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Senātus Populusque Rōmānus
("The Senate and People of Rome ")

"For these I set no limits, world or time,
But make the gift of empire without end."
note 
Jupiter, The Aeneid

The Empire.

The Roman Empire (Imperium Rōmānum) succeeded The Roman Republic in the first century BC. The precise starting date is a subject for debate. It is generally thought to coincide with Octavian Caesar defeating the alliance of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium, in 31 BC, or otherwise when he declared himself Princeps in 27 BC and was granted the honorific cognomen "Augustus". Augustus was keen to maintain the illusion that he was a conservative restorer of public order who was ending the polarization, factionalism and violence of the Late Republican era, and as such he and his successors maintained the pretense of The Republic, with many institutions such as the Senate, Consul and other offices transferring from the Republic to the Imperial period but with much of its power reduced and its appointments carefully controlled. One-Man-Rule became the name of the game and attempts by his successors, such as Tiberius, to devolve to the Senate, only confirmed it since it led to further chaos and bad governance that only an actual tyrant could solve.

At its peak the Empire stretched from the Atlantic to the Tigris, and from the Highlands of Scotland to the deserts of North Africa. Its territorial extent covered dozens of contemporary nations and the entire Mediterranean which the Romans called "Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea). Within Europe, it failed to penetrate north into the Germanic speaking lands as well as Scandinavia, the Baltic coasts and Russia. In Asia, it never quite got further than the Levant, with its advance blocked by the Persian Empires (Parthians and Sassanids), a conflict that lasted 683 years.note  Despite several storied successes, including a campaign by Roman Emperor Trajan that for a split second seemed to have achieved the conquest of the Persians, those generally proved to be insurmountable for the Romans and would provide Rome with its most humiliating defeats, including the capture of the Emperor Valerian (who died in captivity — the Romans claiming murder and the Persians fervently denying the charge). Another Emperor, the famed Julian the Apostate, was killed in a skirmish on Persian soil, leading his successor to negotiate a peace on very humiliating terms in exchange for safe passage.

Rome, as city and empire, continued to exist for quite a long time, even after Rome stopped being the capital of the Empire in 330 AD, when Constantine nominated Constantinople as the capital. But by the end of the 3rd century and beginning of the 4th century the empire had gotten so unwieldy that it needed co-emperors to handle everything; in 395, not long after Constantine embraced Christianity, the empire split into the Eastern and Western halves.note  The Eastern side, which medieval to modern historians re-named the Byzantine Empire for convenience,note  toiled on almost a thousand years longer, until Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453. In popular consciousness, the Roman Empire is largely the beginning, decline and fall of the Western Empire. The Western side collapsed in 476, during The Migration Period (the time between 4th and 5th century where Germanic people from Northern Europe would migrate into the empire), ushering in (supposedly) The Dark Ages and The Middle Ages.

The Empire differed from the much later feudal notion of succession in that it did not really have primogeniture, but carried the idea of practical Hereditary Republic by means of client-patronage relations; the concept of titles passing to the blood descendant came much later, with Marcus Aurelius, and became much more of a constant in the still later Eastern Roman Empire. Under Augustus, the Emperor's reign was primarily civilian and judicial rather than military, and indeed Augustus actually reduced the size of the army and devalued many of its honors and substituted it with other institutions, including the Praetorian Guard. But this arrangement decayed under his successors and the Julio-Claudian Dynasty in time would be toppled by commanders in the army, and later Roman dynasties were likewise built from the successes of military strongmen, and by the time of Septimius Severus, the pretense that the office of the Empire was independent of the Army was dispensed with, marking the final decay of The Remnant of the republican norms that had survived until then.

In the West, the key successor organization of Rome until the Early Modern Era was the Roman Catholic Church, the world's oldest running institution, and the only one existing today to actually trace its origin to the Roman era.note  important as the Empire was when it was alive, in its death it became valuable intellectual real estate, with many great families and other nobility claiming origins (real or imagined) from the Roman era. Around a quarter of Europe's capitals, and many other cities besides, claim to be built on seven hills as Rome was. Titles such as "Emperor" (derived from the Latin word Imperator, a title given to victorious generals but eventually reserved solely for the ruler of the Empire) and later Kaiser and Tsar (both derived from the word Caesar) were adopted by later European rulers. One of the Pope's titles, Pontifex Maximus (chief priest) was originally held by the head of the college of priests in ancient Rome. A famous example is the Frankish King Charlemagne who was granted the title of Emperor by the Church and he likewise named his Kingdom the "Holy Roman Empire" in 800 AD. The title of Dominus ("Master" or "Lord", instituted as an Imperial title by Diocletian) led to the Portuguese honorific "Dom" and the Spanish and Italian "Don", and in a roundabout way also spawned the English honorific "Sir".

For Western Europe and (to varying degrees) Europe as a whole, the Roman Republic and Empire were seen as their Precursors. Settlements built by the Romans became the capitals known today as London and Paris. They built roads and other infrastructure projects, a lot of which still exist today, and of course they crushed, defeated, colonized and assimilated the original tribes who lived there. As important as it was during its height, it became positively legendary after its decline — even in the medieval era — with Nostalgia Filter, and that nostalgia to a large extent continues to colour our perceptions of this era well into the 20th and 21st Century. The extent to which this nostalgia runs can range in both quantity and quality, from the quaint wistfulness of historians to the dark Novus Romae vision of fascist Italy.


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    Building an Empire 

Rome was not built in a day, as the saying goes, and the Empire itself had a long and tumultuous history before ultimately becoming a reality under the first Caesar, Augustus. To understand how Rome became an empire, one must look back to the time of the late Roman Republic. The Republic, despite its name, was not a true democracy by modern standards, being more oligarchic than anything. Having broken away from the traditionally despotic Etruscan kings sometime in the 6th century BCE, the Romans derided the notion of a kingship or single-man rule. Instead, Romans had a somewhat complicated system where assemblies of citizens elected several powerful officials, who were advised and encouraged by a group of prominent citizens called the senate. (Though not having explicit powers of legislation or command, the senate by custom, and because its members were rich, powerful, and prominent, in practice wielded a lot of power.)

What is essential to understanding how the Empire came to be is knowing how militarized this system was. Most of the positions in the Roman government were gated behind military service as a pre-requisite. Politics and military roles were closely linked, most important officials had a military role of some kind. Provincial assignments were a mix of civil and military, a provincial governor could raise and control armies in addition to civilian roles. A major motivation for Rome's expansion was politicians attempting to make a name for themselves, competing in military success. At first, this militarization was focused on outsiders. However, during the last century or so of the Republic, some politicians turned armies against each other in competitions for power. Some political conflicts at the time also fueled these struggles. In previous centuries, the Republic had experienced numerous reforms and compromises, but in its final century several reform attempts were fiercely resisted, and politicians on both sides sought other methods of achieving their goals.

Long before the more well known Julius Caesar, a man by the name of Lucius Cornelius Sulla would effectively make himself the one man ruler of Rome. He had taken power during a political squabble between his party, which largely favored the nobility, and the party of Gauis Marius, who largely favored the commoners. Marius was re-elected to the consulship in violation of Roman tradition, prompting Sulla to march his armies on Rome. He would fight with Marius and eventually succeed, placing himself as dictator and instituting a series of reactionary reforms to cripple Marius' party. "Dictator" had been a temporary position earlier in the republic, appointed as head of government during a crisis and stepping down afterwards, but Sulla changed this office to a lifetime one, much more powerful than the position had previously been. Sulla would die before more of his ambitions were realized, but it codified the idea that the "Republic" was easily dominated by one powerful influence. Power was increasingly concentrated into fewer and fewer hands.

This came to a head about a decade after Sulla's death. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, a prominent general who had won significant victories throughout the Mediterranean, found himself backing the wrong horse when he sided with populares, the same party that had backed Gauis Marius. The populares got involved in a plot to overthrow the consul Marcus Tullius Cicero and repeal Sulla's reactionary reforms, but the conspiracy was discovered and quickly collapsed, leaving Pompey powerless to get through any senatorial reforms. Down on his luck, he found allies in two other famous military leaders: Gauis Julius Caesar, former governor of Spain, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, who had just put down Spartacus' revolt. The three formed the Triumvirate, a group dedicated to increasing each others influence.

When they had common enemies in the Senate, the group excelled. While they gradually hammered away at their enemies on the home front, Pompey was appointed governor of Spain, and Julius Caesar would conquer Gaul.note  The Triumvirate was effectively shattered when Crassus marched east against the Parthians, hoping to secure fortune and glory and instead meeting his end at the Battle of Carrhae. With one member dead, Pompey and Caesar slowly drifted apart.

Caesar intended to run for consul again, having secured great wealth and fame in his conquest of Gaul. However, the Senate had grown wise to Caesar's ambitions, and ordered him to surrender his forces to the state before entering Italy. Caesar ignored them,note  and thus civil war began. Pompey was chosen to lead the armies of the Senate, but they had little time to rally the defense of Italy. Instead, the Senatorial forces fled for Greece and allowed Caesar to take Rome unopposed. Caesar followed Pompey to Greece and soundly bested him at the Battle of Pharsalus. Pompey fled to Egypt, which was a client state of Rome and embroiled in its own civil war. There he was murdered on the orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt, who thought that it would please Caesar. The opposite occurred: Caesar was deeply angered by Pompey's death and sided with Ptolemy's sister, Cleopatra, in the civil war for the Egyptian crown.

Caesar would go on to make himself the sole ruler of Rome, eliminating any remaining opposition. He would institute sweeping reforms that made his position as the executive permanent and filled the Senate with supporters. While this drew the ire of his enemies, Caesar was too popular to move against. It wouldn't be until he tried to pass a reform that would allow him to appoint the magistrates, consuls, and tribunes -effectively voiding what little democratic process was left in the Republic- that a group of Senators famously murdered him on the floor of the Senate in March 44, BC.

Shortly after his death, a Second Triumvirate formed between two of his lieutenants, Marcus Antonius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and his adopted heir Gauis Octavianus. The three would wage war against Caesar's assassins and eventually succeed. However, their alliance would quickly break down. Lepidus had invaded Sicily to dislodge Pompey's son, who had continued to fight against the Triumvirate. After succeeding in Sicily, Lepidus threatened Octavian, claiming that he should be allowed to annex Sicily as Octavian had been treating him unfairly. Octavian declared Lepidus a traitor, and Lepidus was betrayed by his own legions. Lepidus was forced to submit to Octavian and would forever be marginalized in Roman politics. Not long afterwards, things became strained between Octavian and Marc Antony. Antony had left Octavian's sister for Cleopatra, the very same who had supposedly wooed Julius Caesar. Feeling threatened by Antony's increasing devotion to the Egyptian queen, Octavian waged war against them. After losing the Battle of Actium, the couple committed suicide.

