Roman Emperors – An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families

Introduction In January 69 Otho led a successful coup to overthrow the emperor Galba. Upon advancing to the throne, he hoped to conciliate his adversaries and restore political stability to the Empire. These ambitions were never to be realized. Instead, our sources portray a leader never fully able to win political confidence at Rome or to […]

Origin and Early Career Flavius Theodosius was born at Cauca in Spain in about 346 to Thermantia and Theodosius the Elder (so-called to distinguish him from his son).[[1]] Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western empire and rose to become the magister equitum praesentalis under the emperor Valentinian I from late 368 until his execution […]

Vipsania Agrippina, always simply Agrippina or Agrippina the Elder, when it is necessary to distinguish her from Agrippina the Younger, was a daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and of Julia, the daughter and only child of the emperor Augustus. Marcus Agrippa did not belong to one of Rome’s distinguished families but had been one of Augustus’ chief supporters in his rise to power and […]

Introduction Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (b. A.D. 12, d. A.D. 41, emperor A.D. 37-41) represents a turning point in the early history of the Principate. Unfortunately, his is the most poorly documented reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The literary sources for these four years are meager, frequently anecdotal, and universally hostile.[[1]] As a result, not only […]

Introduction Lucius Septimius Severus restored stability to the Roman empire after the tumultuous reign of the emperor Commodus and the civil wars that erupted in the wake of Commodus’ murder. However, by giving greater pay and benefits to soldiers and annexing the troublesome lands of northern Mesopotamia into the Roman empire, Septimius Severus brought increasing financial and military burdens […]

The first of the “soldier-emperors,” Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus spent all three years of his reign on campaign. Although Rome’s senatorial elite was eventually able to bring about the downfall of this non-aristocratic emperor, the victory was only a temporary check on the rising importance of the military in the third century. Maximinus was born […]

Vespasian Introduction Titus Flavius Vespasianus (b. A.D. 9, d. A.D. 79, emperor A.D. 69-79) restored peace and stability to an empire in disarray following the death of Nero in A.D. 68. In the process he established the Flavian dynasty as the legitimate successor to the Imperial throne. Although we lack many details about the events and chronology […]

Introduction Germanicus Julius Caesar [[1]] was born in 15 BC to Nero Claudius Drusus (Drusus the Elder, the son of Augustus’ wife Livia by her earlier marriage) and Antonia Minor (Augustus’ niece, the daughter of Mark Antony and his sister Octavia). There is no record of his birth name, but it was probably that of his father or possibly Tiberius Claudius Nero. His father’s brother […]

Introduction Augustus is arguably the single most important figure in Roman history. In the course of his long and spectacular career, he put an end to the advancing decay of the Republic and established a new basis for Roman government that was to stand for three centuries. This system, termed the “Principate,” was far from […]

Introduction and Sources The Vita of the emperor in the collection known as the Historia Augusta identifies him in its heading as Marcus Antoninus Philosophus, “Marcus Antoninus the Philosopher.” Toward the end of the work, the following is reported about him, sententia Platonis semper in ore illius fuit, florere civitates si aut philosophi imperarent aut imperantes philosopharentur (27.7), “Plato’s judgment was always […]