Close relatives of the emperor were assumed to be members of his court, unless he took conscious steps to exclude or expel them. A male relative’s position at court could be bolstered with traditional markers of authority including magistracies; female relatives relied on their access to, and relationship with, the emperor to build influence. The scandalous accounts of imperial women in the literary sources attest to the resentment their high status provoked, at least among the elite men who produced such narratives. For the emperor, his relatives were both living symbols of his rule and valuable aides in governing the empire. To wider court circles, Roman society as a whole, and even Rome’s foreign neighbours, members of the imperial family were intermediaries between ruler and subject, sources of patronage and protection, but also active participants in court intrigue. They could secure the dynasty – but they could also destroy it.