Octavian, having defeated his political opponents, now took control of Rome. However, to survive and stay in power, he needed to avoid the appearance of overthrowing the Republic or becoming a one man ruler. To do this, he avoided creating any new positions that were obviously powerful. Instead, he had the existing Roman government give hims a number of relatively mild titles. "Augustus" was one such title rather than a name, meaning roughly "venerable", though the full names of emperors are rather long and repetitive, so the title became what we call the man. "Imperator" was another, meaning "commander", originally used by soldiers to praise a successful general. It is where our word Emperor from. Other titles included Princeps Civitas and Princeps Senatus, meaning First Citizen and First in the Senate, the second originally was just the first person to speak in the senate. Meanwhile, the traditional Republican offices were kept in place, but Octavian was given the powers of several Republican offices. He was also given control of provinces with lots of soldiers, while traditional provincial administration stayed in place for most areas. In public, these powers were granted by the existing Roman government system, rather than Augustus giving himself them.

The effect was to appear on the surface that Rome was still a republic, but Augustus would step in now and again for important functions. However, the powers he was given from various offices, plus his direct control of provinces with most of the military, meant Augustus was in fact the strongman of the empire. The appearance, plus the fact that he ended decades of civil war, and ruled well overall, meant people were happy with the system, and continued it after his death. However, a system of imperial succession was never quite settled, which would cause problems in the empire in the future. Republican institutions would gradually fade in power over the empire, eventually disappearing until it became much like any other monarchy during the Byzantine period.

    Pax Romana 
"To plunder, to slaughter, to usurp, they give the lying name of empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace."
Calgacus, chieftain of the Caledonians, in Agricola by Roman historian Tacitus

The roughly 200 years after Augustus took over were in many ways the height of Roman civilization. Apart from one year of civil war and a few palace coups, the government was stable, the empire was internally peaceful, and people in it enjoyed a prosperity not seen before or since for several centuries at least. Most pop culture images of Rome come from this period, such as the road system, big building projects like the Coliseum, gladiators (They had existed earlier, but became much more popular as mass entertainment during this period), and stereotypical appearance of Roman legions.

The Empire didn't expand as much during this time as during the Republic: what's now England and Wales, some of the Balkans and Dacia in what's now Romania, Mesopotamia for a short time, and a few frontier areas were the only conquests. Germany, Scotland, and Nubia also experienced invasions with varying success, but were not deemed worth conquering for various reasons. The Teutoburg Forest battle in one of these invasions is most famous as a serious Roman defeat, Romans reinvaded shortly after and fought several successful battles, but the war was costly and emperors didn't consider Germany worth the cost. A few reasons play into this. Partly there simply wasn't much land worth conquering, to the south was the Sahara, to the West the Atlantic Ocean, to the north territories like Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and Eastern Europe were thinly populated and poor, and richer Middle Eastern territories were Persian controlled and hard to conquer. Partly the empire was simply too big to administer well. Partly the change in government provided different incentives. Republican officials wanted to make a name for themselves with conquests, both to compete for status against each other and because the electorate liked such success. An emperor faced different incentives, conquest looked good, but he faced no elections or competition with similar status competitors. The military instead mostly focused on maintaining existing borders, defending against Persians and tribal groups. Rome reached its greatest size during this period, under the emperor Trajan.

Within the empire, road building and oceans fully controlled and cleared of pirates allowed increased trade, that and a lack of internal violence generally lead to increased prosperity, low by today's standards but good for ancient times. Archaeologists today find lots of shipwrecks full of goods from the time, and records suggest lots of trade as well. Cities grew large and prosperous. Many of Rome's famous structures come from this period, financed by plunder from conquests that did occur, or by general income.

Most of the emperors during this time are seen as successful, though Caligula, Nero, and Domitian have bad reputations. Some historians think these are exaggerated, evidence suggests Domitian was actually quite skilled and just angered the wrong people, though Nero and Caligula still aren't seen well. The most common method of succession was adoption: the current emperor would chose a successful, well liked official as official heir. The practice started with Augustus, it is likely he wanted hereditary inheritance, but had few potential heirs and these died. Choosing his heir, a successful general called Tiberius, was an successful backup option, it put an experienced, proven leader in charge, who already had loyalty from the necessary power centers. Adoption was also used by Nerva through Antoninus Pious. However, the system never established itself as official, so Vespasian and many later emperors went to hereditary inheritance, like with Augustus, adoption was a backup option if the emperor had no sons to inherit. During this time, the Senate was still powerful, emperors drew officials from it, sought its approval, and senate involvement helped in a couple palace coups. Other republican institutions during this time became less powerful, even fading away.

City life would be familiar to modern city dwellers, if more dangerous. Less rich people would live in apartments, buy food from fast food or restaurant like businesses, and use public facilities for water, baths, and other services. Fires, Crime, and Corruption were a concern, well run cities would find ways of handling these somewhat. Richer city dwellers would have access to useful services in their own, larger, houses. Life in the country was similar to many ancient societies, most people would live as peasants, farming their own property or someone else's. Rich aristocrats would own a lot of property and have slaves, tenant formers, or hired labor to farm it. Archaeology suggests that common citizens were generally more prosperous during this time than normal in such societies, literacy was higher, certain goods more available. Peace and trade, as described, had their benefits.

Although the Pax Romana specifically refers to a phenomenon in the Mediterranean world, the fact is that the period was marked by unusual peace across a solid belt across the Eurasian civilized world from the Atlantic to the Pacific, controlled by four great empires: Rome in the west; with Persia to its east; and then to Persia's east the Kushan and Gupta empires in Afghanistan and northern India; and to the east of both of those the Han Dynasty held not only the Chinese heartland but also the Tarim Basin in modern Xinjiang. This is arguably the first period of "proto-globalization,"note  as in this time, the influence of the four large empires (Rome, Persia, India, and China) made regular cross-Eurasian trade not merely a reality, but big business. Although restricted to luxuries — nothing else was worth shipping that far — there was unquestionably regular trade, with the Romans developing a taste for Eastern silk and spices, the Chinese developing an interest in Roman glassware, and everything in between. (The Han, by the way, sent an explorer to Rome, who didn't quite reach Rome at the insistence of the Parthians, who were justifiably terrified of the two imperial juggernauts to their East and West deciding to meet in the middle. Nevertheless, he left a fairly detailed report, if one coloured by Chinese mythological views of the West; the Han seem to have greatly respected Rome, seeing it as a Western mirror to themselves and calling it Daqin: Great China.) Ideas also travelled: Christianity made its way to India and Central Asia in this time, finding moderate purchase; late in the period, the Persian-origin Mithraism and Manichaeism spread to Rome and China, becoming for a time serious rivals to Christianity (with one of its saints, Augustine, being a former Manichean). At the same time, fighting was restricted to proxy wars at the fringes of the great empires. This period of peace ended around 200 AD for all these empires: Rome experienced political instability as described in the next section, Parthians were overthrown by another ruling family, the Han and Kushan empires fell into disunity, climate change and/or an enormously deadly plague around this time may have played a role.

The Pax Romana was not all fun and gladiator games. Rome was still an ancient society with all the problems that entails, most people were still peasants dealing with problems common to such people. Slaves made up a substantial section of the population, some more educated ones could be freed and made full citizens, but condition for many were harsh. The city of Rome itself dealt with problems common to modern cities, but without modern tools fires, disease, unemployment and other issues were regular occurrences. Though mostly internally peaceful, revolts did occasionally occur with much violence, such as the Jewish revolt in 66, and as the crucifixions suggest maintaining order could be quite violent.

    Crisis and Recovery 
"Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, scorn all others"
Emperor Septimius Severus, supposedly said before dying.

The Pax Romana didn't last forever, most commonly the ending is dated to the death of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He was seen as a good emperor, his son and successor Commodus...wasn't. See the section on individual emperors for more information. Commodus was overthrown, and a series of emperors took control in several coups. This had happened once before, when Nero was overthrown, though the events this time are a bit weirder, with two Bodyguard Betrayals, followed by the position of emperor being auctioned, followed by the more conventional generals fighting for power.

The winner of this year, Septimius Severus, was generally a successful emperor, but his succeeding family members included several duds. Severus was from North Africa and not from a traditional Roman family, and one of successors extended citizenship to all free people in the empire. It is suggested this move was cynical, mainly a way to collect more taxes, but both these developments showed that after centuries of rule the empire was acting less like Rome's conquered provinces and more like a single kingdom, though with Rome still the capital and most important city with all that implied.

The above quote by Septimius Severus describes how politics had changed in his time. Republican institutions had lost power since Augustus had come to power, with the senate the last holdout, The reign of Severus had greatly reduced its power. Armies were now the main source of power, without civilian institutions or a standard succession system, ambitious generals used civil wars and coups to gain power. The emperors who took power after the Severan family are called "barracks emperors" for this reason, during the 200s most emperors would die by being overthrown rather then from natural causes. to make things worse, an emperor was captured by Sassasnid Persia, either killed or kept as a prisoner. The resulting political instability was so bad two breakway territories formed, on in what is now France and Spain, and on in what is now Syria to the south, at the eastern and western ends of the empire. The period from the mid 200's to around 300 is known as the Crisis of the third Century.

Such splits have destroyed many empires in history, but somehow Rome wasn't among them. A series of soldier Emperors managed to patch things together with duct tape and bailing wire, an accomplishment many historians regard as about as unlikely and impressive as any of Rome's Golden Age achievements in building the empire in the first place. Aurelian would succeed in re-uniting the fractured empire by defeating the rival dynasties in Gaul and Syria, and his successor Diocletian would be in charge of repairing all of the damage. Diocletian repelled the invaders and began reforming the Empire to try and keep it from splintering again. He acted like a standard monarch, with titles to match, replacing Augustus's system of pretending to just be another Republican official. An expanded imperial administration was created, separate from the army. He decided that the Empire had become far too big for one ruler, and he split it in two. This was further expanded with "Co-Emperors", making the ruling of Rome a four-man job. Other economic and political changes were made as well. The empire had lost Dacia, but otherwise kept the territory it had controlled when Marcus Aurelius had reigned.

Many of Diocletian's reforms didn't last after his reign, such as the tetrarchy, but the increased imperial bureaucracy and treatment as a full monarch were kept, The first and maybe the second likely helped keep the empire more politically stable, though the period still had many coups and civil wars. The split between Eastern and Western emperors was also kept. The empire became more prosperous again during the 300's AD, though not as much as during the Pax Romana period. Some economic changes contributed to this, more taxes were needed to pay for the imperial bureaucracy, and some Emperors interfered in the economy in ways that made administration easier, but hurt general productivity (such as restricting mobility to help with tax collection). the population was still reduced thanks to the plague at the end of the Pax Romana. The army also faced greater challenges keeping the empire safe: civil wars caused destruction, Sassanian Persians proved a tougher opponent then their Parthian predecessors, and tribes from Northern Europe had centuries of contact with Rome to learn from, becoming more dangerous and organized themselves. A sign of increased danger is cities building walls, something they had largely avoided during the Pax Romana period.

