Download List of Emperors

LIST OF ROMAN EMPERORS AFTER AUGUSTUS
1) Julians (directly related to Augustus)
a) Tiberius – evil, corrupt son of Augustus – ruled from 16 to 36 AD, when he was
assassinated on orders of Caligula, his nephew by his praetorian guards
b) Caligula – evil, insane great grandson of Augustus – ruled from 36 to 41 AD,
when he was assassinated by a praetorian officer
c) Claudius – feebleminded uncle of Caligula – ruled 41 to 54 AD, beginning at age
50 years – actually was a pretty good emperor; successful combat with Germans,
empire was prosperous, expanded empire into Britain; poisoned by his wife, to
assure that her son Nero and adopted son of Claudius (and not Britannicus,
Claudius’ son from a prior marriage) succeeded to the imperial throne
d) Nero – evil, insane adopted son of Claudius - ruled 54 to 68 AD – from 54 to 59
AD, empire actually ruled by competent others; Nero had his mother killed, killed
two of his own wives; also saw complete subjugation of Britain; Great fire of
Rome in 64 AD burned half the city, Nero blamed Xians; finally, Galba, an older
general in Spain, revolted and marched on Rome; Nero, abandoned, committed
suicide
2) Post-Julians
a) Galba – reigned 68 to 69 AD, 6 months, before being assassinated by troops
b) Otho – reigned 69 AD, for three months; his troops were defeated in battle by
Vitellus, a general from Gaul, and he committed suicide
c) Vitellus – reigned 69 AD, eight months; his troops were defeated in battle by
Vespasian, a general from Egypt / Syria; Vitellus was killed by the Roman mob
d) Vespasian – very experienced (30+ years) general – ruled 69 to 79 AD –
Excellent general, consolidated empire; put down Jewish revolt, destroyed
Jerusalem and razed Solomon’s temple; steady, no thrills emperor; died of natural
causes
e) Titus – son of Vespasian, co-ruled with him for 8 years – ruled 79 to 81 AD –
emperor when Vesuvius blew its top, destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum
f) Domitian – evil son of Vespasian – ruled 81 to 96 AD; his excesses and depravity
rivaled Nero; Empire was extended in Britain essentially to border of Scotland
(Domitian had the capable general who did this executed); murdered by his wife,
praetorian guards, senators
3) The “Good Emperors”
a) Nerva – ruled 96 to 98 AD; appointed emperor by Senate after death of Domitian;
Nerva, an old man when appointed emperor, chose his successor, Trajan, almost
immediately; died peacefully
b) Trajan – brilliant general along Rhine River – ruled 98 to 117 AD – tasked
himself with restoring the public coffers through sensible economic policies,
reduction of government, etc; led numerous military adventures into Germany and
into Mesopotamia – while successful, the adventures did not assist the Empire in
any material way; also invaded and settled Dacia (in Balkans), creating a new
province; hope to emulate Alexander the Great’s conquests in East, but died well
before any success made
c) Hadrian – good general appointed successor by Trajan – ruled 117 to 138 AD –
effective administrator, intelligent, focused on creating effective frontiers of
empire; recognized that Rome was less an empire and more a collection of
territories protected by Roman troops, administered by Roman citizens according
to Roman law – but there was no homogeneity to the empire; adopted his
successor; died peacefully
d) Antoninus Pius – good ruler – ruled 138 to 161 AD; no great ambition, more of
a caretaker of empire; no great military expeditions; died peacefully
e) Marcus Aurelius / Verus – co-emperors, adopted sons of Hadrian – ruled 161 to
180 AD – Verus was the weaker by far of the two emperors; vain, pre-occupied
with his own pleasures; Marcus Aurelius was a fair general and great scholar;
fought in Germany, Syria; reign marred by terrible plague that the troops brought
back from Parthia that killed tens of thousands, including Verus; Aurelius died
peacefully
4) Succession of 30 emperors in 104 years led to decline of the Empire
a) Commodus – insane weak emperor – ruled 180 to 192 AD – uninterested in
ruling, interested only in pleasure; made bad treaties with Germans, who became
convinced that Rome was too weak to defend itself (encouraging them to invade);
strangled to death in his bed
b) (two minor emperors)
c) Septimus Severus – general – ruled 193 to 211 AD – as a general along Danube,
recognized that empire needed defense, not aggressive invasions; reformed the
military, reorganized civilian offices and administration; concentrated and was
successful restoring the security and prestige of the empire to pre-Commodus
times
d) Caracella – son of Severus – ruled 211 to 217 AD – Caracella assassinated his
brother in 212 to assure his sole ascension to the throne; granted full citizenship to
all free men in empire in 212 in an effort to expand the tax base; murdered by
army officers
e) (two minor emperors)
f) Alexander Severus – ruled 222 to 235 AD, commencing at age 16 years –
