Panem et Circenses

Suetonius

• dispelled slaves, foreigners etc. till the grain supply within Rome was no longer scarce
• aqueducts of Marcus Agrippa improved the conditions in the city
• put on a variety of games and shows to appease the plebs. Nearly always attended.

Res Gestae

• handouts of money and grain to plebs

Suetonius

• Lex Papia Poppae, which encourages marriage and childbirth. Equestrians complained to Augustus at the Theatre at which he showed off the children of Germanicus
• he reviews the knight's order frequently

Suetonius

• raised the property qualification to be a Senator (but paid the difference if some were unable to make the cut)
• the Senators sometimes hassled Augustus in the Senate house, saying that they were never given the chance to speak

Res Gestae

• claims he returned the power to the Senate

Cassius Dio,

• restoring power to the senate was "mere pretence" [something similar is also said by Tacitus]

Suetonius 

• cautious of granting freedom to slaves (tells both Livia and Tiberius he will not grant freedom to those they request it for, unless they themselves came to him to argue their cases)

Tacitus

• names freedmen and slaves in his will who would now more about the arrangements to be made upon his death, or for further information about anything else

Laws

• Lex Aelia Sentia - concerning whether freed slaves became full Roman citizens
• Lex Fufia Canina - restricted the number of slaves it was possible to free upon one's death
• Lex Papia Poppaea - affected what slaves were entitled to leave for their families and what had to be given to be their patrons.

Suetonius

• crushed riots without mercy
• never put on public shows

Suetonius

• Tiberius exiled senators and equestrians who deliberately lowered their rank so they could perform on stage

Tacitus

• blames Sejanus for his corrupting influence on Tiberius

Vellius Paterculus

• praises Sejanus' high rank, seeing as he was only an equestrian

Cassius Dio

• describes the end of Sejanus' career and his downfall in the Senate house

Suetonius

• asked Senates advice for everything from business matters to the maintainence of buildings in the city

Tacitus

• always allowed the consuls the initiative in debates and issues
• financially aided Senators unless they themselves were the cause of thier financial crisis

Suetonius

• the people insisted in Gaius being the emperor, enough so that they mobbed the Senate house
• Gaius exhibited gladiotor shows and stage plays, often appearing on stage himself

Suetonius

• reviewed the list of knights
• encourages the plebs to steal the seat of knights but throwing tickets and tokens onto their reserved seats

Cassius Dio

• summoned men from across the empire and made them equestrians

Suetonius 

• the Senate "immediately and unanimously" conferred power on him
• Caligula displaced consuls who forgot his birthday

Cassius Dio

• he annulled treason trials, otherwise known as maiestas, and the Senators were so pleased that they had the speech he gave upon them inscribed into bronze and read it out every year
• later in his life reintroduced the trials and critisised Senators for ever saying Tiberius was bad/ made mistakes

Suetonius

• built an aqueduct, attempted to drain the Fucine Lake and built the harbour at Ostia
• This was all in response to a crowd of plebs pelting him with stale bread when there was a food shortage in the city
• he gave magnificent shows and stood and clapped along with the rest of the crowd

Tacitus

• mobbed by plebs affected by famines and earthquakes

Cassius Dio

• Claudius built the harbour in Ostia due to the famines in Rome

Suetonius 

• restructured the career ladder of the equestrians, allowing them more posts of significance
• awarded consular honours to knights and stripped them of their ranks if they refused to accept the honours

Suetonius

• passed a law requiring at least 5 generations of Roman Citizenship to be elegible for Senatorship (although he himself promoted equestrians and others regardless of this rule)

Berlin Papyrus

• a letter from Claudius himself encourages Senators to speak their minds

Tacitus

• Tacitus himself was disgusted at giving honours, awarded by the Senate, to the Imperial freedman Pallas
• Claudius also reviewed the Senatorial ranks

Pliny the Elder (man of Senatorial rank)

• disgusted at honours to freedman similarly to Tacitus

Cassius Dio 

• feared assassination in the Senate house, most likely due to his lack of popularity

Suetonius

• Imperial freedman Felix was given command of infantry cohorts and governorship of Judae among other roles. He was even given permission to marry three royal wives.

Cassius Dio

• his imperial freedmen and Messelina sold citizenships, military commands, procuratorships and more positions

Suetonius

• increased the price of grain for greater profit, causing starvation
• gave chariot races, plays and gladiatoral shows
• lavished presents of food, animals, grains and clothing upon the audiences of such shows.

Tacitus 

• opened his gardens for shelter and made temporary shelters for the homless after the fire
• lowered the price of grain (do the two sources contradict each other?)

Suetonius

• made eques act as gladiators for one of his shows

Tacitus

• equestrians involved in the Pisonian conspiracy were exiled or executed

Tacitus 

• Thrasea Paetus walked out in protest to the Senate's flattery to Nero, when they tried to make Agrippina's birthday an inauspicious day (the day of her birthday would be considered unlucky). Ultimately he was given a death sentence and he commited suicide
• the conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso was uncovered due to the sheer number of people across the classes who were involved in it
• made senators act as gladiators in one of his shows

Tacitus

• sent his freedman Polyclitus to inspect Britain following the Boudiccan revolt

Suetonius

• first to clear the rubble from the wrecked sites, and would allow people to build on vacant lots if the original builders did not come forwards
• he began construction of the Flavian Amphitheatre over the site of the Domus Aurea

Suetonius

• expelled the most unworthy among them replacing them with the "most honourable persons" in the empire

Suetonius

• refused tribunician authority for a long time, which was repeatedly offered by the Senate
• reformed the Senatorial ranks

Laws

• Lex Vespasiani - allowed himself to put men up for election in a variety of roles and they would be given special consideration

Plebs

Suetonius

• completed the Flavian Amphitheatre and slaughtered 5000 animals in the dedication
• never allowed a petitioner to leave without hope of it being granted
• set up a board of ex-consuls to hel the relief operation in Campania (following the eruption of Vesuvius)

Senators

Suetonius

• Titus was incharge of Vespasian's official correspondence and dealt with the government during his father's reign
• read imperial speeches and drafted edicts similar to the duties of a quaestor, which was a low ranking senator on the cursus honorum

Suetonius

• put ons shows in the amphitheatre, gladiatoral fights, naval fights and assortments of other entertainments
• he rebuilt the Capitol and other buildings
• during a time of abundance of wine and scarcity of grain, he banned the planting of new vineyards and tried to decrease the number of vineyars at the time. This plan was abandoned in the end as it was not effective

Suetonius

• plebs could not sit with the eques in the theatres
• he punished the eques for acts of adultery

Suetonius

• killed poets and historians who crtisised Rome's history through their works
• killed senators for suspected conspiracies.

Suetonius

• gave imperial freedmen and soldiers important court appointments in the Imperial Court
• his favourite freedmen were among those who plotted to kill him