During this time, Christianity became the officially supported religion of the empire. It started spreading in the first century as the New Testament describes, was a very minor religion during its first centuries. Emperors and officials mention it here and there. Most famously, Nero blamed and prosecuted Christains for a major fire in Rome, but he otherwise didn't pay any attention to the religion, for this reason some people suggest Christians may have deliberately taken the blame or helped the fire to seek martyrdom or bring on the end of the world. Over the centuries Christianity's steady spread led to a substantial portion of the empire to follow it, which included the Emperors after Constantine's conversion, apart from one. With these emperor's support, an official church was established, and Christianity became the dominant religion in the empire and nearby regions.

As the empire became more Romanized, and centers of power shifted from institutions there to the army and administration, Rome the city became less special, and other capitals/centers of power were established, though Rome remained a large, important city. Diocletian's tetrarchy had a collection of four capitals, one for each ruler. Constantine picked the Greek city of Byzantium as a new capital of the Eastern empire, which became Constantinople, today Istanbul.

During the later part of this time, large numbers of Germanic tribes began entering the empire. Many were settled in frontier areas, to farm and help guard them, and many leaders of these tribes became powerful officials in the empire. However, some of these interactions led to conflict, the most battle involving such tribes was Adrianople in 378. This was a major loss for the Empire, defeating a major army and killing the Eastern Emperor. These tribes are the ones that would conquer much of the empire over the next century.

    The Fall 
"It was luxuries like air conditioning that brought down the Roman Empire. With air conditioning their windows were shut, they couldn't hear the barbarians coming."
Garrison Keilor

The western part of the empire, including Rome itself, fell apart in the late 400s. The eastern half survived until 1453, but lost much of its territory during the 600s and remained a contained, regional power after that time. Why this happened is a big question in history, intellectuals of all sorts have theorized and commented on it for a long time.

Germanic tribes continued moving into and interacting with the empire during the 400's. Rome had incorporated outsiders throughout its history, but for various reasons these more recent groups were not integrated as well. One such conflict would lead to a famous sack of Rome by Goths in 410, the first time the city had been sacked by outsiders in about 800 years. Other groups were more integrated into the empire, whole groups migrated into the empire under their own leaders and settled into a region, supplying soldiers in return for land. A driving force force for these migrations was a steppe nomad (think Turks, Mongols, and such) group called Huns (Not the same, but related to, what Mulan calls Huns). Under the famous Attila the Hun, they managed to take over large portions of northern Europe, and raided and threatened the empire a number of times. Atilla was paid off a few times, but after several raids an army chose to fight the Huns, winning the resulting battle in 451. The Huns would have contiunued further raids, but Atilla died shortly after and their empire broke up.

The destruction resulting from Hun movements had forced many northern European groups to move, many moving into the empire for protection, or to find new land. One such group, the Vandals, came into conflict similar to the Goths a few decades before, and sacked Rome for a second time shortly after the battle against the Huns.

In the battle against the Huns, Romans hadn't fought as a unified army, or as cluster of specific types of soldiers as they had in the past. Instead, large portions of the army fought separately as Celts, Goths, and other separate groups, part of the battle plan was to avoid political disputes and keep control of these separate groups. During internal turmoil in the Western Empire, these groups started becoming independent, taking over what had been Roman territory. Britain had been abandoned around 410, Franks and some goths, among others, settled in what is now France and Spain, Vandals after sacking Rome set up a kingdom in Western North Africa. Western emperors fought back with varying levels of success. However, the combination of loss of territory and coups lead to a trend of territory lost to Germanic tribes. the Eastern empire fared better, not losing any territory, but it could offer little help to the other half.

Rome's fall is conventionally dated to 476, when a chieftain named Odoacer overthrew the Western emperor. Its quite likely Odoacer wanted to be thought of as the new emperor, seeing his action as a coup rather then the end of an empire, he even sought recognition from the Eastern Empire. However, this recognition didn't come. A gothic kingdom was established instead in Italy. After this event, the Eastern empire fought directly with successor kingdoms, in the 500's under an emperor called Justinian, the Eastern empire conquered back much of the coastal Mediterranean. However, these conquests, and war with the Sassanid Persians, overstretched its forces, and much of this territory was lost. In the early 600s, a major war with the Persians, and newly organized Muslims, conquered much of its territory, it also fought several back and forth wars against Slavs in Greece and the Balkans. The Eastern Empire had several periods of weakness and recovery, but stayed in what is now Greece, Turkey, and the Southern Balkans until conquered in 1453.

The fall of the roman empire has been a subject of intellectuals and historians for a long time. Many versions tell a story of s decadent, rotten empire that was destined to fall apart, but this gets the story backwards, Rome was one of the longest lasting political entities in history. Many examples of "decadence" took place at the height of Rome's power, centuries before the Western empire fell. Another known but questionable theory is lead poisoning, lead pipes were used throughout Rome's history, long before it fell apart.

Modern history has a few possible explanations for why Rome fell. Climate change is a plausible contributor, the time of the Pax Romana was a more welcoming time, possibly leading to more food production and a wealthier, higher population that could sustain an empire. Institutional problems may simply have built up over time, as coups and overthrows of emperors show. Rome had efficiently incorporated outsiders throughout its history, but became less effective at this later in the empire, Germanic tribes coming in broke up the western empire, the Eastern Empire had trouble incorporating Slavs, Bulgars, and other groups, and poor treatment of different Christian groups might have made Muslim conquests easier, as they could expect similar or better treatment from the conquerors.

Immediate successor kingdoms to the Western empire tried to maintain Roman institutions, but lacked the size and resources to do so. These kingdoms were forced to leave a lot of administration to prominent local families, which eventually lead to the feudal system Medieval Europe is known for. Religious disputes took place between the Eastern Roman emperors running their church, and the pope in Western Europe, it is partly for this reason the Eastern Roman are known in Western European cultures as the Byzantine Empire. Eventually they would lead to a split between Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches.

    Legacy 

From the founding of the city to the fall of Constantinople was about 2200 years. Even a smaller measure, Republic founding to fall of Rome itself, is about 1000 years. Not many political entity can match that: England and France are around 1200 to 1500 years old, some Bronze age civilizations may have lasted that time when changes were slower, otherwise not many civilizations of empires come close. For hundreds of years, it was one of the most populated and powerful empires ever seen. Not surprisingly, it has had a major influence on the civilizations that came after.

Even after the empire fell apart, various successors claimed to be heirs of Rome, most importantly the Ottomans, Holy Roman empire, and Russian Czars. The very names "Emperor" and "Empire" originally were used by claimed successors, though in the past few centuries this meaning has relaxed, and empire and emperor have acquired its modern meaning of "political entity/person that controls lots of territory". "Emperor" used to mean "ruler of China/Japan/Other such places", was originally by analogy with Rome. "Czar" "Kaiser" and similar words for ruler come from Caesar, obviously another Roman influence.

Most of Western Europe was a collection of small tribal areas and chiefdoms before Roman conquest, than ruled by it for several hundred years (~700 to ~500 for most of Spain and Portugal, ~500 for most of France, ~300 for England). Italy had been controlled for an even longer ~800 years. These areas, understandably, have been most influenced by Rome. Laws are heavily based on Roman law. Languages in these areas apart from Britain, plus Romania, are descended from Latin. Latin itself remained the language of intellectual subjects and the church, thus Latin names being common in science, law, and Ominous Latin Chanting as a trope, among other uses. France itself started from one of the barbarian kingdoms that took over Roman territory in the western half's last century. Despite many attempts, no other conquerors have been able to unify the same parts of Western Europe in the same way. Numerous moderns cities, most famously London and Paris, started as Roman settlements.

Eastern portions of the empire already had a long history of organized civilizations and empires, and were more resistant to influence. Still, they too have incorporated laws and history from Rome, though Arab, Turkish, and later conquests are likely more important influences on the culture of these regions.

Though Rome at first persecuted Christianity and Crucifixion was a Roman punishment, Roman trade networks and peace helped the religion spread, once the empire converted it helped even more. Almost all adherents of the religion today follow a type that originates from official Roman churches (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox are direct descendants of the Roman church, split in 1054, protestant religions are an offshoot of Catholic Christianity). Only the Ethiopian Church and some other small groups around the Middle East have a different history. In some ways, the Catholic church could be considered a successor to the empire itself, with its leader in Rome exerting influence over similar territory, using Latin, and still being based in the city.

Roman construction is its most visible legacy: big ruins like the Colosseum and smaller structures like its roads, survived through the fall to today. These structures could be built thanks to a strong central government to organize needed resources and good solid construction, including the use of concrete, the use of which would be forgotten until new kinds were created in the industrial period. Roman roads and settlement patterns influenced where cities were built, which have lasted to this day.

To Europeans looking after, Rome was often viewed as a Golden Age. The Renaissance is named as such for this reason, meaning "rebirth", based on the idea that classics had been forgotten and rediscovered. Though in practice this hadn't happened, Medieval European intellectual life had been building for a long time. Ironically, Rome itself was never as much of a scientific powerhouse as Greek areas before and during it, or Arabic areas after it, though it did produce lots of other writing.

While Rome was unusually successful, prosperous, and long lasting, this has often been exaggerated by people living after, particularly in Europe. Medieval Europe wasn't as unified politically, but a few centuries after Rome's fall was likely about as productive and technologically advanced as Rome had been, the exact time this happened depends what you look at. Christianity would expand further after the empire fell, organized, powerful states would appear in areas Rome never reached, Vikings would sail farther than Roman period sailors did, as would later Italians (both groups would later reach the Americas). In Southeastern Europe, Slavic groups set much of the culture, in now Muslim areas the Caliphate more often is the nostalgic empire of choice.

People looking at the human side of Rome have plenty to draw from. Militarists can draw on the discipline and organization of legions at their peak. Fascists...well, the Fasces was from Rome, and Mussolini wanted a modern version of the Roman empire. City dwellers and those studying politics can find much familiar, disturbing and enjoyable, in how Rome practiced these things. Storytellers can look at the wealth of popular culture listed below. Military historians and commanders can look at famous battles from throughout Rome's long history, though more of these come from the Republic. Tourists can flock to numerous ancient Roman ruins, such as in...well...Rome, or Pompeii, or other places scattered around the Mediterranean.

The city of Rome itself shrunk a lot after the end of the Western Empire. Without being the center of a big empire, it lacked the economy to support as high a population as its height. Successor kingdoms such as the Eastern Romans, Lombards, Franks, and others fought over the city, further depopulating it. Though the Catholic church was based there, it shrunk to about 25,000 people at one point, with city dwellers living in houses built amongst and often upon the ruins. The original purposes of many such ruins were forgotten - famously the Colosseum was at one point thought to have been a temple. Rome, like Athens, was in a way revived by nationalists. Both modern countries were established in the 1800's, nationalists chose the famous classical cities as capitals, population was attracted, and the cities are now the large places we know today.

