ANCIENT ROMAN EMPORERS

Agustus - (27 BC - 14 AD)

Agustus' first step was to repair the bitter wounds of civil war. On January 13 of 27 BC, Octavian, in his own words, "transferred the Republic from my own power to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people." This action showed shrewd political planning, as Augustus used it purely for public show. The Senate awarded him the name of Augustus, and mobs demanded that he retain power.

Augustus carefully retained the titles of traditional offices to disguise his absolute power. He kept only the offices of consul and proconsul and claimed that he held no more power than his colleagues. Some Romans complained that the loss of liberty was too great a price to pay for peace, but most recognized that under the so-called liberty of the Roman Republic, a few hundred men had divided the spoils of empire while the workers and the provincials suffered. The majority of Romans welcomed the peace and stability of the Augustan Age.

The rule of Augustus brought social stability, economic revival, and efficient administration to Rome, but it was unable to ensure the future. Augustus seemingly owed his power to the Senate and Roman people; in fact, his power came from his personal authority, and there was a real possibility his death might trigger a renewed civil war. For decades, Augustus watched his chosen successors die until only his stepson, Tiberius, remained. His selection of an heir outside of his immediate bloodline set the precedent for the future; struggles for power once fought on the battlefield were now waged in the imperial palace.


Tiberius - 14 - 37 AD

Augustus hoped to retain power within the Julian family, while disguising the fact that he had established a monarchy. He had only one child, a daughter Julia by his first wife, and his 51-year marriage to his third wife, Livia, brought him much personal happiness and a remarkable political partnership, but no further children. Livia had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus, from a previous marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero. Tiberius and later Drusus's son Claudius became emperors of the Claudian line. Julia's grandson Gaius-Caligula and her great-grandson Nero eventually reached the imperial throne. Together these rulers made up what came to be known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty.


Julio-Claudian Emperors

Tiberius was a successful general in Germany and a fine imperial administrator. He lacked the charisma of Augustus and alienated senators with his personal moodiness. He finally withdrew to his villa in Capri and placed the Roman government in the hands of his praetorian prefect, Aelius Sejanus. Despite his weaknesses, Tiberius left the empire with secure boundaries and a healthy treasury.

The great-nephew of Tiberius and his chosen successor, Gaius (AD 37-41), grew up on the German frontier where his father's soldiers nicknamed him Caligula ("Little Boot" in Latin) because of his tiny military boots. A great-grandson of both Augustus and Mark Antony, Caligula was a popular choice for the imperial throne. He abolished the sales tax and sponsored frequent public athletic games and spectacles, but a severe illness transformed him into a vicious tyrant.


Caligula - 37 - 41

Caligula murdered senators for their property and their wives, gave away Rome's provinces to his boyhood playmates, considered making his horse consul, and demanded to be worshipped as Jupiter. Not surprisingly, one of his own guards murdered him.

In the confusion following Caligula's assassination, some senators decided they might dispense with emperors and debated the return of the republic. The praetorian soldiers, who had profited under imperial rule, wanted a new emperor. The traditional story is that they found the only plausible candidate, Caligula's uncle, hiding fearfully in the palace and gave him the imperial throne.


Claudius 41 - 54

Polio in childhood had left Claudius I (AD 41-54) with a limp and a stammer, but he ruled well and added Britain to the Roman Empire. He showed both intelligence and compassion in his grants of citizenship, his admission of Gauls to the Senate, and his humanitarian legislation on debt and the treatment of slaves. His fourth wife Agrippina (known as Agrippina the Younger) poisoned him to ensure that her son Nero would inherit the throne.

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was born in 41 AD to Nero Claudius Drusus and his wife Antonia. Although he came from a royal blood line, his family had a very low opinion of his abilities and often ignored him. Labeled an invalid from birth because of physical disabilities including partial paralysis, stammering, slobbering, and limping, he was the last person his family thought would inherit the throne and serve as Roman Emperor. An outcast in his home environment, Claudius turned to the study of history to occupy his time. He authored various works about orthographic reform of the Roman alphabet and a work defending Cicero, a republican politician and orator. Claudius also enjoyed playing dice games.

Claudius' rise to power came after Emperor Gauis (Caligula), his nephew, was unexpectedly murdered on January 1, AD 41. Claudius became heir to the throne, to many a Roman's dismay. The soldiers, courtiers, freedman, and foreigners were his main support although the senatorial aristocracy also offered to back the new emperor. Many Romans sought to have Claudius assassinated because of his cruel and ruthless discussions and actions with members of the senate and knighthood. It is thought by some that he even executed senators on occasion. Despite this conflict Claudius did respect these agencies and gave new opportunities to them both.

Claudius' reign is marked with an expansion of the Roman Empire. He invaded and conquered Britain in AD 43 and captured Camulodunum. There he started a colony of veterans and built client-kingdoms to protect the small populated land. Claudius also took over North Africa and annexed Mauretania, where he established two provinces as well. Around AD 49 he also annexed Iturea and allowed the province of Syria to control it, trying not to come into conflict with the Germans and the Parthians.

