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Civil War 68/69 CE "Eid Mar"

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TenthGen:

--- Quote ---My suspicion is that the Romans were likely less aware (the mob. Not the educated elite) of the nuances of 100 year old history than the Senate and emperor. 
--- End quote ---

Lucius Vorenus: "Do you think Cincinnatus or Marius or even the Gracchi would demean themselves so?"
Titus Pullo: "Who??"  ???

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I also had no idea Galba issued an Eid Mar type. I was surprised enough that I looked it up in Sear to make sure he also thought it was actually a "thing". Turns out, he did.  ;D  This would probably be up there with some of the great restoration issues of the imperial period right? Along with Marcus Aurelius reissuing the Antony Legionary Denarius type.

Joe Sermarini:

--- Quote from: Ron C2 on September 30, 2021, 08:08:11 am ---....I'm not sure I put any faith into Suetonius' account. It is pretty much accepted fact that Caesar was so popular and so mourned after Mark Antony's eulogy that the mob literally broke apart the funerary procession and cremated the dead dictator on their own terms in the forum by sacking the surrounding buildings for wood. Hardly the action of people wearing liberty caps and throwing a party. That sounds much more like brutonian propaganda from the ensuing civil war.

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The account is of the death of Nero, not Julius Caesar. Nero was actually quite popular with the masses too, but perhaps the only masses outside of Rome rather than within the city. Familiarity breeds contempt, especially when deserved. 

PMah:
Nero seems to have been popular due to his youth and boundary-stretching behavior.  Only the Senatorial class seem to have viewed him as vulnerable, but, of course, only they really counted.  We could take the "I, Claudius"/Suetonius view that his adoption was contrived through murder, but it may not matter. Of the Julio-Claudian emperors, only Augustus and Tiberius had personally acquired credibility -- auctoritas.  Caligula had none,  Claudius had none, but he was at least old enough to seem credible as Princeps for a few years.  Nero had none.  The Republic was dead, but Republican credential checklists were not. 

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