    Crucifixion 
Centurion: What could be worse [than crucifixion]
Old Man: Could be stabbed.
Centurion: What?! It only takes a second; crucifixion lasts hours.
Old Man: Least it gets you out in the open air.
Centurion: You're weird mate.

Rome wasn't the only culture to perform crucifixions, but it is the most well known. The most famous person that this happened to was of course Jesus Christ, but it happened to quite a lot of other people too. Another well-known example would be Spartacus. Everyone in his army that was taken prisoner after finally being defeated (about 6,000 people) were crucified at the same time, spread over about 200 km of the Via Appia (the Appian Way). Kinda similar to Jesus, there are claims that Spartacus either escaped, survived, or had a son that survived.

In terms of sheer nastiness, little matches crucifixion in the capital punishment field. It was designed to be as painful and humiliating as possible. The Romans themselves considered it so barbaric that Roman citizens usually couldn't be sentenced to crucifixion.

To go into further detail about crucifixion: five- to-seven-inch-long nails were driven into the wrists and ankles. How the nails were driven in depended on the shape of the cross, which was I, T, X, Y or the traditional cross shape. Then ropes are tied, so the Romans can pull up the cross. The ropes cut into the skin as the cross is raised. Then the person is essentially left to die. Times passes on, the person literally gets baked by the sun. Crows start to come and peck on the eyes on the hung, if that person has no family or friends to fend them off. The hung man must struggle with all of his might to get one tiny breath in, as his lungs are constricted. If he's lucky, he'll get a bitter tasting wine as a painkiller. In terms of waste removal, there was none. This further adds to the humiliation and infects any wounds below the waist. After that, there's not much left as the prisoner gets no food nor drink. Jesus lasted the good part of a day before passing on, but there are cases of men who lasted THREE DAYS of this. It's also where we get the word "excruciating", literally "from the cross."

Quite where the nails went (or if they were even used) and what the person was supposed to die of are debated by historians (The Bible isn't too clear on the subject either, due to translation issues from the original Greek). The usual theory has been suffocation, but some experiments concluded otherwise- certainly exhaustion and dehydration would have occurred too. Jesus' seven traditional sayings on the cross i.e. "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" in Aramaic) would have been very hard, though not impossible, to get out in these circumstances. In order to speed things up, the legs of the condemned might be broken. How long it took to die varied widely and there are cases of people surviving due to a reprieve. Victims were crucified completely naked to add to the humiliation factor. Though it is perfectly understandable that religious art wouldn't depict it visually (especially given that it was done to disgrace the victims), there is no reason to believe Jesus was spared this token of humiliation. Some have said that humiliation and shame was the main issue Jesus dealt with, as part of the separation from God. All that is what happened if you got to the cross- you had to carry it there yourself and you were flogged with a rather nasty whip (with iron balls or sharpened sheep bones in) beforehand. There are cases of the flogging killing people. In fact, the flogging was actually intended as a mercy — the worse you were beaten before crucifixion, the sooner you would die on the cross.

This incidentally only makes Christianity's ultimate triumph as the faith of the Empire more remarkable. To the eyes of Rome, a man who was crucified was an outlaw, the lowest scum of the earth, and a cult seemingly glorifying such a death was regarded with a mixture of fear and utter bewilderment. Many Romans deprecated Christianity as a religion for outlaws and criminals, and for precisely this reason considered Christianity highly perverse. Nonetheless that transformation in aesthetics, values and sensibilities finally did take hold, befitting the Christian tenet of extending compassion to the lowest and most downtrodden.

    The Legion 
"I came, I saw, I conquered."

The Glory That Was Rome

The centerpiece of the Roman army, the Legion was and is justifiably famous. They were incredibly disciplined, on pain of death. Perhaps what they are most lauded for is not their ability to kill, but for their engineering.

In the early imperial period, the army size was greatly reduced by Augustus, partly to save money, partly because army size had been vastly inflated by civil wars that preceded his takeover. The army was made more professionalized, shifting from a draft of all citizens for a campaign to a long service force, where recruits served full time for 20 year terms. This type of force was better suited to defending existing territory from tribal invasions, and may have been easier to organize in a large empire. Legions would follow this model until close to the fall of the Western empire.

Citizens could be recruited to be full legionaries, noncitizens would be auxiliaries. Auxiliaries were paid a bit less, but were given citizenship at the end. Some fought as close combat infantry like Roman citizens, but many supplied types of soldiers Rome wasn't so good at, such as cavalry, archers, or scouts. Citizenship was extended to all free people in 212, so this distinction became moot, though some cultures still preferentially supplied certain types of soldiers. Soldiers could be and were recruited from everywhere in the empire and sent everywhere within it.

The standard image of a Roman Legionary comes from the early empire, from within Pax Romana times: strips of plate armor covering the torso, an open faced helmet originally copied from Spanish opponents during the Republic, and a gladius, specialized javelins called Pila, and a large rectangular Scutum. Except for armor, this equipment is from Republican times, mail armor was more popular then and would be after. Later legionaries would switch to an oval shield, a longer sword called a spatha, some would use spears, and a different type of helmet became popular.

The Praetorian Guard was a special group of soldiers located in the area around Rome. They were tasked with a number of roles: helping to keep order in the city, running what little spying operations Rome had, and guarding the Emperor. In theory. We don't know how often they filled the final role, we do know that many emperors were overthrown and killed by the Praetorian guard, to the point it was disbanded late in the empire. Keeping the regular army and praetorian guard happy was an important part of being emperor, otherwise one would end up overthrown by someone more favorable. Emperors would often send gifts of money beyond the usual salary to keep soldiers happy, Praetorian Guardsmen were paid more than equivalent fighting soldiers as protectio....uh...for their special role.

Constructing roads was most famously done by the legions. Their main purpose was to allow faster army movement, with the benefits for trade and administration appreciated as well. Legions also constructed numerous forts and other military infrastructure. Famously, when on the move, they would build a fortified camp each night. Not surprisingly, they got quite good at sieges.

As time went on, the legions became smaller and more numerous, so that they could be deployed more easily. The quality of the equipment also deteriorated, but the legions remained a very effective fighting force almost until the very end of the western Empire. Units were classified as limitanei, or border units, and comitatenses, or mobile units. Border units would stay on frontiers as a first line of defense, mobile units would move around to help in trouble spots.

In the east, the army was reorganized and was focused on heavy cavalry, emulating the Persians. Following the Arab invasions, the military was divided into an elite standing army, the tagmata, and local units raised from military districts, or themata, similar to the limitanei and comitatenses mentioned above. In the high middle ages, some troops were raised in a semi-feudal manner, and the Empire relied a lot more on mercenaries.

    Symbols of the Empire 
Senatus Populusque Romanus

The empire was rife with symbolism and iconography that has truly stood the test of time. Unfortunately, some are virtually never used because, almost without exception, Hitler co-opted them for his Nazi regime, tainting them perhaps beyond redemption. Roman symbols include:

  • The Aquila — An eagle with wings outstretched, a rallying standard for the armies. Also found on a great deal of stonework.
  • The double-headed eagle — Dating to the splitting of the empire, though the symbol is much older.
  • Eagles in general — As they are associated with Jupiter/Zeus and are a symbol of strength. Their status as "King of the Birds", combined with the special Roman relationship with birds in general (avian activity was the primary form of state omen-reading), gave them particular importance to the Romans.
  • The laurels and S.P.Q.R. — As seen at the top of the page, it stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and People of Rome. Still used as the municipal logo by the modern city of Rome.
  • The fasces — An axe, handle thrust through a bundle of reeds or sticks, the fasces was a symbol of authority. Originally a republican symbol of strength in unity (one reed or stick breaks, a bundle doesn't). It was resurrected by the fascists, specifically Benito Mussolini. So not everything was ruined by Hitler.
    • Not even Mussolini could ruin this one: the French and American republics, which intentionally attempted to recall Rome, used the fasces in their symbolism long before Mussolini. The French Fifth Republic still uses the fasces with an axe in its semi-official emblem, and the fasces are still found in many American symbols: the Seal of the Senate has crossed fasces with axes, the flag of the Borough of Brooklyn, while the Mace of the House and the armrests in the Lincoln Memorial are axeless fasces.
      • The fasces is also found in the symbol for the Swedish police and related agencies, as well as in many other nations.
  • The swastika — The symbol most indelibly associated with the Nazis (in the West), it is very ancient, going back to the neolithic, and global, having been found throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and it was occasionally used in Roman artwork. It is related to the sun, as are most cross symbols. Outside of the Nazi co-opting of the symbol, the swastika is now (as it has always been in these regions) most associated with Buddhism and is commonly seen in and around Buddhist temples across Asia, from India to Japan.
  • Roman Salute — There is little evidence that actual Romans actually saluted each other by raising their right hands above their heads, palm facing downward, but the image was associated with Roman Republicanism (via paintings by J-L David, among others) and became popularized during the French Revolution and thereafter. It was adopted by many Americans (as Bellamy Salute), by Fascist Italy (the Roman Salute), Nazi Germany (the Nazi salute), and many other political movements, although, after World War 2, its popularity receded drastically.
  • The Christogram: It is frequently forgotten that, after Constantine, the Roman Empire was more or less a Christian state and symbols of Christianity were increasingly incorporated into emblems of the state, such as military flags and coinage. Particularly important was the Chi-Rho christogram, with superimposed Greek letters chi and rho, the first two letters of Greek word "Christos," i.e. Christ. Eusebius claims that this was the vision that Constantine saw before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, where he defeated his rival Maxentius for the imperial title, and supposedly convinced him to legalize Christianity. While other accounts differ on what exactly he saw, the Chi-Rho christogram was widely seen in both the last century of the Roman Empire in the West and for most of the Eastern Empire's history.

    The Emperors 
"Two Caesars is one too many."
Augustus, ordering the death of Cleopatra's son (and supposedly Julius Caesar's bastard)

While the image of The Caligula may linger in the popular imagination, Roman emperors varied from good and competent to ineffectual to monsters. The early emperors, starting with Augustus, largely kept republican institutions in place, cultivating the image of what we would call a constitutional monarchy. However, all real power lay with the emperor, as he had the personal loyalty of the legions.note  Later on, during the third century, the emperors dropped the pretense of being Just the First Citizen and openly embraced autocratic rule. Their personal force of bodyguards, the Praetorian Guard, had a large role in both selecting and displacing them.

Oh, and, just in case you did not know, Julius Caesar was not an emperor. He died almost 20 years before Rome became an empire, for that matter. It is true, though, that he was a monarch in all but name by the time he died, and played a critical role in helping Rome transition into an empire.

In general, the Roman Emperors are divided into three sections : The Principate, The Crisis, The Dominate.

