List of Roman Emperors
A list of Roman Emperors, including a few comments to add colour and memorable highlights.
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The following list of ancient Roman Emperors provides an easy overview of who, when and what happened during the long course of the Roman Empire.
Year 16th Jan 27B.C – 19th Aug 14 A.D.
The Pax Romana Begins
- Emperor Augustus formerly known as
(fka) GAIUS OCTAVIANUS
(aka) IMPERATOR CAESAR DIVI FILIVS AVGVSTVS
The month of August is named after him.
The first and perhaps greatest of all the emperors. A worthy heir and successor of his uncle Julius Caesar. Lacked the military genius but made up for it with Political genius. The godfather of modern Europe.
Year 14A.D
Emperor TIBERIUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS
Loved to spend time at his villa on the island of Capri. His fear of getting done in turned him wacky and got him done in.
Jesus Christ was crucified during his reign.
Year 37A.D
GAIUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS
Went wacko. Named Caligula because of the common soldiers’ shoes he used to wear as a boy (Caligae). Famous for his debauchery and also for naming his own horse a Senator.
Year 41A.D
TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS
Stuttered, limped and initially thought to be a fool, which saved his life. Proved to be good at his job. Liked women. Took Britannia. He was poisoned with a plate of mushrooms by his wife Agrippina Minor – Nero’s mother.
Year 54A.D
NERO CLAUDIUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS
His fame precedes him. Wanted to be an artist and a chariot racer. It appears his first years as Emperor were amongst the most illuminated thanks to his tutor Seneca. Got manipulated by his mother and wives. Eventually married a eunuch and killed himself.
The Julio-Claudian Dynasty ends here and gives way to a year of civil war known as “The Year of the 4 Caesars”.
Year68-69A.D
Year of the four Caesars
- Emperor Galba
- Emperors Otho and Vitellius
Year 69 A.D
IMPERATOR VESPASIANUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS
Flavian Dynasty begins.
A soldier. Practical, pragmatic and tight with his money. Inventor of taxes on public latrines (Vespasians) and builder of the Colosseum. “Pecus non olet” (money doesn’t smell).
Good, dry, sense of humour. His dying words were “I think I’m about to become a god”
Year 79 A.D
Good emperor according to the Romans. Took Jerusalem with great bloodshed. Died young whilst helping his citizens fight the plague.
Year 81 AD
Envious of his brother Emperor Titus. Persecuted the Christians.
Was assassinated and condemned to Damnatio Memoriae by the Senate.
The Flavian Dynasty ends.
Year 96 AD
- Emperor Nerva
First of the “Five Good Emperors”
A Senator. Didn’t last long but set a very good trend going. Builder of a new forum.
Year 97 AD
See Trajan’s column for his deeds. It stands in his forum, just where his great Latin & Greek public library was.
He greatly extended the empire.
Year 117 AD
We like Hadrian a lot for also being a great architect & philosopher: There’s a great book by Marguerite Yourcenar worth reading “Hadrian’s Memories”
Travelled the empire and consolidated Trajan’s wins (see Hadrian’s wall).
Re-built the Pantheon as we know it.
Year 138 AD
Temple stands in the Forum with him and his wife ascending to the heavens on an eagle.
See his column – similar to Trajan’s yet different: art was changing register from Classical Greece to Christian Symbolism!
Year 161-180 AD
The Pax Romana Ends
(he co-ruled with brother Lucius Verus 161-169)
Last of the “Five Good Emperors”
A very groovy statue stands in the middle of the Capitoline Hill – it avoided destruction through the Middle Ages because it had long been considered a statue of St. Peter.
His beard is symbolic of him as a philosopher and thinker. He probably had a nasty scar under his cheek too (bad shavers in those days).
Year 176-192 AD
Bit of a good-for-nothing who had illusions of being Hercules reincarnate. Enjoyed the Gladiatorial shows no end.
Year 193 AD
Things start to get a little rocky from here on. The roman economy starts to rattle: As conquests stop the influx of wealth and cheap labour came to a halt. The military got restless and overly involved in politics…..
Year 193 AD
- Diadumenian
Who? Didn’t last long did he!
Years 193-211 AD
By some accounts he brought the empire to it’s greatest expanse. By other accounts this was achieved by Trajan.
Nice triumphal arch in the Forum
Years 198-217AD
Good thermal baths to be visited on the south side of ancient Rome.
Year 217AD
- Emperor Macrinus
Year 218AD
- Emperor Elagabalus
The pits. Debauched lover of excess and orgies. Lover of peace with a wacky idea of assembling all deities under a single sun god.
Got murdered by his Praetorian guards in a toilet and thrown into the sewers (which got blocked). Got pulled out again and hung rotting in public display. His meddling mother got a similar treatment.
I don’t think they liked him.
Year 222AD
Emperor Alexander Severus
235
Emperor Maximinus Thrax
238
Emperor Gordian I, II, III
244
Emperor Philip and others
249
Emperor Decius and others
253
Emperor Gallienus and others
268
Emperor Claudius II
Year 269AD
- Emperor Aurelian and others
Extended and fortified the walls around Rome. They still stand even if the barbarians inevitably got in (it took them a couple hundred years though). Bravo Aurelian.
275
Emperor Tacitus
276
Emperor Florianus
276
Emperor Probus
282
Emperor Carus
283
Emperor Carinus and Numerian
Year 284-305AD
Pretty good at his job and very pragmatic, although he too had a good bash at the Christians.
Diocletian realised the Empire was too big and too expensive to run.
He also saw the need to put an end to the continuous military coups so he split the empire into West and East, each with its own Emperor and vice emperor (Caesar). This was known as the “Tetrarchy”.
He set a fixed mandate, stuck to it and retired to tend to his vegetable garden.
286-305
Emperor Maximian
293-296
Emperor Constantius Chlorus
Called Chlorus because of his white skin. Married a humble concubine who converted to Christianity. Fathered Constantine aka Constantine the Great.
293-311
Emperor Galerius
305-307
Emperor Flavius Severus
308-324
Emperor Licinus
Year 306-337AD
A “dude” really worth learning about. Named Augustus at York, marched on Rome, beat his co-regent Maxentius and took absolute power.
Constantine took some severely good and forward looking decisions which ensured the survival of at least part of the empire through to the Renaissance (the Eastern half). Some notable things about him…He
- created a new capital for the Eastern part of the Empire on the Bosphorus which he called Constantinople (now Istanbul).
- authorised the Christian religion as equal to all others.
- got baptised a Christian on his death bed.
See Constantine’s triumphal arch by the Colosseum.
337-340
Emperor Constantine II
337-350
Emperor Constans
337-361
Emperor Constantius II
361-363
Emperor Julian
363-364
Emperor Jovian
364-375
Emperor Valentinian
364-375
Emperor Valens
367-383
Emperor Gratian
375-393
Emperor Valentinian II
379-395
Emperor Theodosius I
385-388
Emperor Maximus
392-394
Emperor Eugenius
395-423
His inferiority complex got the better of him so he killed his best general Stilico. This was a ‘wonderful’ strategy which ensured that Alaric’s barbarians finally managed to sack Rome.
425-455
Emperor Valentinian III
457-474
Emperor Leo I
475-476
A boy. Got deposed.
Regarded last Emperor of Rome. Actually last Emperor of the Roman Empire of the West
Emperors of the Roman Empire actually reside in Constantinople – New Rome – Capital of the Roman Empire of the East.
Last Emperor of the Roman Empire of the East is deposed in the 15th Century – The Renaissance.
To see what what happened around their times and what they were involved in have a look at our Rome Timeline.