Tiberius ruled Rome from 14-37 CE with a bitter and suspicious personality, instituting a reign of terror. His adopted grandson Caligula became insane after a few months in power, sacrificing slaves and claiming to be a god before being assassinated. Claudius expanded the Roman Empire but was poisoned by his wife Agrippina to make way for Nero, who became a tyrant, murdering family members and being blamed for the Great Fire of Rome before committing suicide.

2. Tiberius (14-37 CE)
 Stepson of Augustus (Augustus outlived his
five appointed successors)
 Ruled with Augustus for last 10 years of
Augustus’ life
 Had never held an administrative position before
 Ruled from Isle of Capri, wanted Senate to
act without him
 Led a life of debauchery (manic depressive)
 Christ crucified during his reign

3. Bottom Line on Tiberius
 Bitter, little man
 Scheming
 Suspicious
 Instituted a reign of terror
 Did not abuse power,
failed to use it!
 Crowd rejoiced at his death

4. Gaius [Caligula] (37-41 CE)
 Adopted grandson of Tiberius
 Great-grandson of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony
 Became ill after a few months in power and became
insane
 Sacrificed 160,000 slaves to the gods
 Caligula is Latin for “little baby boots”
 Claimed he was a god
 Made a serious attempt to have his horse elected
Consul
 Very cruel and unpopular – assassinated with wife
and daughter by own guard

5. Bottom Line on Caligula
 Known for extravagance, cruelty and
eccentric personality
 Engaged in openly adulterous and incestuous
affairs
 What we know might be just rumours

6. Claudius (41-54 CE)
 Found cowering as Praetorians were looting
Caligula’s palace
 Nephew of Tiberius
 Purging of family tree by previous emperors made
him sole heir
 Though intelligent and well-educated, he was
physically crippled and frail/weak
 Added the province of Britain (43 CE) , named
after his son, Britannicus
 All 5 marriages ended in failure (first wife died
on wedding night!)
 Poisoned to death (mushrooms) by fifth wife
(also his niece) to make Nero emperor

7. Bottom Line on Claudius
 Physically weak
 Shrewd administrator
 Extended Roman
citizenship in the provinces
 Founded Roman cities in
the provinces

8. Nero (54-68 CE)
 Emperor at 16 and soon became a tyrant
 Murdered:
 Agrippina, his mother, in 59 CE
 Poppaea, pregnant second wife by kicking her to
death
 Second wife’s husband
 Seneca, his teacher/advisor
 Britannicus, his step-brother
 Entered the Olympics and won through
bribery!

9. Nero, continued
 64 CE – accused of setting fire to Rome
 2/3 of Rome destroyed
 Made Christians the scapegoat for the fire and
carried out first persecutions of Christians
 Apostles Peter and Paul died in Rome
 Many Romans sacrificed in “sports” events
 Great artist: painted, sculpted, sang, acted
 68 CE – committed suicide as 3 provinces were in
revolt and Praetorian Guard deserted him
 Last of Julius Caesar’s bloodline

10. Bottom Line on Nero
 Biased historical accounts leave us unable to
tell what really happened
 Senate revolted against him, declared an
enemy of the state
 Very extravagant – taxed the Patricians
 Poster child showing the folly of excess

11. Vespasian (69-79 CE)
 Senate gave imperial power to Vespasian
after a year of civil war
 Ruled well
 Gave citizenship to people of many provinces
 Founded the Flavian dynasty
 Built Roman Colosseum
 First emperor since
Augustus who did not
die violently/unnaturally

12. Titus (79-81 CE)
 Vespasian’s son
 Famous for capture of Jerusalem
in 70 CE
 Given a Triumphal Arch
 Emperor in 79 CE
 Ideal Emperor
 He spent lavish sums on games and
monuments
 Gave financial aid to people who
suffered from explosion of
Mount Vesuvius / victims of the
fire of Rome

13. Domitian (81-96 CE)
 Younger brother of Titus
 Efficient but arrogant
 Hated the Senate
 Rule became tyrannical
 Executed anyone suspected of even the mildest
form of dissent
 Assassinated by those paid by his wife
Domitilla in 96 CE, thus ending the Flavian
Dynasty

