EMPERORS

Lecture Two

Emperors – An Overview The Dynasty of Augustus Emperors Years of Trial Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know From Bad to Worse Tiberius Caligula Suetonius – Lives of the Caesars The line continues…

Emperors The story of Rome’s Emperors in

the first century AD has got it all – love, murder and revenge, fear and greed, envy and pride.

Why was the first century so turbulent? The first answer is simple: hereditary rule.

Emperors could only survive if their people believed they could outgun anyone and everyone else.

It was a job for life, so if an emperor was mad, bad or dangerous, the only solution was to cut that life short. Everybody knew it, so paranoia ruled.

Years of Trial Although Augustus was dead,

his dynasty lived on. Augustus had outlived his

preferred heirs - his two grandsons. So when he died, it was his son-in-law, Tiberius, who became emperor.

With no sons of his own, Tiberius named his great-nephew, Caligula, as his heir.

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know

At first, Caligula was a breath of fresh air. But shortly after taking power, he began behaving strangely.

Before long, his advisors had had enough and Caligula was murdered by his closest advisors.

His only heir was his uncle, Claudius, who had been deformed by a childhood illness and had spent his life as the butt of family jokes.

From Bad to Worse Possibly Rome's most unlikely

emperor, Claudius worked hard and was a surprising success.

His weakness was women, as such, he decided to marry his niece, Agrippina.

She then murdered Claudius and made her son Nero Emperor.

Again, a good start soon gave way to a darker side of extravagance and random killings.

Tiberius Never the preferred heir,

Tiberius (42 BC – 37 AD / reigned 14 – 37 AD) soon showed why Augustus had wanted someone else.

In 11 BC, Augustus had forced him to divorce his much-loved wife and marry Julia, the emperor’s daughter

He was soon to face his first test. Fed up with life in cold, northern Europe, two armies were mutinying and threatened to march on Rome.

Tiberius Tiberius sent his young,

charismatic nephew, Germanicus, to sort the situation out.

Germanicus died in mysterious circumstances in 19 AD. Many thought he had been poisoned and blamed Tiberius.

Sejanus, Tiberius’ aide, exiled Germanicus’ widow before killing her two elder sons. Only the youngest, Caligula, was spared.

He would become Tiberius’

heir.

Caligula Seen as a welcome breath of

fresh air when he took the throne, Caligula’s (12 – 41 AD / Reigned 37 – 41 AD) eccentricities soon became terrifying and he was murdered after just five years in power.

Seven months after taking power, however, Caligula fell ill. Although he recovered, he began to act very strangely. Was he mad or just pretending? Some believe that he suffered from epilepsy, but historians are divided.

Caligula Then his eccentricities

became more murderous. His paranoia spared no one, not even his family.

At other times, his cruelty was more random, as his delight in killing became evident.

All this time, Caligula was spending vast quantities of money.

In 41 AD, four months after he returned from Gaul, he was murdered by his closest advisors, including members of his Praetorian Guard.

Suetonius – Lives of the Caesars

Noted historian and poet. Born 71AD – 135AD Main surviving work is the

Lives of the Caesars. Most of our knowledge of

the Caesars comes from his comprehensive work.

The Line Continues… After the terror and

paranoia of Tiberius and Caligula, a relative calm and competent Emperor emerges in the form of Claudius, but alas it was not to last…