2. Tiberius (14-37 CE)
Stepson of Augustus (Augustus outlived his
five appointed successors)
Ruled with Augustus for last 10 years of
Augustus’ life
Had never held an administrative position before
Ruled from Isle of Capri, wanted Senate to
act without him
Led a life of debauchery (manic depressive)
Christ crucified during his reign
3. Bottom Line on Tiberius
Bitter, little man
Scheming
Suspicious
Instituted a reign of terror
Did not abuse power,
failed to use it!
Crowd rejoiced at his death
4. Gaius [Caligula] (37-41 CE)
Adopted grandson of Tiberius
Great-grandson of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony
Became ill after a few months in power and became
insane
Sacrificed 160,000 slaves to the gods
Caligula is Latin for “little baby boots”
Claimed he was a god
Made a serious attempt to have his horse elected
Consul
Very cruel and unpopular – assassinated with wife
and daughter by own guard
5. Bottom Line on Caligula
Known for extravagance, cruelty and
eccentric personality
Engaged in openly adulterous and incestuous
affairs
What we know might be just rumours
6. Claudius (41-54 CE)
Found cowering as Praetorians were looting
Caligula’s palace
Nephew of Tiberius
Purging of family tree by previous emperors made
him sole heir
Though intelligent and well-educated, he was
physically crippled and frail/weak
Added the province of Britain (43 CE) , named
after his son, Britannicus
All 5 marriages ended in failure (first wife died
on wedding night!)
Poisoned to death (mushrooms) by fifth wife
(also his niece) to make Nero emperor
7. Bottom Line on Claudius
Physically weak
Shrewd administrator
Extended Roman
citizenship in the provinces
Founded Roman cities in
the provinces
8. Nero (54-68 CE)
Emperor at 16 and soon became a tyrant
Murdered:
Agrippina, his mother, in 59 CE
Poppaea, pregnant second wife by kicking her to
death
Second wife’s husband
Seneca, his teacher/advisor
Britannicus, his step-brother
Entered the Olympics and won through
bribery!
9. Nero, continued
64 CE – accused of setting fire to Rome
2/3 of Rome destroyed
Made Christians the scapegoat for the fire and
carried out first persecutions of Christians
Apostles Peter and Paul died in Rome
Many Romans sacrificed in “sports” events
Great artist: painted, sculpted, sang, acted
68 CE – committed suicide as 3 provinces were in
revolt and Praetorian Guard deserted him
Last of Julius Caesar’s bloodline
10. Bottom Line on Nero
Biased historical accounts leave us unable to
tell what really happened
Senate revolted against him, declared an
enemy of the state
Very extravagant – taxed the Patricians
Poster child showing the folly of excess
11. Vespasian (69-79 CE)
Senate gave imperial power to Vespasian
after a year of civil war
Ruled well
Gave citizenship to people of many provinces
Founded the Flavian dynasty
Built Roman Colosseum
First emperor since
Augustus who did not
die violently/unnaturally
12. Titus (79-81 CE)
Vespasian’s son
Famous for capture of Jerusalem
in 70 CE
Given a Triumphal Arch
Emperor in 79 CE
Ideal Emperor
He spent lavish sums on games and
monuments
Gave financial aid to people who
suffered from explosion of
Mount Vesuvius / victims of the
fire of Rome
13. Domitian (81-96 CE)
Younger brother of Titus
Efficient but arrogant
Hated the Senate
Rule became tyrannical
Executed anyone suspected of even the mildest
form of dissent
Assassinated by those paid by his wife
Domitilla in 96 CE, thus ending the Flavian
Dynasty
14. Nerva (96-98 CE)
Chosen by the Senate to rule
Started method of imperial succession
Took the title of Augustus and chose a Caesar
to replace him
Increased welfare payments to the masses
15. Trajan (98-117 CE)
Born in Spain
Outstanding soldier and general
Military conquests expanded
empire in the Middle East
Conquered Dacia (Romania) and
Parthia
Dacian conquests commemorated
by a sculpted column
Public works projects in Rome
included baths, markets, basilica,
and new forum
16. Bottom Line on Trajan
Great soldier
Able administrator
Travelled the Empire to help stop rebellion
17. Hadrian (117-138 CE)
Succeeded his adopted father, Trajan
Great admirer of Greek culture
Great soldier who spent much time with his
armies on the frontier establishing
permanent barriers against the barbarians
Gave up new territories in the East, except
Dacia
Political reformer: Senators, Equities received
training
18. Hadrian, continued
Britain conquered by Claudius
in 43 CE
Hadrian built a 73 mile (117 km)
defensive wall across Britain to
separate Romans from
barbarians
Wall is 20 bricks high and 2.5
meters wide; small forts
installed every 1,500 meters
and lookouts every 500 meters;
manned by 13,000 auxiliaries
living on south side
Wall took 3 legions 5 years to
build
19. Bottom Line on Hadrian
Great soldier
Builder of defensive walls
and the Pantheon (rebuilt)
Enemy of the Jewish
peoples
Very versatile
Intellect
Artist
20. Marcus Aurelius (161-180
CE)
Was co-emperor with his brother, Lucius
Verus, until Verus’ death in 169 CE
Spent most of his rule on the frontiers
keeping barbarians out
Increased size of army and taxes, yet lowered
taxes for the poor
Lenient towards political criminals
Plague killed thousands during his watch; this
caused much doubt in Rome and the Empire
21. Bottom Line on Aurelius
Aurelius’ watch marked by fighting the
“barbarians”
Known for his Stoic philosophy, “Meditations”
Transient nature of all things on
earth
Do not let emotion override reason
Do not lament things that happen
outside of your power to control
The only thing you can control is
your attitude/outlook
22. Diocletian (284-304 AD)
Stabilized Empire
Had a rule of four where everyone looked
over various aspects of the Empire
Secured their borders from invaders from all
corners
Persecuted Christians
Destroyed religious texts, places of worship
Changed format of gov’t, military and
economy (larger, more organized)
Abdicated throne due to illness
23. Constantine (307-337 AD)
Involved in many civil wars to consolidate
power
First Christian Emperor
Reversed persecutions through Edict of Milan
Created the city of Constantinople
New capital of Rome
Becomes Byzantine Empire when Rome splits
Constantinople is capital for over 1000 years
Fought many Barbarian groups to keep
Rome safe
24. Winner of All-Time Worst Roman
Emperor…
Marcus Aurelius Antonius
Heliogabalus (218-224 CE)
Emperor at 14
Held the hereditary rank of high
priest to the Carthaginian and Syrian
sun-god Ba’al
Cattle, sheep, severed human genitalia,
and young boys sacrificed to god Ba’al
Homosexual
Bore a strong desire to be a woman:
plucked hairs from body, wore
make-up, wanted a sex change
operation
25. Raped, married, then divorced a vestal virgin
known as aquilia severa (the “great sewer”)
Enjoyed pretending to be a prostitute,
offering himself naked to passers by in the
palace, and he prostituted himself in the
taverns and brothels of Rome
Rather enjoyed severe punishments for
having been caught
He and his mother executed and bodies
thrown into Tiber River
Heliogabalus’ followers fate: had genitals
ripped off and pierced by pikes in the anus “so
that their death fitted their lives”