Principate

Quick meaning: Principate is a noun meaning The office of one who is principal or preeminent (such as a prince); the quality or status of being principal; preeminence.

Meaning

The office of one who is principal or preeminent (such as a prince); the quality or status of being principal; preeminence.

More Meanings

1. A state ruled by a prince; a principality.
2. Primary; principal.
3. (Ancient Rome) The early period of the Roman Empire, during which some characteristics of the government of the Roman Republic were retained; the reign of any particular emperor during said period.

Example Sentences

The history of the courts and of judicial procedure during the principate is closely parallel to that of the government as a whole.

The transition from republic to Principate brought a new and potent factor into the legal picture of the Roman state, the princeps or emperor.

In the introductory chapter I had already started to examine how Tacitus' designation of the Augustan regime as a versus status potentially draws a line of continuity between the principate and the civil wars which that regime claims to have resolved.

1996, Clare Krojzl (translator), Sebastian Hensel, III: From Diocletian to Alaric [1886, lecture notes], Theodor Mommsen (editor), A History of Rome Under the Emperors, C.H.Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Republished 2005, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), eBook, page 317, The dominate of Diocletian and Constantine differs more sharply from the principate than the latter does from the Republic.

Word Forms

• principates

Synonyms for principate

Depending on context, synonyms include princedom, primacy, principality.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include dominate, province, consulate, patrician, patritian, prytany.

Related Dictionary Tools