Western History 46: Who were some of the Early Emperors?

The Emperors that immediately followed Augustus offered a mixed bag of colourful characters, tyrannical rulers, incompetents, intermixed with the occasional strong leader.

Tiberius (14-37 CE) and Caligula (37-41 CE) ruled over courts known for their decadence and suppression of dissent. Both are believed to have been murdered by the Praetorian Guard (Bodyguard of the Roman Empire) when their ostentatious behaviour threatened the integrity of the Imperial office. Claudius an uncle of Caligula, was declared Emperor by the Praetorians in 41 CE and although he wasn’t a brilliant ruler did initiate the Invasion of Britain. His forces captured the British warlord Caractacus, established a colony on the Island and dedicated a Temple in his honour.

Claudius’ successor Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty succeeded Claudius (who also died under suspicious circumstances) and ruled from 54-68 CE. Once again court intrigue dominated with Nero’s reign continuing the low points reached during the Age of Caligula. Anger at a loss of power drove the Pisonian conspiracy (65 CE) which followed on from the Great Fire of 64 CE. Nevertheless he the Emperor did claim victory following a successful peace treaty with the Parthians (62 CE) and the suppression of the Boudica rebellion in Britain a year earlier. The rebellion itself cost upwards of 70,000 British and Roman lives.

In 69 CE Rome had four Emperors – Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian – in a brief period of unprecedented instability. Vespasian, a general favoured by the Eastern Legions would eventually dominate establishing the Flavian dynasty. In his ten year long reign he captured Jerusalem (c. 70 CE) bringing an end to the Jewish revolt (with much brutality), ventured northwards to defeat the Gallo-Germans and increased training for civil servants, doctors and teachers. Unlike the Julio-Claudians he was not an extravagant man  and would be succeeded by his son Titus as Emperor.

Titus’ two year reign was noted for the competition of the Colosseum  and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE (an event that destroyed the settlements of Pompeii and Herculaneum). A very competent military commander he died early as a result of a fever and was followed as Emperor by his younger brother Domitian.

Initially an outsider Domitian was intend on rivaling the Military escapades of his brother. He waged war in the Rhine land and introduced policies in Rome that were designed to reduce corruption. However he appears to have been a petty individual who cut short the advances of the General Agricola in Britain (who was fighting in the Picts in Caledonia – Modern Day Scotland).Domitian taxed the population heavily and was subsumed by a type of religious zealotry. An uneasy peace was signed with the Dacians but his unpopularity grew and in 96 CE Domitian was assassinated by an ex-slave, ending the Flavian Dynasty.