Pater Patriae

Roman history

Pater Patriae was awarded to the orator and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero, for his part in the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy in 63 BC. A similar title, parens patriae, of similar but lesser connotation, was awarded to Julius Caesar, who had become de facto ruler of Rome as perpetual dictator. Caesar had packed the Senate with his own supporters, who voted him the title in 45 BC for having ended the civil wars that he had started himself.

The title could be declined. According to the historian Suetonius, Augustus' successor Tiberius was offered this title, but refused it as premature and inappropriate.

It thereafter became usual for the Senate to convey the title on emperors only after many years of successful rule. As a result, many emperors with short reigns never received the title. In some cases (such as Nerva) it was granted rapidly, if the new emperor was particularly esteemed by the senators when they acceded. As a sign of humility, several emperors deferred their use of the title for some time even after it was conferred by the Senate. For example, Hadrian deferred it for eleven years.

Chronological list of holders

Later use by other countries

The Latin honorific was later used for several national leaders during the early modern period and late modern period. It was awarded by national parliaments or loyal subjects to: George Washington, the first President of the United States; King Gustav I of Sweden; the Dutch Stadtholder William of Orange; Pedro II, the last Emperor of Brazil; and the four leaders of Italian unification: Camillo Cavour, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giuseppe Mazzini and King Victor Emmanuel II.

Notes

References

References

1. (2009). "Acceptance of the Title Pater Patriae in 2 BC*". Antichthon.
2. "Suetonius • Life of Tiberius".
3. Anthony Birley. ''Marcus Aurelius: A Biography''. Yale University Press: New Haven, CT, 1987, p. 57.
4. Bouchard, Norma (2005). ''Risorgimento in Modern Italian Culture: Revisiting the Nineteenth-Century Past in History, Narrative, and Cinema''. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 76. {{ISBN. 978-0838640548.