A note on names: The names of the emperors are not their actual, full names, and they are not named in any particular pattern after their full names. This is because emperor names would get long and repetitive otherwise. The first Emperor, for example, called himself Gaius Julius Caesar during the competition for power, since he was adopted by the other most famous Roman politician with that name. Augustus was then added as an honorific, in the same way the Germanicus were added to some generals or Scipio Africanus got the Africanus part after battles in Africa. The next guy was Tiberius Claudius Nero when born, Tiberius Julius Caesar when adopted, than Tiberius Caesar Augustus as Emperor. Followed by Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, then Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus/Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, then Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Same deal with the rest of the Emperors. So you can see why historical convention is to pick one element from the full name, make it unique for each Emperor, and use that.

The Principate (27 BC – 235 AD)

Julio-Claudian dynasty

Augustus (27 BC — 14 AD)

The founder of the Roman Empire and its first emperor. Extremely ruthless and Machiavellian with his political rivals, he was benevolent with the general public. He began the Pax Romana and is widely revered for bringing peace to the Empire.

Tiberius (14 — 37)

The second emperor. Ruled the early Roman Empire competently enough, but was extremely passive-aggressive, insisting that the Senate debate issues of the day and come to the conclusion that he wanted, without his having to tell them what that conclusion was. This alienated him from the Senate, and he suffered many personal tragedies before dying at 78, one of the most popular things he ever did.

Caligula (37 — 41)

Tiberius' great-nephew. Insane and tyrannical, although just how much is still hotly debated by historians to this day due to the sheer bizarreness of his anecdotes. It's also debated whether he was clinically sane to begin with. Was extremely hated by the Senate, though popular with the lower classes for his antics. Had a very short reign of four years, before he was killed by a Bodyguard Betrayal.

Claudius (41 — 54)

Caligula's uncle and Tiberius' nephew, already an older man when he became emperor. Is famous for a certain TV series, and for conquering Britain. Surviving his murderous family and eventually obtaining the imperial throne due to his Obfuscating Stupidity, he had a fairly successful reign. Poisoned by his wife (and niece) in 54.

Nero (54 — 68)

Claudius's grand-nephew and adopted son and the last descendant of Augustus' dynasty. Wrongly remembered as a fiddling Rome-burning lunatic, Nero was actually extremely popular among the lower classes during his lifetime. That said, his interest in good governance—if not his competence—did leave something to be desired, and he was perhaps inordinately obsessed with the arts, particularly the theatre (which was considered to be low-grade work; hence his lack of popularity with Rome's elite even in his time), to the point his advisors Seneca and Burrus were for a long time doing the real governing in his place. Was overthrown after a mutiny by the armies in Spain and Gaul. The first emperor who persecuted Christians, he was given a massive Historical Villain Upgrade within a generation of his death.

"The Year of the Four Emperors"

Galba (68 — 69)

The first of the short-lived "four emperors". Former governor of Spain, and made emperor by the legions of Gaul and Spain during their mutiny against Nero.

Otho (69)

The second of the four. Once a close friend of Nero (and the ex-husband of Nero's wife), he enthusiastically supported Galba in hopes of being named Number Two and successor to the elderly and sick emperor. When Galba ended up choosing another he quickly orchestrated a coup with the Praetorian Guard and seized power.

Vitellius (69)

The third (and most consistently reviled) of the four. The governor of Germania, he launched his own rebellion against Galba and Otho. Was infamous for his gluttony and cruelty but initiated several popular and long lasting reforms and had a good administrative track record before the Civil War.

Flavian dynasty

Vespasian (69 — 79)

Former governor of Judea and last of the "four emperors". A very competent administrator and military leader. Defeated the Jewish Revolts and built the Colosseum. According to some, the Messianic Archetype prophecy referred to him. He also left his mark on several modern European languages: Because he imposed a tax on the collection of urine,note  urinals, especially public ones, are known by words derived from his name in several Continental languages (e.g. vespasienne in French and vespasiano in Italian). Vespasian was known for his down-to-earth sensibility and coarse-but-charming sense of humor. He was (allegedly) a man without many pretensions or delusions — he is famously said to have remarked "Oh dear, I fear I am about to become a god" on his deathbed.

Titus (79 — 81)

Vespasian's eldest son, who waged a successful war against the Jews early in his life, which would have long-lasting consequences for Christianity and Judaism. He also organized relief efforts after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius which destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. Died of a sudden illness two years into his reign. Often seen as (one of) the best emperors by Roman authors, mostly by virtue of him reigning too shortly to piss any important group off too much.

Domitian (81 — 96)

Vespasian's younger son. Was a very competent but authoritarian ruler, and deeply loathed by the Senate. One of the first emperors with a cult of personality. As most historical sources pertaining Domitian's reign were written by the senatorial class, he was seen as a tyrant and plenty of exaggerations and rumors were made. It was only until recently that he was actually seen as a not just a good emperor, but one of the best of the pre-divided empire. Notably, he created the Limes Germanicus and was one of the few Roman emperors to fix the problems of inflation by increasing the silver purity of coins. Had the tendency to catch and torture flies. He was assassinated by court officials, despite his reign being very popular with the people and the army.

Nervan-Antonine dynasty

Nerva (96 — 98)

An old childless Senator who was made emperor by the Senate after the assassination of Domitian. Being unpopular with the army and to avoid Galba's mistake, he adopted Trajan, the most successful and popular general of the time, as his successor. Was the first of the "Five Good Emperors."

Trajan (98 — 117)

Widely considered to be the greatest Roman emperor since Augustus, his conquests increased the Roman Empire to its peak. Trajan conquered Dacia, or modern Romania (Traian is still a common name there), northwestern Arabia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia, only failing to reach Persia and India as he wished due to his bad health. Born in the town of Italica, near modern Seville in Spain, he was notable for being the first emperor not hailing from Italy, even although he technically still descended from an old Italian family settled in Spain. Even medieval Christian writers such as Dante (yes, that Dante) placed him in Heaven, despite Trajan being pagan (Catholic tradition holds that Pope Gregory I raised him from the dead just to convert him).

Hadrian (117 — 138)

A peacemaker who pulled back from several areas conquered by Trajan. Travelled around the empire, and built the eponymous wall in Britain. Known for vehemently supporting Greek culture, almost to a bizarre degree. He is also remembered by Jews for being the Emperor who brutally crushed the Bar Kochba revolt, renaming Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and generally making things harder for them. His reign was obscure with relatively few historical depictions. One exception is Marguerite Yourcenar's classic Memoirs of Hadrian. Had a male favorite deified after said favorite died young (sources disagree as to whether it was an accident, illness, murder, human sacrifice or some combination thereof). He is one of the emperors called gay most often by modern commentators, although he was more likely bisexual — to the chagrin of his wife, who wanted nothing with him. Had the most sophisticated succession system of all emperors by allowing Antoninus become emperor when Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus were considered too young to rule.

Antoninus Pius (138 — 161)

Famous for doing nothing at all besides ruling competently for 22 years. In fact, unlike Trajan and the other warrior-emperors that would follow him, Antonius Pius probably never left Italy on campaign and fought his wars entirely through intermediaries in the field. Rumour has it that he also sent a delegation to the Han Dynasty in China during his reign (well, him or Hadrian). Also built a second wall in Britain (after some victories he managed) which was soon abandoned. He received the cognomen Pius because he deified Hadrian in exchange for pardoning some Senators which Hadrian had sentenced to death.

Marcus Aurelius (161 — 180)

Wisest of the emperors. Initially ruled the empire with Lucius Verus, the first time the Empire had more than one emperor. Tried to live up to the ideal of The Philosopher King, and the author of the well-known Meditations. The Meditations are significant because they are one of the relatively few complete works of Stoicism we have. They are also one of the most accessible works on Stoicism: as Marcus wrote them as a personal diary relating to his daily struggles to be a good person and a good ruler, they put the Stoic worldview in very concrete terms, and are recommended as a self-help book as much as an academic work on ethics.

A decent man and very competent ruler, though his reign was marked by wars against various barbarians in Germania and The Plague, which may have killed him too. The strongest criticism historians aim at Marcus, though, was his decision to abandon the succession-by-adoption system that had worked so well since Nerva and instead elevate to the purple....

  • Fisher King: In light of Commodus' rule, the death of Marcus Aurelius is often considered as the end of the Pax Romana.

Commodus (176 — 192)

The son of Marcus Aurelius. Started the empire's long decline by being a spendthrift and useless ruler. May have gone slightly mad before the end, renaming Rome to "Colony of Commodus" and pretending he was Hercules reborn. He did like to fight in the Colosseumnote , but unlike his fictional portrayal he was murdered by a slave in his bath after ruling for 16 years. Portrayed famously by Christopher Plummer in The Fall of the Roman Empire and Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator.

"The Year of the Five Emperors"

Pertinax (193)

An elderly man and accomplished general elected by the Senate, as the only advisor from the reign of Marcus Aurelius to survive the reign of Commodus. Was betrayed and murdered by the Praetorian Guard after he tried to impose some much-needed discipline to their ranks, including downsizing their payment(Are we seeing a pattern here?). Septimius Severus deified him after taking the throne, then reaped vengeance upon the Praetorian Guard by executing the members who had carried out the deed, giving the rest of them a tongue-lashing for selling the throne to Julianus (see below), stripping them of their positions and weapons, and finally kicking them out of Rome.

Didius Julianus (193)

Famous only for buying the empire from the Praetorians, who auctioned off the throne after they'd killed Pertinax. Needless to say, this made him very unpopular with everyone else, leading to him being executed after almost everyone had abandoned him.

  • Didn't Think This Through: Despite using his resources to purchase the throne, he was left unsupported and penniless to support his reign.

Pescennius Niger (193)

A general whose troops proclaimed him emperor in Syria, in response to the scandalous auction. Defeated by Septimius Severus in the next year.

Clodius Albinus (193)

A second general whose troops rebelled against Didius buying the throne, this time in Britain. He initially allied himself with Severus, who let him have the title "Caesar". He was eventually backstabbed by his "ally" Severus and killed in 197.

Severan dynasty

Septimius Severus (193 — 211)

Harsh but fair emperor and very competent general, if possibly a bit superstitious. Machiavellian master of the Xanatos Gambit. Since he was a military man who depended only on the army for support, the Senate finally slid into total irrelevance during his reign. The first African-born emperor, he hailed from Leptis Magna in modern Libya and had Punic as his first language, although ironically, he was terrified the first time he saw a black man among his soldiers (he considered the soldier's skin color a bad omen).

Caracalla (198 — 217)

Severus' eldest son. Expanded the Roman citizenship to all free people throughout the empire. Whatever ruling ability he may have had was totally overwhelmed by his constant violent rage. Famous for his large bathhouse; infamous for having his own brother, co-emperor Geta, murdered just so that he could reign alone, in front of their own mother, and massacring the citizens of Alexandria for criticizing his reign.

