Famous Roman
Emperors
The Good, the Bad, and the CRAZY!
Augustus: The First Emperor
• Few signs of his bright future
• Great Nephew of Julius Caesar
• Adopted by Caesar in his will
• Man of Many Names:
•
Named Gaius Octavius (Octavian)
•
Honorary title as Augustus
•
Preferred to be called Julius Caesar
Augustus: The First Emperor
• Reigned 31 BCE-14 AD
• Inherited Civil War upon Caesar’s death
• Defeated three rivals (Lepidus, Marc Anthony, &
Pharaoh Cleopatra)
• Restored the control to the Senate but it was a
Republic in name only
• Remained EXTREMELY powerful:
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Kept wealth of Egypt himself
•
Controlled Tribunes (could veto any proposals)
•
Controlled provinces via the Army
•
Controlled finances, foreign policy, and religion as well!
Augustus: The First Emperor
 Instituted a praetorian guard of 9,000 men to guard
the emperor
 Focuses on extending empire past Alps into Germany
 Failed to conquer Germany
 Stability of empire leads to arts flourishing
 Built great temples such as that of Mars the Avenger, the
Pantheon, and the temple of Apollo. Built public libraries
and baths.
 Promoted “back to traditional values.” (Instituted morality
laws.)
Tiberius: Not First Choice
• Never wanted to be the emperor
o Resented that he had to divorce his wife and
marry Augustus’s daughter Julia
•
Knew he was not Augustus first choice
o Augustus’s grandsons both died young
•
Not a Julian- brought in by adoption
when Augustus married his mother Livia.
o His father was Tiberius Claudius Nero
Tiberius: Not First Choice
• 56 years old when he became emperor
• Continued with Augustus’s plan of
reconstructing the empire
• Modest in his reign
o
o
o
o
Refused to call himself Imperator
Only consul three times during reign
Increased the Senate’s’ power
Able to cut taxes- left a rife surplus when he died
Tiberius: Not First Choice
• Highly suspicious ( paid informers)
• Too dependent on Sejanus(Praetorian
Guard)
o Preferred his villa on Capri to Rome
o Left Rome in Sejanus hands
 Killed possible heirs to the throne
• Tiberius dies on way back to Rome
o Caligula (great-nephew becomes emperor)
Caligula: From Hope to Horror
• Son of dead military hero,
Germanicus
• Gaius Caesar (his real name) grew
up around soldier who nicked
named him “little boots” or Caligula
• Hard Childhood:
•
Mother exiled
•
Two older brothers executed on flimsy treason
charges
Caligula: From Hope to Horror
• Took over after period of violence & suspected
treason
• Seen as a bright, new start (37-41 AD)
• Started out well:
•
Brought back many exiles
•
Burned records of treason trials
• Then, seven months after taking power he got
sick:
•
Perhaps it effected his brain (still debated)
•
Could have been epilepsy
• Everything changed, very much for the worse...
Caligula: From Hope to Horror
• Dressed in silks & jewels
I vote, nay!
• Pretended he was a god
• Bankrupted Roman Empire
• Made Senators grovel & kiss his feet
• Restored treason trials (executing rivals &
allies, including his head body guard)
• Had his horse named to political office
• Was killed by his own advisors & guards
after a little over 5 years in power
Nero’s Violent Reign
• Young man who loved music, theater, and horse
racing
• Dominating mother, Agrippina:
•
Married Emperor Cladius; had him disinherit his own son Britannicus; then poisoned
Emperor Cladius!
•
Poisoned Nero’s main rival, Britannicus
•
The throne was his! (54-68 AD)
• A Good Start:
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Ended secret trials
•
Gave Senate more independence
•
Banned capital punishment
•
Reduced taxes
•
Helped slaves, disaster victims, and Jews (who were often mistreated)
Nero’s Violent Reign
• A Bad End:
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Extravagant spending
•
Went on singing tour through Greece and Rome
•
Wandered the streets murdering innocent people at random
•
When mother tried to contain him he tried to kill her twice (once to look like
an accident; when that didn’t work he sent soldiers)
•
6-7 Day Long Fire & Rumor (though untrue) added to problem
• Rome responds
•
Plotters tried to kill Nero but failed
•
He became paranoid & held trials where people were executed or forced to
kill themselves (including his own tutor, Seneca)
•
Revolts ensued until Senate declared him a public enemy
•
He fled & committed suicide
•
Rome was left without an heir...
•
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Vespasian: First to Win
Rome
Born Titus Flavius Vespasianus
General under Nero
Fought three other Emperor’s for power
Reigned from 69-79 AD
Had to pass law (lex de imperio Vespasiani) so he
could inherit without being from Julio-Claudian
family
• Remembered for long-lasting peace, stable
finances, and attention to provinces.
• Remember as funny
•
Death bed quote, “Dear me, I seem to be turning into a god.”
Hadrian: Walling in the
Empire
• Born Publius Aelius
Hadrianus & adopted by
Emperor Trajan (distant
relative) posthumously
• Served in military & civil
posts first to groom him
• Not universally accepted;
Four Senators were tried &
executed for treason
Hadrian:
Walling in
the
Empire
• Reigned from 117-138 AD during period of peace
• Cultured scholar (esp. of Greeks) who travelled all
over Empire
• Halted expansion & est. frontiers:
•
Walls in Africa
•
Towers & Forts in Germany
•
Most Famously, Hadrian’s Wall in Britain
Marcus Aurelius: Movin’
On Up!
• Selected by Hadrian for
succession (though not directly)
while Marcus was still a child
• Reigned 161-180 AD
• Spent most of reign fighting wars
on frontiers & rebellions
• Remembered for:
•
Promoting officers & civilians based on merit
NOT birth!
•
Employed the middle class
•
Laid foundation for social mobility
Septimus Severus
•
Followed Emperor Commodus (who was
assassinated in 192 AD) as emperor
•
Had to march on Rome to win throne
•
Reigned from 193-211 AD
•
Disbanded Praetorian Guard & recruited his
own guards
•
Admitted his source of power was the army
•
Raised their pay (first time in decades)
•
Allowed them more privileges
•
Distanced himself from people; made Imperial
family sacrosanct
•
Deathbed advice to sons: “Look after the
soldiers and ignore everyone else.”
Constantine: Unity &
Christianity
• Born Flavius Valerius Constantinus
• Grew up in age of near anarchy
•
Short-lived Tetrarchy (Two Senior & Two Junior Emperors)
•
Each commanded 1/4 of Empire to bring cohesion
•
Instead created rivalries & civil wars
• Father ruled portions of Empire before dying on
campaign in Britain
• Soldiers declared his son, Constantine Emperor
• Reigned as Constantine I or the Great from 306-337
AD
Constantine: Unity &
Christianity
• Waged war for nearly two
decades to gain control of
empire
• In 312 AD invaded Italy to
defeat rival (supposedly
saw cross in sky and was
told, “In this sign shall you
conquer.”)
• Became sole emperor in
324 AD
Constantine: Unity &
Christianity
• Rewrote his history with help of Christian authors
• Actively promoted Christian Church
• Built churches
• Made Christianity legal
• Didn’t actually convert until death bed
• Continued to worshipped Sol Invictus (“Unconquered
Sun” god)
• Real conversion or Christianity as tool to unite
empire???
A New Rome?
• Constantine realized that the Empire’s
capital needed to be near Danube River &
near rich, Eastern provinces if it would
survive.
• Created “New Rome” in Byzantium
• Renamed it Constantinople
• Marked end of power being centered in
Rome & Western Roman Empire
A “New” Rome?