Rome's Geopolitical strategy of restraint of Augustus and Tiberius

[guy]

Here's an interesting article on the geopolitical strategy of Augustus and Tiberius.

The article reminds us that Suetonius said about Augustus:

"He never waged war against any nation without just and necessary causes, and he was so far removed from the desire to expand his power or military glory by any means that he even compelled certain barbarian leaders to swear in the temple of Mars Ultor that they would remain faithful and at peace as they had requested."

nec ulli genti sine iustis et necessariis causis bellum intulit tantumque afuit a cupiditate quoquo modo imperium uel bellicam gloriam augendi, ut quorundam barbarorum principes in aede Martis Vltoris iurare coegerit mansuros se in fide ac pace quam peterent.

 

Quote

Tiberius’ rule did see Rome’s frontiers expand somewhat. “As emperor,” says Ober, “Tiberius never intentionally initiated a major war of conquest, but he could conveniently forget the consilium against expansion when it suited his purposes. Cappadocia, Commagene, Trachonitis, and Gaulanitis were quietly and peacefully integrated into the empire during his reign.” According to Rehman, this was an opportunistic rather than a purely acquisitive doctrine wherein “Tiberius seems to have run careful cost-benefit analyses, and eschewed undifferentiated expansion.”

 

Roman Restraint: Foreign Policy from Augustus to Tiberius – Antigone

Edited 7 hours ago by guy