The Roman Imperial Period (31 B.C. - 284 A.D.) and the Role of the Emperors: Need for Acceptance, Patterns of Communication and Governmental Practice (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaften)

只有集中于两个主要方面：接受的需要和沟通的方式，才能充分描述罗马帝国时期和罗马皇帝的职能。一方面，刻意的管理不可能有效地统治整个帝国，另一方面，皇帝就是皇帝所做的。但他也是，他想成为什么样的人，他想以什么方式被看到--这意味着，考古纪念碑、硬币和碑文必须被视为整个帝国交流不可或缺的元素。这种沟通是皇帝的主要任务--不仅是皇帝和元老精英之间的一次“贵族沟通”，而且是一次帝国范围的沟通。这些活动不仅是为了解决实际问题，事实上，它们应该应对皇室角色的一个关键前提：创造接受。罗马校长不是一种“接受制度”，而是一种“需要接受的制度”，这意味着在被称为“校长”的脆弱制度中，主要的主角必须永久地提出接受的理由，以巩固他们的地位和这一地位所依据的条件(或仅仅是为了维持下去)。每一个忽视这一点的统治者(如C.尤利乌斯·凯撒)失去了他的地位和生命；但谁成功地创造了接受，就可以保住他的职位，并有一个自然的死亡(如奥古斯都，第一个“元首”)。皇帝和他的亲密合作者的沟通伙伴不仅是参议员，而且是整个帝国的精英、宫廷成员、士兵和普通民众(不仅是在城市罗马)--具有特殊利益的非同质群体。他们都制定并阐明了自己的具体期望和需求，同样地，他们也接受并回应了帝国的意图和信息。在这些决定因素下，个别皇帝能够形成个人形象并创造出个人的帝王“形象”--只有在这方面，有目的的活动才是有效和必要的。因此，帝国对接受的需要和对交流的永久压力是新的罗马帝国时期全貌的基本范畴。有必要分析皇帝和他们的密友试图创造接受，但也要认识到他们的影响的偶然性。当帝国的活动被证明是成功的、无效的或只是试探性的时，这种偶然性变得一整天都很明显。例如，这种偶然性的方面包括：军事行动、叛乱、篡夺、入侵、家庭闹剧或不幸。因此，对这类事件的叙述也将是该书的一部分，但仅限于有限的程度。

The Roman imperial period and the function of the Roman emperors can be described adequately only if concentrating on two main aspects: the need for acceptance and the patterns of communication. On the one hand it was impossible to rule the whole empire effectively by intentional management, on the other hand the emperor was what the emperor did. But he also was, what he wanted to be and how he wanted to be seen – what means, that archaeological monuments, coins and inscriptions have to be taken and interpreted as integral elements of empire-wide communication. This communication was the main task of an emperor – not only an “aristocratic communication” between emperor and senatorial elite, but an empire-wide communication. These activities were not only meant to solve practical problems, in fact they should cope with a crucial prerequisite of the imperial role: the creation of acceptance. The Roman principate was not a “system of acceptance”, but a ‘system of need for acceptance’, that means the leading protagonists in the fragile system called ‘principate’ permanently had to make the case for acceptance, in order to consolidate their position and the conditions on which this position was based (or only in order to keep alive). Every ruler who did ignore that (as C. Iulius Caesar) lost his positition and his life; but who successfully created acceptance could keep his position and have a natural death (as Augustus, the first “princeps”). Communication partners of the emperor and his close cooperators were not only senators but the whole, empire-wide élites, members of the court, soldiers and common people (not only in “urbs Roma”) – non-homogenous groups with particular interests. They all formulated and articulated their specific expectations and needs, and likewise they received and reacted on imperial intentions and messages. Under these determinants individual emperors were able to develop an individual profile and to create an individual imperial “imago” – only in this respect intentional activities were effective and necessary. Consequently, the imperial need for acceptance and the permanent pressure to communicate are basic categories of a new overall view of the Roman imperial period. It is necessary to analyze the attempts of the emperors and their intimates to create acceptance, but also to realize the contingency of their impact. This contingency became obvious all day when imperial activities turned out to be successful, inefficacious or only tentative. Aspects of this contingency are, for example, the following ones: military campaigns, rebellions, usurpations, invasions, family dramas or misfortunes. Hence, narratives of such events will also be part of the book, but only to a limited extent.