Vor der Ehefrau zur Mutter. Die Bedeutung des Herrscherwechsels für die Person der Kaiserin im frühen Prinzipat

Resumen

The death of one princeps and the succession of another posed a challenge for the domus principis during the entire principate because an unobstructed change had to be assured to prevent agitation or even civil war. Particularly the empress, who was simultaneously the wife of the deceased and the mother of the following princeps, was deeply aff ected by that succession. Only two women of the first two centuries (Livia and Agrippina minor) experienced such a change, and the contemporary perception of both women was modifi ed for that reason. Th e ambivalent role as wife of one and mother of the following princeps is directly related to the auctoritas of the princeps. As part of the royal family the women of the domus principis contributed positively or negatively to that auctoritas, which was a requirement for the acceptance of the reign of a princeps.