Rome and Us #3: Size and Mercy

As Rome began to expand and the empire became larger and larger, it sowed the seed for newer problems, writes Mary Beard in SPQR. Transportation and communication systems being what they were in that age, it meant that moving troops and information across the vast expanse of the empire took far too long.

 

At times of war, or when a rebellion had to be put down, there was simply no time to wait for instructions, troops or money from Headquarters (i.e., Rome):

“The demands of defending, policing and sometimes extending the empire encouraged, or compelled, the Romans to hand over enormous financial and military resources to individual commanders for years on end, in a way that challenged the traditional structures of the state.”

It was almost inevitable that at one point or the other, a super-successful general like Pompey and Julius Caesar would come to be. Their enormous success brought them wealth and influence. It also made them a lot of enemies. It was such enemies, both real and imagined, that “forced” Caesar to go for absolute power: if he stepped down gracefully, he was almost sure to be killed by his enemies. Which is why Beard writes:

“The empire created the emperors – not the other way round.”

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Caesar was magnanimous, at least in the Roman civil war that he had set off when he tried to grab power. He offered clemency (mercy) to anyone who surrendered, as long as they swore allegiance to him. He was thinking ahead – once he won, he’d need to govern and would need people whom he could rely on.

“In many ways, clementia (mercy) was the political slogan of Caesar’s dictatorship.”

 

Ironically, recipients of his mercy included several of his would-be assassins, including Brutus. So why did they turn on him?

“Et tu, Brute?”

Of course, there were many reasons. Caesar’s absolute power, the many policy decisions he made as dictator, the enemies he’d made along the way, the Roman aversion to kings and their love of the Republic. In addition to all that, Caesar’s grants of mercy rankled many. No, not the mercy itself, but what it symbolized:

“Clementia (mercy) provoked as much opposition as gratitude, for the simple reason that, virtue though it may have been in some respects, it was an entirely monarchical one. Only those with the power to do otherwise can exercise mercy. Clementia (mercy), in other words, was the antithesis of Republican libertas (liberty).”