In the area of civil administration he encouraged urbanization. The judicial system improved under his reign and he favored the modern extension by individual and collective grants in Noricum. Claudius also made many administrative innovations. He increased his control over finances and province administration and gave jurisdiction of fiscal matters to the governors under him in the senatorial provinces.

Claudius' personal life was wrought with conflicts that ultimately led to his undoing. He married three times. His first wife, Boudicca, started a revolt, and his second wife had a strong sexual appetite that led her to conspiracy and ultimately, her execution. Claudius' third time was not a charm either. He decided to stay within the family and married his niece, Aggripina. She was very influential over Claudius to the point where he adopted her son Nero. Then she fed Claudius a dinner containing poisonous mushrooms which killed him. Her main motive was that her precious son, Nero, might inherit the throne.

Although Claudius was generally thought of as a weak leader and was labeled, even by his own family, as someone not worthy to rule; he made notable contributions to the development of the Roman empire. He conquered and colonized Britain, established provinces in North Africa, and he urbanized and innovated his civil administration. He died an unnecessary and tragic death at the hand of his own wife and was succeeded by his adopted son, Nero.


Nero

The 15-year-old Nero (AD 54-68) began his reign amid predictions of a new Golden Age for Rome, but fawning courtiers encouraged his despotic tendencies. He murdered both his mother and his wife at the urging of his mistress. In AD 64 a fire devastated much of Rome. The historian Tacitus suggests in his writings that Nero blamed the fledgling Christian community for the blaze.

According to some sources, his persecution of Christians resulted in the deaths of two of Christianity's most influential apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Nero had a childish need for applause, and he gave vocal concerts at Greek festivals. The spectacle of a singing emperor disgusted the Romans. The neglected legions became restless, and rebellions erupted throughout the empire. All four Julio-Claudian emperors lived in the shadow of Augustus, and none felt secure on his throne. Insecurity brought tyranny, which then provoked conspiracies in the Senate and in the palace. Finally, even the army turned away from the dynasty that had created the empire.

Civil war returned to Rome as one person after another claimed the throne and marched on the capital. In AD 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors, a savage contest for power exploded the myths adopted by Augustus to hide his dictatorship. The secret of the empire was now clear. Augustus had pretended to follow Roman republican tradition by seeking the Senate's confirmation of his actions, but in reality the emperor's authority derived solely from his control of the army.

The Year of Four Emperors


Galba 68 - 69

Otho 69

Vitellius 69

Vespasian 69 - 79

The savage civil war of the Year of the Four Emperors concluded with the triumph of Vespasian (AD 69-79 ),a plainspoken and practical soldier from the Italian middle class whose style contrasted with the eccentricity of the noble Julio-Claudians. As commander of the Roman armies in the East, Vespasian crushed the Jewish rebellion in Palestine.

He then returned to Rome and left his son to destroy both the city of Jerusalem and in AD 73 to conquer Masada, the hilltop fortress near the Dead Sea where the Jews made their last stand. Vespasian's thriftiness restored the economy after the lavish expenditures of Nero. He recruited senators from among western provinces and also carefully ensured the loyalty of the military to the new dynasty he created, called the Flavians.


Flavian and Antonine Emperors

Titus

Ancient sources provide very different pictures of Vespasian's sons. The brief reign of Titus (AD 79-81) was extremely popular, while the Roman people only remembered his brother Domitian (AD 81-96) as a tyrant. Domitian conducted successful military campaigns in which he established a network of forts and palisades (defensive barriers) between the Rhine and Danube rivers. However, he distrusted the Senate and persecuted his opponents in a reign of terror. Historians describe the reign of Domitian as an age of spies, secret denunciations, and executions. Domitian himself was murdered in a palace conspiracy that included his wife Domitia.


NERVA

In AD 96 the Senate proclaimed Nerva (AD 96�98), who had no children, as emperor. He adopted Trajan, the respected governor of Germany, as his successor and began a new imperial line known historically as the Antonines. During this time, Roman rulers did not rely on heredity to determine which family members would succeed them, but instead adopted successors. Generally these adopted emperors governed the empire far more effectively than their predecessors.


Tarjan

Trajan (98-117) was a distinguished soldier who became one of Rome's most beloved monarchs. He was the first emperor born in the provinces and was of Spanish origin. He devoted much of his energy to aggressive wars that extended Roman rule across the Danube River to Dacia (present-day Romania) and into Mesopotamia. Conquering Dacia was important economically, since its rich gold mines accounted for much of Roman wealth in the 2nd century AD. Trajan's other great campaign, an invasion of the east, was less successful. Although he conquered Arabia, Armenia and Parthia (now part of Iran and Afghanistan) on his way to the Persian Gulf, Trajan overextended himself, and the recently conquered Parthians rebelled and forced him to withdraw.