Macrinus (217 — 218)

Not a member of the Severan dynasty. The first emperor not to come from the senatorial class, he killed Caracalla before the other way round would've happened. Claiming power when the imperial family isn't dead yet and still maintained legitimacy, Macrinus elevated his son Diadumenianus to the purple and desperately tried to fix the Roman Economy, which made him unpopular with the Roman military. It only took a revolt for the Severus' family to take back the throne.

Elagabalus (218 — 222)

Caracalla's cousin, from a prominent Arab family in Syria. Actually called Antoninus while still alive, and nicknamed Elagabalus later on. Characterised as a flamboyant Camp Gay teenager, at a time when Straight Gay or bisexual was the norm (some even claim he may have been Transgender, based on Cassius Dio who used female pronouns in his account), he was so flamboyant that it led to extreme disapproval and his early demise. One famous incident had him throwing a banquet where rose petals fell through the roof via confetti but in such number and volume that some of the revellers were smothered to death.

Some of this reputation was probably exaggerated after his murder by the Praetorian Guard, and related to reactions against his his import and elevation of the Middle-Eastern sun god Elagabal (he was High Priest of the cult) to the head of the Roman pantheon. However, some of the commentary is a bit too specific and unique to be traditional Roman character assassination. In any case, his reputation made him a hit with the Decadent circles of the 19th and early 20th Century. Antonin Artaud wrote a book on him called, Elagabalus, or the Anarchist Crowned.

Alexander Severus (222 — 235)

Another young cousin of Caracalla and Elagabalus. Rather a Momma's Boy, but was shaping up to be a fair, wise, and competent emperor when he was unceremoniously murdered by his soldiers for trying to negotiate with the Germanic tribes as opposed to fighting them on the battlefield, which involves bribing the barbarians off. His assassination marked the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.

The Crisis of the Third Century (235CE–284CE)

"The Barrack Emperors"

Maximinus Thrax (235 — 238)

The first of the so-called "Barrack Emperors", and also the first ruler who never set a foot into Rome and the first not to hail either from the equestrian or senatorial class. Started as a common barbarian soldier from Thrace, and never learned Latin properly. Also known by the nickname "Cyclops" because of his freakish size.

  • Blood Knight: He decided to focus on curbing all possible invasions at the empire's borders, never once setting foot in the capital city. He was one of the few emperors to inflict a defeat on the Germanics personally and it was rumored he fought on the front lines at the Battle at the Harzhorn.

  • Rags to Riches: All sources point to his origin being that of provincial, low-birth with many in the Senate viewing him as a barbarian. He ended up becoming one of the most ferocious emperors.

Philip the Arab (244 — 249)

Oversaw the celebration of the millennium since the foundation of Rome. As his cognomen implies, he was an ethnic Arab from the Syrian borderlands — a fact of which modern Syrians are quite proud; they put him on their 100-pound note. Very tolerant of Christians. Was killed by his successor he appointed in the Balkans.

Decius (249 — 251)

Persecuted the Christians and became infamous for it. This came in the form of requiring every Roman to perform a ritual sacrifice to Jupiter on the Emperor's behalf, with refusing to do so being seen as treason. While this didn't specifically target Christians, they were the largest group in the Empire to outright reject the existence of the Roman gods and thus became the primary target.note  Died in battle against the invading Goths.

Meaningful Titles: To avoid further ire with Decius, the senate granted him with the name "Trajan" in the hopes he would be as merciful and successful as him.

Silbannacus (??? — ???)

The ghost Emperor, known to be so obscure that the only proof of his existance are two coins found in the 20th century. The exact time and extent of Silbannacus's rule is not known, but most historians estimate somewhere between 248 to 253 and might have lasted a few short months. His unusual name — which might be from Gallic origins — and the fact that the coins were found in modern-day France might indicate he was a usurper based in Gaul, although some claim that due the quality of his coins indicate that he might have controlled Rome very briefly.

  • Unperson: Almost wiped out from history if it wasn't two ancient coins.

Valerian (253 — 260)

The first emperor to be captured by the enemy. Valerian's reign was easily the lowest point of Rome in the third century. Was taken alive by the Sassanid Persians and allegedly skinned, stuffed and put on display. Other accounts have him being forced to be King Shapur's footstool or killed by being forced to drink molten gold, whilst the more credible ones simply have him stuck in a tower for the rest of his life.

Gallienus (260 — 268)

Valerian's son. Did everything in his power to prevent the total collapse of the Roman Empire. His reign saw the secession of multiple Roman provinces, innumerable amount of usurpers, rampant inflation, constant barbarian attacks and the Sassanid Empire becoming a serious threat to his reign. With nothing more than Italy, the Balkans and North Africa, he reigned 9 years after his father's death.

Iron Woobie: Before he would create a mass mobile cavalry force, he would often be too late to stop a barbarian raid only to then leave to stop the next raid in a different corner of the empire, which often lead to the locals blaming Gallienus for 'abandoning' them. This only increased the amount of usurpers Gallienus had to deal with, which further stretched his overall fighting force, as he had to ride province to province to deal with both the barbarians and usurpers alike. It doesn't help that the contemporary sources painted him as lazy and ineffective.

Claudius Gothicus (268 — 270)

A military man from the Balkans and competent ass-kicker. Defeated and almost exterminated the Goths before dying of illness. Hispania rejoined the Roman Empire after the Gallic Empire suffers from a succession crisis.

Aurelian (270 — 275)

When he started his reign, he lost to a barbarian ambush, only to decisively crush them in Italy and Illyria. He tried to fix the currency, which lead to the 'first' mint revolt and was subsequently crushed as well. Aurelian then marched east to the Palmyrene Empire, crushed Zabdas' forces twice under Queen Zenobia, and sacked Palmyra after they attempted to revolt after he briefly left the region. He then marched west and swiftly destroyed and reintegrated the Gallic Empire under Tetricus. His reign ended the worst period of the Crisis of the Third Century and as such, he obtained the title of Restitutor Orbis, or restorer of the world. Was assassinated by several of his officers after a 5-year reign due to a forgery of one of his secretary, who feared Aurelian's punishment for lying on a random issue. Mourned by not just his soldiers, but also his own assassins. His wife Ulpia Severina may have ruled in the interregnum after Aurelian's death, being the only woman to have ever done so.

  • The Ace: Often considered the best commander of the third century and one of the best commanders in all of Roman history. He was undefeated in all but one skirmish.
  • Excessive Mourning: After his death, the army and the senate (who before then were constantly trying to put their own emperors over the senate) both refused to take charge to picking his successor. Eventually, the senate gave and installed Tacitus as emperor.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: One of the most proactive militant emperors. He managed to defeat the Palmyrene Empire and Gallic Empire in two years, reuniting the empire and helping curtail the Crisis of the Third Century.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Considering his accomplishments and his abrupt assassination, many consider his death an insult to his potential.

Tacitus (275 — 276)

Installed by the senate. Did ok as an emperor but died only a few months later. His brother Florian would acclaim himself as emperor, only to lose against Probus. Not to mistake with Tacitus the historian.

Déjà Vu: His successor Florian reign mirrors that of Quintillus. Both were brothers of the emperors and succeeded them after their death. Both had short reigns and focused primarily trying to fight a popular, experienced general and both failing.

Probus (276 — 282)

Proclaimed emperor over Florian, as most of the troops see Probus as the true heir of Aurelian. Oversaw the Roman withdraw to the Rhine and Danube rivers. Despite a reasonable competent campaign of military restoration, he was deposed and murdered in a revolt begun by disloyal Praetorians, this time for excessive non-military works such as agriculture and swamp draining and hoping that a peaceful empire can come and may soon no longer need soldiers. He was the last emperor to be constitutional with the senate.

The Dominate (284CE — 395CE)

The Tetrarchy

Diocletian (284 — 305)

The man who ended the Crisis of the Third Century. Wanting to avoid usurpation at all cost, he divided the empire's administration into eastern and western halves, each ruled by a senior (Augustus) and junior (Caesar) emperor, creating the system known as the Tetrarchy. Declared himself a God-Emperor, marking the point when the emperor's authority was absolute in theory as well as in fact — this was not so much because he sincerely believed A God Am I, but instead because he was looking to re-instill a sense of authority to the Empire, no longer trusted the senate to have any power and he believed that after multiple civil wars and assassinations the "First Citizen" title no longer commanded the obedience of the masses. Insisted on being referred to as Dominus ("Master"), traditionally the way slaves addressed their masters, with the implication being that all citizens were slaves of the Emperor.note  History would show this new title failed to have the desired effect. Persecuted the Christians, because he considered them ideological enemies of the state. After he felt he had done all he wanted to do, he retired to the countryside and became a gardener. Thus, he was the first emperor to give up the throne voluntarily and go into retirement. He lived long enough to see the collapse of the Tetrarchy.

  • Genius Ditz: Apart from his military restructuring, most of his reforms are either ineffective or bad. His attempts to fight off inflation by setting up the first wide-scale price control failed, his Great Persecution failed, his attempts at creating a proto-feudalistic society only hamstrung potential recruits, his Tetrachy failed right after he resigned (though, it's worth pointing out that Maximian and his son did undo the effectiveness of the Tetrarchy, but it was Diocletian's decision to elevate his friend nonetheless)
  • Fisher King: Literally after his resignation, the Tetrarchy system almost immediately collapsed and civil war was prolonged as a result of the power separation between emperors.
  • Offered the Crown: Even after he abdicated the throne, the people liked him enough to beg him to return as emperor.
  • Rags to Riches: One of the few emperors to have come from unimportant origins, most likely poverty.

Galerius (305 — 311)

Diocletian's Caesar and eventual successor in the east. Convinced Diocletian that Christianity was a threat. Despite this, he changed his mind shortly before his death and issued the Edict of Serdica, officially ending the persecution of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

Maximian (286 — 305), (306 — 310)

A capable soldier and friend of Diocles, he was made Augustus in the west under Diocletian. Has Constantius Chlorus not helped Maximian, he would most likely lose Britania. Followed all of Diocletian's reforms (including the persecution of Christians) and failed spectacularly. Lead a failed rebellion against Constantine the Great in 310 and was forced to commit suicide. Stillthe Leader: When asked by his son to come a co-rule with him, he acquiesced and killed a junior emperor before he had to flee from his own son's anger upon him. He then fled to Constantine's part of the empire and was given several units to guard the alps, only to then proclaim himself as a senior Augustus. Needless to say, he failed.

Constantius Chlorus (306)

Maximian's Caesar. Father of an illegitimate son who would later become Constantine the Great. Best known for his tolerant stance towards Christians in his part of the empire.

