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- Nero (reigned 54 to 68 AD): Nero's reign is synonymous with extravagance, debauchery, and tyranny. He infamously indulged in lavish parties while Rome burned in the Great Fire of 64 AD, allegedly playing the lyre and singing.
- Caligula (reigned 37 to 41 AD): Madness and cruelty were the marks of Caligula’s rule, plunging the Roman Empire into a period of terror and instability.
- Commodus (reigned 177 to 192 AD): Commodus, the son of the revered Marcus Aurelius, inherited a stable and prosperous empire upon his ascension to the throne.
- Domitian (reigned 81 to 96 AD): Domitian was a ruler who was characterized by paranoia, repression, and cruelty. He executed perceived rivals and imposed heavy taxes to fund his lavish building projects and military campaigns.
- Nero (54-68 AD) Nero's reign is infamous for its brutality and paranoia. He is remembered for the Great Fire of Rome, which he allegedly started to clear land for his palatial complex, the Domus Aurea.
- Caligula (37-41 AD) Caligula, whose real name was Gaius Caesar, ruled with a sadistic and erratic demeanor. He was known for his extravagant spending, sexual depravity, and his desire to be worshiped as a living god.
- Commodus (180-192 AD) The son of the respected Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Commodus was a disappointment to both his father and the empire. He was more interested in gladiatorial combat and self-glorification than ruling, often dressing as Hercules and fighting in the arena.
- Elagabalus (218-222 AD) Elagabalus was a teenage emperor known for his religious fanaticism and eccentricity. He attempted to replace Jupiter with the sun god Elagabal as Rome's chief deity and forced high-ranking Romans to participate in his religious ceremonies.
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- Commodus. Commodus was born on 31 August 161 AD near Rome, and during the early years of his reign, he ruled jointly with his father, Marcus Aurelius.
- Nero. Nero was born in Italy on 15 December 37 AD and was named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus by his parents. He took the throne at the age of 16 in 54 AD.
- Caligula. Caligula was of Germanic extraction and was named Gaius Caesar, after Julius Caesar. He was the third ruler of the Roman Empire. At first, Caligula was a generous and wise ruler, but soon he began to waste Rome’s precious resources and was increasingly known for his bloodlust and capacity for violence.
- Maximinus Thrax. Maximinus Thrax only ruled for a short period from 235 AD to his death in 238 AD. He was the first soldier to become an emperor and was known for destroying public property and setting fire to villages wherever he went.
- Gaius Julius Caesar
- Caesar Augustus
- Tiberius
- Vespasian
- Trajan
- Hadrian
- Antoninus Pius
- Marcus Aurelius
- Valerian
- Diocletian
Technically, as the last ruler of Rome’s Republican era, Gaius Julius Caesarwas never recognized as an emperor. But it’s impossible to tell the story of Rome (or its eventual transition from a republic to an empire, without mentioning Julius Caesar. Aside from being a successful general, conquering Spain and Gaul—feats that greatly expanded the siz...
Gaius Octavius Thurinus, also known as Octavian or “Augustus,” served as the first official emperor of the Roman Empire, and is often seen by historians as the greatest. The emperor (for whom the month of “August” is named) introduced the period of peace known as the Pax Romana, which saw the Roman economy, agriculture and arts flourish. During tha...
In ancient Rome, few emperors were better at acquiring land for the empire than Tiberius Caesar Augustus. Rome’s second emperor owes his place on this list solely due to his military conquests. As an emperor and politician, Tiberius is largely considered to have been uninterested in the job and not shy in showing that disinterest. (Roman philosophe...
After the tyrannical reign of Emperor Nero, Rome found itself in a crisis of instability. So much so that during the 12-month span following Nero’s death, the empire had four different rulers (known as the “Year of the Four Emperors”). It wasn’t until Titus Flavius Vespasianus ascended the throne that stability and prosperity returned to Rome, sett...
Often in the conversation for “greatest Roman emperor” by historians, Marcus Ulpius Traianus was the second Roman emperor in the Nerva-Antonine dynasty commonly referred to as Rome’s “Golden Age.” Bolstered by one of the greatest military expansions in Roman history, Trajan’s reign marked the peak of Rome’s geographic expansion, as it covered nearl...
Publius Aelius Hadrianus claims a spot as one of Rome’s most influential emperors for his ability to secure Rome and its borders and the unprecedented engineering prowess he displayed while doing so. He oversaw construction of Hadrian’s Wall, a 73-mile-long defensive fort—much of which still stands today and is recognized as a British cultural icon...
Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius presided over Rome during one of the civilization’s most peaceful periods. That lack of turmoil afforded Pius the opportunity to focus on advancing on the infrastructure successes and civic reforms of his predecessor Hadrian. His greatest contribution to Roman civilization, however, came through the legal syste...
Known as the “emperor-philosopher,” emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus produced writings now considered philosophical canon. A fervent adherent of Stoicism—a Hellenistic school of philosophy that claimed that becoming a clear and unbiased thinker was key to gaining universal reason—the emperor (who was famously portrayed in the Oscar-winning Gladiat...
Publius Licinius Valerianus makes the influential list less for what he did than what was done to him. In 260 A.D., after the Battle of Edessa against the Persians, Valerian (a notorious persecutor of Christians) became the first Roman emperor to be taken as a prisoner of war. The unprecedented capture sent shockwaves through the Roman Empire, only...
On one hand, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus deserves to be remembered for saving Rome from the “Crisis of the Third Century,” a near 50-year period—marked by civil war, political instability rebellions and invasions—during which the empire nearly collapsed. On the other, some historians believe it was his installation of the “tetrarchy” form ...
- Aaron Randle
- Nerva (96 -98 AD) Domitian was the last of the Twelve Caesars, and most Romans were glad to see the back of him. Towards the end of his reign, Domitian treated the Senate with complete contempt and was considered a tyrant.
- Trajan (98 – 117 AD) Trajan was born near Seville in 52 AD which ensured he had the distinction of becoming the first Roman Emperor who was not born in Italy.
- Hadrian (117 – 138) Like Nerva, Trajan ‘adopted’ his successor; although this time, the emperor was near death. Born as Publius Aelius Hadrianus on January 24, 76 AD, Hadrian had the advantage of possessing the right connections.
- Antoninus Pius (138 – 161) Antoninus Pius was born in Lanuvium on September 19, 86 AD, and while he was only Hadrian’s second choice, the decision proved to be an excellent one.
Feb 6, 2012 · In 60 B.C., a crisis of almost unprecedented proportion had been reached over the lack of a budget and the national debt. The two leading politicians of the day were Gnaeus Pompeius (known to history as Pompey) and Marcus Licinius Crassus. Pompey was, for the moment, a Democrat. Crassus, the richest man in Rome, was, for the moment, a member of ...
Ancient Rome may have lacked a distinctively poor social class. Poverty in the ancient world was possibly a fatal, unsustainable condition, preventing the development of a poor social class.
