Jesper Madsen, University of Southern Denmark
Ideal Rule in Cassius Dio’s Roman History

There is a consensus in modern scholarship that Cassius Dio favoured a form of government where the senatorial class was an integrated part of both the decision-making process and the administration of the empire. In this paper, I question that assumption. Most scholars have focused on the fictitious dialogue between Augustus’ companions Agrippa and Maecenas, and the few passages where Dio compares Republican and monarchical rule. In contrast, I include Dio’s entire narrative to see how monarchical and Republican rule performed historically across the millennium the historian covers in what is left of the eighty books he composed. In the paper I offer snapshots from regal Rome, the age of the Republic, and Imperial Rome, focusing on the reign of Augustus and Dio’s own lifetime when he was a devoted member of the imperial administration. I explore whether Dio believed Republican rule was ever a reliable alternative to monarchical rule. Furthermore, I ask what in Dio’s eyes constituted the best form of monarchical rule and whether the senatorial class was ever—historically or in Dio’s own experience—a reliable social group either at the time they were ruling Rome or as partners of the emperor. Across the paper I compare Dio’s views and his approach to Roman politics with the parallel sources. 

IN PERSON: CUNY Graduate Center, Room 4422
ZOOM: email rkousser@gc.cuny.edu for the link