the Praetorian Guard (see p. 205 f.) could besummond to help.Thus the amateur system of the Republic was superseded by more per-manent establishme nts and the municipal organization of Rome was set on asounder basis. But August us did not neglect Italy. The numerous colonies of veterans that he had establis hed on land which he, unlike his predecessors,had bought, would help to maintain law and order. Colonia Augusta Praetoria(Aosta), for instance, assisted in keep ing the Alpine Salassi in check andthe Alpine passes open. To reduce brigandage and promote easy travel forsoldiers, civilians and merchandise, Augustus, who in 27 had repaired the Via aqueducts; as aedile in 33 he had not hesitated to make a personal inspectionof Rome s main sewer, the Cloaca Maxima, by boat. On his death in 12 . . Augustus put Agrippa s sta of 240 trained slaves in the charge of three curatores aquarum , of whom the chief was a consular. Thus Rome gaineda Metropolitan Water Board, which was maintained by the Senate withoccasional help from the Princeps. Measur es were also taken to preventthe Tiber ooding the city: a permanent board was set up later in . . 15,comprising ve curatores riparum Tiberis under a consular. To maintain the foodsupply, Augustus was given a cura annonae in 22 . . after he had relieved afamine at his own expense. Further di culties led to the appointment in . . 6 of two consulars, but a few years later a permanent food commissionerwas estab lished, the praefectus annonae of equestrian rank. Though Augustus atone time contemplated abolishing the corn dole, he limited himself toreducing the list of recipients to 200,000 (in 2 . . ); the distribution since22 . . had been in the hands of praefecti frumenti dandi ex senatus consulto .Then the danger of re must be faced, especially as the ambitious EgnatiusRufus had won popularity i n 26 by organizing a private

re-brigade(cf. p. 182). At rst Augustus put some public slaves under the command of the aediles (21 . . ), but in . . 6 he established seven cohorts (eachof 1000 freedmen) of Vigiles, 31 commanded by an equestrian praefectus vigilum .Each cohort assumed charge for two of the fourteen regiones , into whichAugustus had divided the city in 7 . . , when partly in order to help with reghting he revived the vicomagistri , four of whom were elected by each of the 265 wards or parishes ( vici ). Another public service that the Republic hadlacked, as men like Clodius and M ilo knew only too well, was a police force.Augustus made good this de ciency by creating three cohortes urbanae (each athousand strong), commanded ultimately by the praefectus urbi (an o cewhich did not become permanent until perhaps . . 13). Unlike mostother prefects who were equestrians, the Prefect of the City was a consular,who held o ce for long periods and exercised some powers of summaryjurisdiction; later in t he Empire this o ce became one of very great import-ance. 32 The Urban Cohorts were a semi-military body, and if they neededfurther support t o keep order, the Praetorian Guard (see p. 205 f.) could besummond to help.Thus the amateur system of the Republic was superseded by more per-manent establishme nts and the municipal organization of Rome was set on asounder basis. But August us did not neglect Italy. The numerous colonies of veterans that he had establis hed on land which he, unlike his predecessors,had bought, would help to maintain law and order. Colonia Augusta Praetoria(Aosta), for instance, assisted in keep ing the Alpine Salassi in check andthe Alpine passes open. To reduce brigandage and promote easy travel forsoldiers, civilians and merchandise, Augustus, who in 27 had repaired the Via eminens princeps ), but his apparent reluctance wasat length overborn; by accepting, he became Pr inceps. 2 In the description of this scene painted by Tacitus the hesitation of Tiberius i s attributed to hyp-ocrisy, but it may well have been genuine. He was

ftyve years old, andrule would involve heavy responsibilities if not dangers. He wa s to show tiberius and gaius 227 himself a loyal follower of the example of Augustus, and so he may have beenmind ful that Augustus himself in 27 . . had hesitated before accepting fullcontrol. The fact that he was a member of the Claudian and not the Julian gens by birth may not have a ected his popularity very deeply, 3 but he would beglad if his accession should be seen to derive from the pressure of the Senate.Further, he may have felt that he lacked the necessary tact and ad aptability tomaintain the delicate balance between Princeps and Senate. And even whenaccepting, Tiberius added the hope that he might be relieved of the task in hisold age. But if he hesitated before the Senate, even though already forti ed byan oath of loyalty which the consuls had taken and had