Trajan made other contributions that show his common sense, administrative skill, and genuine human compassion. He initiated an impressive building program throughout the empire. Both public monuments and private documents reflect Trajan's concern for social welfare programs, like the distribution of food to poor children. In letters to his special agent Pliny the Younger, he discussed topics such as local finances and dissident Christians in a fair and open-minded way. Trajan was a man with few personal pretensions who treated senators as equals and earned the title of Optimus Princeps (Best of Emperors).

Trajan's cousin and successor Hadrian (117-138) was a restless traveler whose passion for Greek culture and prickly aloofness greatly displeased the Senate. Despite these traits, he administered the empire well. Hadrian reformed the civil service, suppressed a Jewish revolt, and continued the construction of military highways that enabled troops to march quickly towards the walls or palisades marking the empire's frontiers. The most famous of the emperor's building projects, known as Hadrian's Wall, stretched across 117 km (73 mi) of northern England.

Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius (138�161), had a peaceful reign, but the inactivity of the legions during this prolonged peace caused trouble for his successor as they were ill prepared for fighting. Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180), who followed his uncle Antoninus Pius to the imperial throne, was a humane and energetic leader, but war dominated his reign. He fought hard against the German tribes who crossed into the empire when a devastating plague weakened Rome's western provinces.

Marcus Aurelius was also a philosopher who followed the ethical principles of Stoicism, which taught that good is determined by the state of the soul. While Marcus Aurelius led Roman forces on the northern frontier, he wrote part of his famous work, Meditations, which included his Stoic reflections on the virtuous life. When he chose his successor, Marcus Aurelius relied on family ties and designated his son Commodus, known for his vicious behavior, as heir to the throne.

Historians have called the five emperors from Nerva to Marcus Aurelius the "good emperors," and many feel their reigns represented the high point of the Roman Empire. However, during this same time millions of slaves were denied human rights, and women received no political ones. Plague killed one-third of the population of the western provinces, and the Romans executed Christians and drove the Jewish people from their homeland. Nonetheless, the emperors during this period were effective administrators who promoted prosperity, avoided civil war, respected senators, and supported intellectuals and the arts.

Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus (180-192) was a startling change for the Romans after the series of good emperors. The historian Dio Cassius wrote that Commodus, dressed as a gladiator in the arena, once killed an ostrich and held up its head to the senators "to show that he had the same fate in store for us."

Commodus liked to exhibit his strength and found the games more interesting than the business of empire. Commodus survived many attempts on his life, but eventually his wrestling partner strangled him. Soon after his death, the praetorian guard auctioned off the imperial throne to the highest bidder, and the outraged legions began the first civil war in more than a century.


Publius Helvius Pertinax

Roman Emperor (31 Dec., 192), born at Alba Pompeia, in Luguria, August 1, 126; died in Rome March 28 , 193. A freedman's son, he taught grammar at Rome before entering the army. Because of his military ability and his competence in civil positions, he was made paetor and consul.

His services in the campaign against Avidius Cassius led Marcus Aurelius to give Pertinax the chief command of the army along the Danube, a position he filled with such distinction that Marcus Aurelius made him successively governor of Moesia, Dacia, and Syria.

Commodus first made him commander-in-chief of the troops in Britain, then appointed him governor in Africa, and finally made him prefect of the city of Rome. On account of a conspiracy against Commodus many innocent persons, including Pertinax, were banished.

After the strangling of Commodus, Pertinax was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers at the suggestion of Laetus, prefect of the paetorian guard. Pertinax had himself elected as head of the State once more by the senators and revived the title "Princeps Senatus"; on the first day of his reign he assumed the title "Pater Patrae". Pertinax strove to restore order in the administration of the State. By selling at auction the costly furniture and plate of Commodus and by a frugal administration, before three months he was able to make gifts of money to the people and give to the praetorian guard the promised largess. He also was able to resume public works.

He separated public lands from those belonging to the emperor, endeavoured to bring about the resettling of deserted estates, to recall those arbitrarily banished, and to bring informers to trial. He refused the title of Augusta for his wife, or that of Caesar for his son until he had earned the honor. When the praetorians saw that the emperor meant to restore the ancient discipline and when the prefect Laetus noticed that he strove to limit his own influence, he aroused the soldiers of the guard against the emperor.

After suppressing the revolt of the consul, Sossius Falco, Pertinax declined to put him to death, though the Senate had decreed his execution. Several pr�torians were suspected of being members of the conspiracy; Laetus had these put to death without any trial and made the soldiers believe that it was done by imperial command.

The paetorians now resolved to depose Pertinax. One evening a mob of about two hundred soldiers went to the palace to murder the emperor. The latter came out to them without arms in the hope of quieting them by his personal influence.

His words impressed the mutineers and they put their swords back in the scabbards, when suddenly a Tongrian cavalryman fell upon Pertinax and stabbed him in the breast.

This incited the others who fell upon Pertinax; the emperor's head was put on a lance and carried through the streets of the city to the camp. Severus, the second successor of Pertinax, deified him.





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