Life in the Roman world of Nero and StPaul . mething which should be a recognition of thatmajesty which made him almost divine, at least withthe divinity that doth hedge a king. The titleselected for this purpose was Augustus, a word forwhich there is no nearer English equivalent thanHis Highness, or perhaps His Majesty, if weimagine that term applied to one who, by a legalfiction, is not a king. The insane Caligula calledhimself, or let himself be called, Lord and Master,and later Domitian temporarily added to this titleGod, but even Nero claimed neither of thesemodest epithets. Here, then, i
Life in the Roman world of Nero and StPaul . mething which should be a recognition of thatmajesty which made him almost divine, at least withthe divinity that doth hedge a king. The titleselected for this purpose was Augustus, a word forwhich there is no nearer English equivalent thanHis Highness, or perhaps His Majesty, if weimagine that term applied to one who, by a legalfiction, is not a king. The insane Caligula calledhimself, or let himself be called, Lord and Master,and later Domitian temporarily added to this titleGod, but even Nero claimed neither of thesemodest epithets. Here, then, is the position of Nero: Commander-in-chief of all the forces of Rome by land and sea, 56 LIFE IN THE ROMAN WORLD and master of its foreign policy; the titular protectorof its commons and therefore inviolable of person andvirtual controller of laws and resolutions; official headof the state religion; rejoicer in the style of HisHighness the Head of the State. To speak ill ofhim, or to do anything derogatory to his authority,was lese Fig. 12. — Coix of Museum. Reference has several times been made to the Senate. It is time nowto speak briefly of thatbody. For the sake ofclearness, however, wemust include a survey ofthe recognised constituentelements or orders ofRoman society. The body politic con-sisted nominally of all whowhere known as Roman citizens. These includedmen of every rank, from the artisan, the agriculturallabourer, or even the idle loafer — of whom there wasmore than plenty — up through every grade of themiddle classes to the richest and bluest-bloodedaristocrat who considered himself in point of birthmore than the equal of the emperor. Any such citizenwas secured in person and property by the Romanlaws. It was a punishable act for the local authoritiesat Philippi to take Paul, a Roman citizen, and,before he was condemned, chastise him with to the letter of the constitution, the THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM 57 power of electing all
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