I was listening to the excellent History of Rome podcast this morning, and this just occurred to me…
Why do we use “Caesar” as the generic term for “Roman Emperor”, when in fact in during the Imperium it was closer to “Regent” or “Heir apparent” (e.g. this weeks episode talks about how, when Carus became emperor, he appointed his two sons as “Ceasar”). If anything the term “Augustus” is closer to the meaning of “Caesar” as it is used in modern times.
EDIT - I mean “prince regent” rather than “regent”
For the same reason we use “Kleenex” as the generic term for facial tissue, or “jumbo” (from a particular elephant’s name) to mean large. The name was closely associated with the concept, and quickly became the name of the concept.
But its like using Kleenex as the generic term for paper towel. During the Imperium Caesar was an important title, but it did not mean the emperor. It effectively meant “heir apparent”.
The term “Augustus” was the one usually bestowed on the emperor himself.
The practice of using ‘Caesar’ as the title of the heir-apparent evolved quite late in the Principate. In the early empire it was the imperial family’s name (sometimes albeit by adoption), after the line died out with Nero the Princips borrowed it as a title to legitimise himself, later it became automatic, later still it changes its meaning again.
I’ve heard that Kaiser and Czar also descend from the term Caesar.
It’s like if for generations every president was a Kennedy. People would form an association between the presidency and the name “Kennedy”. And when after generations a non-Kennedy became president, he decided to change his name to Kennedy to continue that association.
Your misunderstanding the OP’s question. He knows that Cesaer (and Augustus) became a formal title, and how it happened. He’s asking why, of the two titles, today we think of Cesaer as being the pre-eminent one when during the late empire, it was usually the “lower ranked” emperor.
I think the answer is that while that was the situation after Diocletian, during the earlier empire Cesaer became a formal title under Titus, while Augustus didn’t become one until 200ish years later. So while an Augustus was a “bigger” Emperor then a Cesar, Cesar meant “emperor” for a much longer period of time (and during a time when a much larger bulk of the “classics” that were read by later scholars were written).
I’m presently studying Latin and I did a few years of Roman history. If I were to field an educated guess, I would say it has to do with the fact that Caesar, rather than Octavian, was considered the first absolute ruler of Rome. The fact that Octavian took the name “Caesar” as one of his titles I think further emphasizes this. The custom of Emperor and mini-emperor which you describe represents a relatively late invention of the Roman Empire, does it not? (I want to say Marcus Aurelius was the first, but I can’t say this with certainty)
EDIT: I’m further curious why “Emperor” came to mean in English, well, an emperor, since it obviously did not carry that meaning in the original Latin.
And the Dutch word “keizer” - all of which basically mean “emperor”.
IIRC, an Imperator was originally the regional military commander for legions in a particular province. When Augustus was solidifying his rule, he had the Senate give him Imperatorship over those provinces that were either close to Rome or had the best legions in them, to make sure he could squash any threats to his rule. As control of the legions quickly became the most important factor in becoming and remaining emperor, imperator became the most important of the long list of titles that Augustus gave himself to create his new position.
I think the “empire” was originally only those provinces that the emperor had imperatorship over, rather then the whole region controlled by Rome. I’m recalling this from a book I read many years ago though, so take it with a grain of salt
Wikipedia seems to think it has something to do with the constancy of the title among the numerous ones held by a Roman ruler throughout the Empire. It was the reason the French adopted the term, and then why the English used it in turn. Makes sense, I suppose!
A couple of points correcting the last two posts:
Gaius Octavius Thurinus was Gaius Julius Caesar’s great-nephew and was adopted as his heir by act of his last will and testament in 44 BC, adopting a name identical to his late great-uncle/adopted father’s. (Historians reference him in this period as “Octavian[us]” to distinguish between the two G.J. Caesars.) In 27 BC he was granted the title “Augustus” (“venerable”) by the Senate, but “Caesar” was a part of his adopted name, not a title. Tiberius, by birth a member of gens Claudius, was Augustus’s stepson and adoptive son. These two adoptions fixed the Principate and Imperatorship in the “House of Caesar”, so to speak, and with the next three emperors being descendants of Tiberius’s brother Germanicus, the idea that “Caesar” and “Imperator” were synonymous became fixed. Galba, Otho, and Vespasian and his sons adopted the name.
The key point in the transition of “imperator” from the meaning of “general” or “field marshal” to “emperor” seems to be associated with the related word “imperium”, meaning, roughly, “sovereignty, right to rule”. The imperator in the old sense held the imperium of his province as a gift of the Senate. It was therefore a relatively simple transition to the man who held universal power having the imperium of all Rome’s possessions (the legal fiction being from its award by the Senate) being the Imperator.
You’re a supplement to my Wheelock’s Latin, lol. Thank you very much!
Don’t forget about Shakespeare. When the only bit of Roman history most people know is “Et tu, Brute”, from a time when Caesar was the big cheese, it’s pretty easy to think of the Caesar as always being the big cheese, even though there were some pretty significant centuries of Roman history after that.
That and the salad.
Lol, I thought that was named after a Mexican guy!
I think it’s for the same reason we say Drug Czar or Pope (which the papacy wasn’t called until centuries in) or Wars of the Roses (not used until centuries after the civil wars it refers to): it’s because of what the words/phrases have come to mean in English. It would be interesting to know if in French, Italian and Spanish they use Caesar and Roman Emperor interchangably.
Slight hijack, but what was the Pope called for centuries before he was called the Pope?
His official title is Bishop of Rome, or Pontifex Maximus (chief bridge builder- a Roman title given spiritual dimensions as a papal title). St. Peter is referred to as the first Pope but the title wasn’t in use until centuries afterewards.
From wiki:
It was a religious position long before it was associated with Christianity. The position was famously help by Julius Caesar, and was at that point the head of the state religion, nothing to do with building bridges.