Princeps

From Citizendium
Revision as of 06:58, 2 April 2010 by imported>Thomas Wright Sulcer (created)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is a stub and thus not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

Princeps was a Latin term used by the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, also known as Octavian, to describe his role as a dictator of the Roman Empire in a way which sounded less threatening to the culture of Rome. Augustus was, in fact, the dictator; but he chose the term Princeps to describe himself in the disarming term meaning "first citizen", or more exactly "first in time or order"[1] as if he was an ordinary citizen, but a primary one. Augustus had watched the mistake of the former Roman dictator Julius Caesar who had flirted with calling himself a king and, as a result, was assassinated by a group of Roman senators. The term is derived from the words "Princeps Senatus". In terms of etymology, the term "princeps" is related to the word prince.

References

  1. Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary, Internet website, 2010-04-02. Retrieved on 2010-04-02. “first in time or order (syn. primus).—Lit., in gen.: “ut quisque in fugā postremus, ita periculo princeps erat,””