The period of the Julio-Claudian principate with Rome's transition from Republic to Empire and
the rise of an imperial dynasty marks a fascinating episode of historical change in Roman
history. It saw the establishment and consolidation of a new political system that
fundamentally altered Rome's political landscape its socio-economic structures cultural
identity and its relations with the wider Mediterranean world. This volume brings together ten
essays offering fresh perspectives on key aspects of this transformative era. Representing a
wide range of disciplines the authors shed light on the nature fluidity and plasticity of
the early principate and the new realities it shaped. They discuss traditional terminology and
periodization the distinctive discourses and policies of the Julio-Claudian emperors and the
role of individuals and institutions in shaping the processes of transformation. They also
analyze the development of traditional offices and the emergence of new structural features as
well as the ways in which contemporaries and later historians perceived this period of change
and crafted the narratives of one-man rule.