surprisingly good administrator, good ruler, although he had difficulties with
army due to Caracella’s excessive favor bestowed upon them; he and his mother
were killed by troops along Rhine river
g) (seven minor emperors)
h) Decius – general – ruled 249 to 251 AD – wrested throne from prior emperor;
faced with increasingly restive Goth tribes along lower, middle Danube; they
invaded Dacia (Hungary?); died in combat with Goths in 251 AD
i) (two minor emperors)
j) Valerian – ruled 253 to 260 AD – Valerian’s rule saw good results in the west
and disaster in the East, as a resurgent Parthia (Persia) invaded, captured
Armenia; Valerian led army into Syria, invited to parlay with Parthian king, who
took him captive where he died in Babylon
k) From 260 to 274 AD, due to the weakened state of the Empire, the western
provinces broke away from Rome and formed the Gallic Empire
l) Gallienus – son of Valerian, co ruler in west – ruled 260 to 268 AD – defeated
Parthians only after Parthians overran Syria, sacked Syracuse; Roman troops
finally pushed them back across Euphrates, but meanwhile a huge (300,000 +)
migration of Goths overran Dacia into Thrace, Macedonia; Gallienus led troops in
great victory over Goths, but a revolt in Milan forced him to break off with
pursuit of Goths to besiege Milan; he was assassinated there by two generals
m) (two minor emperors)
n) Aurelian – ruled 270 to 275 AD – Barbarians were flowing into Roman Empire
from all directions; Aurelian managed to defeat several groups of them who had
invaded Italy, pushed Goths back across Danube; reconquered Gallic Empire;
regained part of Armenia; while preparing expedition against Parthians, Aurelian
was assassinated
o) (two minor emperors)
p) Probus – ruled 276 to 282 AD – abandoned designs against Parthia; defeated
Goths in Asia Minor; Germans in area of Rhine were getting restless, and he
traveled there; murdered by troops
q) (three minor emperors)
5) Partial Recovery of the Empire, 284 to 337 AD
a) Diocletian – ruled 284 to 311 AD – great organizer; recognized the impossibility
of a single ruler over all of Roman Empire, Diocletian split empire into Eastern
and Western halves, acknowledging the fundamental differences between the two
halves (eastern – Hellenized, western Roman culture overlaid Celtic peoples);
further divided empire into quarters, with senior and junior emperors; driven by
need to exercise closer supervision over all parts of the empire; abdicated rule in
305 AD, died peacefully in retirement
b) Constantine “The Great” – ruled 307 to 337 AD – in 313 AD, during time of
great unrest in Western Empire, declared that Christians (and all others) had right
to worship as they pleased; considered to be the first Christian Emperor, although
he converted only on his deathbed in 337 AD; convened Council of Nicea in 325
AD to work out articles of Xian faith; recognizing the weakness of the Western
Empire, he established seat of Roman Government in Byzantium, which he
renamed Constantinople
6) The end of the Empire
a) The succession of emperors in the West struggled to stem the tide of barbarian
invaders and the assassin’s knife
b) Finally, the Western half of the empire gave way to the barbarians
i) Goths invaded, overran Greece in early 400s
ii) Italy itself was invaded by Goths led by Alaric, in 403 but were repulsed by a
Vandal captain serving Rome, Stilicho
iii) Italy was left wide open to further invasions, and in 406 a wave of mixed
tribes swept into Italy toward Rome
iv) Stilicho again defeated them, but allowed the remaining hordes of Vandals,
Sueves, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Huns and Alans to retreat across the Alps,
where they raped and pillaged there way across Gaul toward Spain
v) In 407 AD, Britain was abandoned when the general there declared himself
emperor and pulled all the troops stationed in Britain with him to invade Gaul
(ultimately settling himself in Aragon in Spain)
vi) In 408 AD, Stilicho, the most effective captain Rome had, was arrested and
executed due to the Eastern Romans’ concern he had designs on the imperial
throne
vii) The Goths moved into Italy later in 408 AD
(1) Under Alaric, the Goths laid siege to Rome and quickly compelled its
surrender
(2) In 410 AD, Alaric decided to sack Rome
(3) A series of generals proclaimed themselves emperor, the Germanic tribes
continued to pillage the West, and no one could defend the
dismemberment of the Roman Empire
viii) Attila succeeded to his father’s rule of the Huns in 434 AD, invading the
Eastern Empire and pillaging several provinces, soliciting a huge annual
payoff
(1) He then turned his attention to the West, invading Gaul
(2) He was defeated at Chalons in 451 AD
(3) In 452, he invaded Italy, making his way to the gates of Rome when he
mysteriously turned away (miracle? Likely outbreak of plague in his
camp)
Following a succession of fifteen emperors, the last Western emperor, Romulus
Augustus, was deposed by the German mercenary Odoacer who seized power in Rome in
476 AD