14. Nerva (96-98 CE)
 Chosen by the Senate to rule
 Started method of imperial succession
 Took the title of Augustus and chose a Caesar
to replace him
 Increased welfare payments to the masses

15. Trajan (98-117 CE)
 Born in Spain
 Outstanding soldier and general
 Military conquests expanded
empire in the Middle East
 Conquered Dacia (Romania) and
Parthia
 Dacian conquests commemorated
by a sculpted column
 Public works projects in Rome
included baths, markets, basilica,
and new forum

16. Bottom Line on Trajan
 Great soldier
 Able administrator
 Travelled the Empire to help stop rebellion

17. Hadrian (117-138 CE)
 Succeeded his adopted father, Trajan
 Great admirer of Greek culture
 Great soldier who spent much time with his
armies on the frontier establishing
permanent barriers against the barbarians
 Gave up new territories in the East, except
Dacia
 Political reformer: Senators, Equities received
training

18. Hadrian, continued
 Britain conquered by Claudius
in 43 CE
 Hadrian built a 73 mile (117 km)
defensive wall across Britain to
separate Romans from
barbarians
 Wall is 20 bricks high and 2.5
meters wide; small forts
installed every 1,500 meters
and lookouts every 500 meters;
manned by 13,000 auxiliaries
living on south side
 Wall took 3 legions 5 years to
build

19. Bottom Line on Hadrian
 Great soldier
 Builder of defensive walls
and the Pantheon (rebuilt)
 Enemy of the Jewish
peoples
 Very versatile
 Intellect
 Artist

20. Marcus Aurelius (161-180
CE)
 Was co-emperor with his brother, Lucius
Verus, until Verus’ death in 169 CE
 Spent most of his rule on the frontiers
keeping barbarians out
 Increased size of army and taxes, yet lowered
taxes for the poor
 Lenient towards political criminals
 Plague killed thousands during his watch; this
caused much doubt in Rome and the Empire

21. Bottom Line on Aurelius
 Aurelius’ watch marked by fighting the
“barbarians”
 Known for his Stoic philosophy, “Meditations”
 Transient nature of all things on
earth
 Do not let emotion override reason
 Do not lament things that happen
outside of your power to control
 The only thing you can control is
your attitude/outlook

22. Diocletian (284-304 AD)
 Stabilized Empire
 Had a rule of four where everyone looked
over various aspects of the Empire
 Secured their borders from invaders from all
corners
 Persecuted Christians
 Destroyed religious texts, places of worship
 Changed format of gov’t, military and
economy (larger, more organized)
 Abdicated throne due to illness

23. Constantine (307-337 AD)
 Involved in many civil wars to consolidate
power
 First Christian Emperor
 Reversed persecutions through Edict of Milan
 Created the city of Constantinople
 New capital of Rome
 Becomes Byzantine Empire when Rome splits
 Constantinople is capital for over 1000 years
 Fought many Barbarian groups to keep
Rome safe

24. Winner of All-Time Worst Roman
Emperor…
 Marcus Aurelius Antonius
Heliogabalus (218-224 CE)
 Emperor at 14
 Held the hereditary rank of high
priest to the Carthaginian and Syrian
sun-god Ba’al
 Cattle, sheep, severed human genitalia,
and young boys sacrificed to god Ba’al
 Homosexual
 Bore a strong desire to be a woman:
plucked hairs from body, wore
make-up, wanted a sex change
operation

25.  Raped, married, then divorced a vestal virgin
known as aquilia severa (the “great sewer”)
 Enjoyed pretending to be a prostitute,
offering himself naked to passers by in the
palace, and he prostituted himself in the
taverns and brothels of Rome
 Rather enjoyed severe punishments for
having been caught
 He and his mother executed and bodies
thrown into Tiber River
 Heliogabalus’ followers fate: had genitals
ripped off and pierced by pikes in the anus “so
that their death fitted their lives”