Constantinian Dynasty

Constantine the Great (306 — 337)

First tolerated, then favored Christianity, though also promoting the cult of Sol Invictus. The first Christian emperor of Rome, ultimately being baptized on his deathbed (which has led to suspicions that he was hedging his bets among people unaware that deathbed baptisms were common in the early centuries of Christianity). Moved the empire's capital away from Italy to what would be called Constantinople. A massively capable soldier, both in terms of leadership and in martial skill. Admonished by an advisor on at least one occasion for leading a cavalry charge. He also disbanded the Praetorian Guard, replacing them with the Scholae Palatinae and destroyed the barracks of Castra Praetoria (whose ruins still exist) to much public cheer. Had his capable eldest son executed under false pretenses; upon learning the truth, his wife shared the same fate under suspicions she had a part in the whole thing. This would have terrible repercussions for his dynasty.

Constantine II (337 — 340)

Constantine's first (surviving) son. Squabbled with his brother Constans and died while fighting against him during a failed invasion of Italy, never even meeting his brother in battle.

Constantius II (337 — 361)

Second (surviving) son of Constantine. Credited with masterminding the murder of his male relatives after his father's death. The first emperor to actively discourage pagan practices and promote Christiantiy.note 

Julian "the Apostate" (360 — 363)

Officially, his name was Flavius Claudius Julianus. He was baptized a Christian but as a youth he became interested in Greek and Roman antiquities, philosophy and history. Eventually, he abjured his Christian upbringing and identified as a pagan. This led him to acquire his famous nicknames, Julian the Philosopher, and more notoriously, Julian the Apostate. He was never exactly considered Emperor material in his youth, and his succession came as a surprise since he was known for being an eccentric, who resurrected the custom of sporting beards (popular when Hadrian introduced it, but considered unfashionable among Roman elites by this point). His early military career was inconsistent to say the least — he won as many battles as he lost, and was only saved from a likely defeat and execution at the hands of Constantius II by the latter's sudden death.

As an Emperor he reigned for a short while but began a number of large reforms. Most notably, he compiled several state polices to reinstate the traditional Roman pagan religion, including an attempt to make Hellenism into an organized Church compared to Christianity. While not outright hostile to the practice of Christianity, he did make attempts to shut Christians out of political influence. He also made promises to the Jewish community in Antioch to resettle them in Jerusalem and even to let them rebuild the temple.

He died in battle (one of 9 emperors to do so) during a poorly conceived invasion of the Persian Empire, being wounded by a spear (he had refused to put on his armor, or possibly just didn't have time to put on his armor when his camp was attacked) and dying shortly after. Almost all his plans were abandoned after his death. It's possible to compare him to the Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten who also introduced a state sponsored religious cult, albeit Akhenaten was a monotheistic radical where Julian was a restorer of the Old Gods. He was the last non-Christian Emperor of Antiquity, and his life and death is often invoked as the Death of the Old Gods, the point at which Hellenism and any attempts to prolong it became failures. Indeed, it was popularly believed that his last words were "You have won, Galilean" (Julian referred to Christians as Galileans, as a way to remind them they were originally a minor Jewish sect) and this became much Memetic Mutation during the romantic era, but this is most likely a literary and cultural fantasy, originating from an account by Christian theologian Theodoret.

Despite his brief reign however, Julian is considerably popular as a Historical Domain Character and is probably the most well-represented of the Late Antiquity period. Henrik Ibsen's Emperor and Galilean is one very famous and respected artistic depiction, while more recently, he became well known as a result of Gore Vidal's Julian. Given his role as both the last member of Constantine's dynasty (talk about Irony and Book Ends on the religious front) and the last Pagan Emperor, his life and rule is also one of the most susceptible to What Could Have Been and Alternate History speculation, with many seeing him as the last Emperor with true potential for greatness.

The Elected Non-Dynast

Jovian (363 — 364)

He was elected emperor in very dicey circumstances, and almost entirely by accident after Julian's death. You see, Julian was the Emperor and head of state, and he died in battle at the head of his army when all of them were in enemy territory. Jovian was hastily elected and his first order was getting the army out intact. To do so, he accepted a treaty with the Persians in exchange for safe passage. This made him supremely unpopular immediately because Romans don't quit, they don't surrender to barbarians and they don't back down. In this case, Jovian had no choice — or so he claimed. The Persians naturally extracted a treaty the Romans saw as humiliating.

On his way back to Constantinople, he stopped at Antioch and reversed Julian's policies. He was a Christian himself, and he restored Christianity to pride of place, eliminating the restrictions on Christians teaching the Greek classics that Julian had put, and also ordered the destruction of the Library of Antioch (much to the ire of Antiochians of all religions). He did not promulgate any more anti-pagan policies however. He died under goofy circumstances after only eight months on the throne while still on his way to Constantinople.

  • Big Sleep: After recently painting his wall and placing aside enlighten objects (like candles), he suffocated with paint fumes during his sleep.

Valentinian Dynasty

Valentinian I The Great (364-375)

Ruled in the west, with his brother Valens ruling the east. Valentinian restored the empire's flagging fortunes with military victories against various invaders. His contemporaries seem to have respected him as a simple man — a tough soldiering type who would rather be on campaign with his troops than entertaining the nobility or attending to affairs of state. Ammianus Marcellinus calls him "... an able warrior, who hated the well-dressed and the educated." On the religious front, he continued the policies of his predecessor, showing preference for Christianity while tolerating paganism. Died from a stroke brought on by yelling at Germanic diplomats.

Valens (364 — 378)

Famous for losing the Battle of Adrianople, the most disastrous defeat in Rome's history, and getting himself killed. Was a pretty competent emperor like his brother, however.

Gratian (375 — 383)

Succeeded his father Valentinian. Ended the religious toleration of his predecessors, favoring Christianity and suppressing paganism. His hiring of Alan mercenaries earned the ire of the army, leading to his deposition and execution.

Theodosian dynasty

Theodosius I The Great (379 — 395)

Last emperor to rule over east and west (for barely over a year, though). Made Christianity of the Nicene Creed the de jure state religion, although contrary to what was claimed by Christian propaganda and traditional historiography, he did not ban paganism in the process (it would still take centuries for Christianity to overtake it). Fought the Goths to a stalemate but was unable to win a conclusive victory. His Pyrrhic Victory in a civil war which won him control of both halves of the Empire may have devastated the Western military so far it couldn't recover. Split the Empire after his death for the final time, the west going to his younger son Honorius and the east going to his elder son Arcadius.

Western Empire (395CE — 476/480CE)

Honorius (395 — 423)

Emperor of the Western Empire. Can actually be considered the worst emperor, both west and east combined. Most notable moment of his reign was the Sack of Rome in 410, which he held some responsibility for, since he had his best general, Stilicho, put to death, along with the families of Gothic soldiers in Roman service. The Goths under Alaric revolted due to their mistreatment and sacked Rome for the first time since 390 BC. Honorius also reportedly lusted after his half-sister Galla Placidia.

Valentinian III (423 — 455)

Nephew of Honorius. Ascended to the throne at the age of four, with his mother Galla Placidia as regent. As an adult, he was more concerned with women and partying than ruling the empire, leaving the general Flavius Aetius to do most of the actual governing. His reign saw the empire lose control of North Africa and most of Iberia and Gaul. Murdered Aetius in a fit of paranoia and was subsequently assassinated by troops loyal to the general.

Petronius Maximus (455)

Seized power after Valentinian´s death. Killed in the chaos that surrounded the sack of Rome by the Vandals.

Avitus (455-456)

Seized power in the chaos after Maximus´ death. Made efforts to increase support for his regime in other parts of the empire. This angered the Senate, who wanted to prioritize Italy over all else. Overthrown and executed by the military.

Majorian (457 — 461)

General who became emperor after the overthrow of Avitus. Notable for spending nearly all of his reign campaigning to regain lands the Empire had lost and doing a fairly successful job, reconquering most of Gaul and Hispania; his attempt to kick the Vandals out of Africa was thwarted by traitorous soldiers however. Among the late 5th century Emperors his reign is comparatively well-documented, in part due to the newfound stability that his military victories ushered in. His reign saw a series of sweeping legal reforms, which seem to have been well-received by the common people but resented by the aristocracy. Among these were a return of the right for citizens to bear arms, a stipulation against coerced conversions to Christianity, and instating the death penalty as punishment for adultery. His attempts to curb practices putting a strain on the Empire drew the ire of both the aristocracy and magister militum Ricimer who had hoped to use Majorian as a puppet. As a result he was captured, tortured and finally executed by Ricimer with his death arguably ending any hope for the stability or survival of the Western Empire. Has the "honor" of being known as the last Western Roman Emperor to be worth a damn.

Libius Severus (461-465)

One of the most obscure emperors. His reign wasn´t recognized in Gaul (which had broken away under Aegidius). Died of natural causes.

Anthemius (467 — 472)

A successful general under Majorian who won great victories over the Huns and Ostrogoths. As Emperor, however, he was not so lucky. A massive(ly expensive) effort to reclaim North Africa from the Vandals ended in failure, and with the Western Empire now nearly bankrupt because of it, Anthemius spent the rest of his reign on the defensive. Eventually, he was betrayed and killed by Ricimer after a few bitter months of civil war. His reign marks the effective end of the Western Empire as a political entity. After his death, the Eastern Roman government no longer conducted diplomacy with it in an official capacity.

Interestingly, Anthemius' reign also features the last major appearence of the Celts in Roman history. He recruited them to fight against the Visigoths, and despite some initial success, they were eventually betrayed by the Praetorian Prefect Arvandus, who Anthemius subsequently exiled.

Olybrius (472)

The only thing of note about this man´s reign is that it was during his reign that the strongman Ricimer finally kicked the bucket. The emperor died a couple months later.

Glycerius (472-474)

The new magister militum, Gundobad, appointed this guy to emperor. Unfortunately for Glycerius, the Eastern emperor Zeno refused to recognize him, sending one of Julius Nepos to depose him.

Julius Nepos (474-475)

Last emperor with Eastern recognition. To his credit, he had some successes (such as forging alliances with Syagrius - Aegidius´ successor in Gaul). However, due to long-standing feuds with the Senate, he was overthrown by the military.

Romulus Augustulus (475 — 476)

A kid who was the puppet of his father Flavius Orestes, who himself had violently supplanted the previous emperor Julius Nepos. When Orestes denied the barbarian troops that had helped him to dethrone Nepos the promised rewards — specifically to grant them a third of Italy for settlement — he was in turn overthrown by the Germanic general Odoacer, who deposed the puppet Romulus (but spared his life) and assumed the title "commander of Italy". Romulus is usually identified as the last emperor in the West, although some insist that Julius Nepos, who ruled in Dalmatia until 480, was the last one.note  After Romulus was deposed, Odoacer sent him to live in Campania, after which he completely drops out of history. Nepos continued to rule a rump state in Dalmatia, only to be assassinated while planning to restore his authority in Italy.

(For Emperors of the Eastern Empire after the Western Empire's fall, see Byzantine Empire)

Trope Namer for:

  • The Emperor (from imperator, a military title literally meaning "commander" and usually bestowed upon victorious generals)
  • The Empire (derivied from the word imperium note  and in the western tradition at least, also the Trope Codifier)

Works produced by Roman Empire citizens:

    Literature 

The works written in Latin and Greek during the Empire by a range of authors have long inspired later authors (in fiction and non-fiction about the era) and serve as both primary sources as well as excellently readable works for edification.

  • The Aeneid by Virgil was the epic poem about the Empire, and more or less propaganda commissioned by Augustus himself to supplant Romus and Remulus, the popular founder of the Republican City-State with Aeneas, daughter of Venus, and do you know which Roman family at that time claimed descent from Aeneas and Venus (yep, Augustus' Julio-Claudian family). Much of the epic is Futureshadowing with Dido of Carthage representing an origin for the Punic Wars, as well as the Socii War, and likewise the career of Caesar.
  • The Golden Ass by Apuleius is considered a precursor to the novel, though it's mostly a collection of stories spun around the picaresque misadventures of its unlucky hero who gets transformed into a donkey. Generally seen as one of the best glimpses of how the Roman provincial society was, as well as a truly amazing look at the cults and belief systems of the time. Its author Apuleius was in fact a Numidian born in what is now Algeria. Translated by Robert Graves who also used it as a source for his studies of classical myth.
  • Heroides: A collection of epistolary love poems about fifteen Grecorroman mythological female characters who've been scorned, mistreated, neglected, or abandoned by their love interests (often, the heroes of the story
  • Satires by Horace, Juvenal, and Lucian of Samosata are incredible glimpses of the morals, political, social, and religious life of the Empire. Bread and Circuses was coined by Juvenal to describe and criticize the Roman view of politics. Lucian of Samosata's satires espouse Epicureanism and mostly spend much time attacking and mocking all cults in the Roman era whether it's belief systems by charlatans like Alexander of Abonoteichus, old pagans who still pine for Zeus and of course Christians.
  • The Satyricon credited to Petronius, is one of two novels from the Empire, and even in fragmentary form, it's admired for its resolute realism in showing the urban life of Rome as well as characters from the lower classes such as newly freed slave turned Nouveau Riche Trimalchio.
  • The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, which is seen as part history and part gossip, but is entertaining enough to be read for its own pleasure, with its style of writing greatly influencing the later genres of biography and fictional essays. Robert Graves, naturally, translated this (as well as The Golden Ass by Apuleius). It chronicles the famous Julio-Claudian dynasty but was written during the reign of its successors, so historiographically, it's a lot of fun to read.

    Mythology & Religion 
  • Greco-Roman mythology, as the name implies, is at least half Roman. Some of it is a reinterpretation of Greek mythology (and name-changing), but there's also a fair share of Roman additions (which tend to be lesser known than the Greek stuff).

Depictions in fiction

    Anime & Manga 
  • Thermae Romae, set in the reign of the emperor Hadrian (and in 21st century Japan).
  • Highlander: The Search for Vengeance has the back story of Marcus being a general of Rome who while conquering England destroys the hero's village. Later on we see the sacking of Rome.
  • Hetalia: Axis Powers has the character of Grandpa Rome, dressed as a Roman general.

    Comic Books 
  • The Asterix series, is set in a kind of flat era between the Republic and the Empire but with several anachronistic elements, such as depicting Julius Caesar as an emperor, when he was in fact Dictator, or the Colosseum in Rome itself long before it was built.
  • Alix is one of the two comic book series (the other being, of course, Asterix) translated to Latin. The sequel series Alix Senator is set in a now well-established Roman Empire.
  • Aquila is set in a Historical Fantasy version of the Roman Empire during the reign of Nero.
  • Murena
  • Nero Fox (the "Jive-Jumping Emperor of Ancient Rome"), a Golden Age DC Comics Funny Animal character who was emperor of ancient Rome.
  • The Sandman issue 20, "August", in which an old Augustus spends an afternoon disguised as a beggar in the streets of Rome
  • A recent Abrafaxe arc, which ran from Mosaik No. 459 to 482, is set during the reign of Emperor Trajan. The Abrafaxe have to help bring two Germanic children (the son and the daughter of two chiefs who want to have good relations with Rome) from the Rhine to Rome. Which brought them to Carthage, where they found a statue of Bella (the Abrafaxe's distaff counterparts, Anna, Bella and Caramella had passed through the place in an adventure in 25 B.C., during the reign of Augustus).

    Films — Live-Action 

    Literature 
  • Cambridge Latin Course, the UK's counterpart to Ecce Romani.
  • The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1789) by Edward Gibbon was one of the most popular and influential histories of Rome, and one of the first to return itself to serious re-reading of primary sources from a secular perspective, and famous in its time for its controversial thesis that Christianity was the main cause for the titular decline and fall. Historians coming after Gibbon, from both a religious and secular perspective, have deprecated Gibbon's thesis, as well as his aristocratic biases and his contemptuous dismissal of the Byzantine Empire, but nonetheless its still a classic work for its literary value, its sardonic writing style and genuinely interesting ideas, that if nothing else gives a sense of the historiography of the Empire in the age of The Enlightenment.
  • The Death of Virgil by Herrmann Broch is an experimental book that explores the final days of Virgil, him asking his friends to burn his work, his regret and guilt about serving a corrupt society and evil man, and even his final failure to resist Augustus. Written by the author in exile in America from Nazi Germany.
  • Detectives in Togas (1953) by Henry Winterfeld, set in the reign of Emperor Tiberius.
  • The Eagle of the Ninth (1954), The Mark of the Horse Lord (1965), Frontier Wolf (1980) and various other novels by Rosemary Sutcliff set in the Empire times in Britain.
  • Ecce Romani, the Latin textbook. First published in 1971.
  • Give Me Back My Legions! by Harry Turtledove is a straight historical novel of Quintillus Varus' doomed attempt to Romanize Germany during the reign of Augustus Caesar, ending with the massacre of the three legions under his command at Teutoburg Forest.
  • Robert Graves was both a classicist and a novelist, writing historical fiction: I, Claudius, Claudius the God and King Jesus.
  • Julian by Gore Vidal documents the life and adventures of Julian the Apostate, being one of the most well-researched works of historical fiction in the latter half of the 20th Century.
  • The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Adapted to film many times.
  • The Silver Chalice (1952) by Thomas B. Costain. Made into an infamously bad movie in 1954.
  • The Marcus Didius Falco series of detective novels. Started in 1989.
  • Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar is a fictitious exploration of Emperor Hadrian, dealing with his fascination for all things Greek, his homosexuality, his crushing of the Bar Kochba revolt, and his exile of the Jews. Most of the novel is about how the Empire was stagnating, not building on the works of the past, and more or less living decadently contemplating works and ideas that were already classical to Hadrian.
  • The Last Legion depicts the fall of the Western Empire in 476 AD. The protagonist and other soldiers of a destitute legion (the last, it seems) go on a Suicide mission to save the deposed emperor Romolus Augustus and smuggle him to safety...in a war-torn continent.
  • The Kingdom and the Crown
  • Quo Vadis? (1896) by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
  • The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence. Started in 2001.
  • The Wolf Den Trilogy depicts the life of a sex worker in Pompeii shortly before the town is buried in the eruption of Vesuvius.

    Live-Action TV 
  • I, Claudius, based on the novel by Robert Graves.
  • The miniseries Masada about the siege of the titular fortress at the end of the Jewish Revolts.
  • The Roman Mysteries: The TV adaptation of the book series.
  • The Doctor Who episodes "The Romans", "The Fires of Pompeii" and "The Pandorica Opens".
  • The BBC series of Horrible Histories has a 'Rotten Romans' segment every episode, sometimes focusing on Rome itself and other times on Roman Britain.
  • The HBO/BBC series Rome is all about the founding days of the empire.
  • Kaamelott, a medieval fantasy comedy series based off the Arthurian Legend, shows King Arthur's youth in Rome as Arturus in its final seasons (a number of sets of Rome were used, besides). There are also flashbacks to this era in The Movie, Kaamelott: Premier Volet.
  • Chelmsford 123 is a Britcom about the Roman occupation of Britain.
  • Plebs, an ITV sitcom set early in the reign of Augustus.
  • Attila is a miniseries that depicts the Hunnic king's wars against Rome and his rivalry with Flavius Aetius.
  • Britannia, about the Roman invasion of what is now Great Britain in the first century AD.
  • Barbarians, about the rebellion of the Germanic tribes led by Arminius, culminating in the major defeat of the Roman Empire's forces at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD.

    Mythology & Religion 
  • The New Testament was written entirely in the 1st-century Roman Empire and records the lives of people who lived in Rome, most notably Jesus who died by Rome's signature execution.
  • The original context of the Arthurian legends were set in post-Roman Britain after the Western Roman Empire had left in 410 AD. This is often forgotten in most adaptations of the story, aside from a few exceptions.

    Podcasts 
  • Mike Duncan's The History of Rome details the history of Rome from the legendary founding by Romulus to the deposition of Romulus Augustulus by Odoacer in 476. Even though Duncan is partial to the middle Republican period, the bulk of the work is spent on the Imperial period, in part because it is more complex and in part because more sources are available for a longer period of time.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Vampire: The Requiem: The Requiem for Rome/Fall of the Camarilla duology are set in a stylised fourth century Rome. Requiem for Rome is a setting book, with the default year being 360; Fall of the Camarilla is a campaign covering the period from 320 to 410.
  • Call of Cthulhu historical setting Cthulhu Invictus takes place in the first century AD.
  • Augusta Universalis: Thanks to early alien contact, a technologically advanced Roman Empire controls Earth and by 2018 has established numerous colonies across the Solar System and beyond.

    Theatre 

    Video Games 
  • Age of Empires I — Rise of Rome details Rome's transformation from Republic to Empire, and touches on the Fall. Also includes a Perspective Flip, Enemies of Rome, in which you play as Rome's enemies.
  • Age of Empires II:
    • The Conquerors has a campaign on Attila the Hun and details his exploits against the late Roman Empire.
    • The Forgotten has a campaign of Aleric I, culminating in the Sack of Rome.
    • Return to Rome is essentially a remake of the first game, introducing the Roman Empire as a separate civilization (previously it was depicted by other civilizations such as the Byzantine Empire and Medieval Italy).
  • Caesar
  • Expeditions: Rome
  • The Europa Universalis spin-off Europa Universalis: Rome.
  • Imperator: Rome, the Spiritual Successor to the aforementioned Europa Universalis: Rome. Despite the name, it has a lot of focus on the Classical Antiquity in general, with the map stretching from Britain to India and Rome starts only controlling the area around the Latium.
  • Rome: Total War
  • Total War: Rome II
  • Total War: Attila has the Empire split into the Western Roman Empire, and Eastern Roman Empire.
  • Spartan: Total Warrior

    Web Animation 

    Western Animation 

Alternative Title(s): Roman Empire

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