Nero had one of the most ostentatious and unrestrained personalities of the Roman Emperors. Nero: The Most Indulgent of Roman Emperors Portrait of Nero, 54-68 CE, via the Uffizi He was fooled by those closest to him, and so his Empire was left in an uncontrolled state.Ĥ. According to Seneca, a roman writer and satirist, Claudius soiled himself and moaned, “oh dear, oh dear, I think I have made a mess.” This can be interpreted two ways: one way is literally that Claudius soiled himself, or alternatively, it was because his reign had ended in a bit of a mess. In the end, Claudius was probably poisoned by either his wife or a eunuch he was given mushrooms that caused intestinal problems.
He soon became comfortable with his newfound power and would often be quite unsparing in his policies. During his reign, however, Claudius proved to be very smart, and he refused to be directed by the soldiers.
The soldiers then proclaimed him emperor, thinking that they could use Claudius as a puppet emperor because he was perceived to be slow and dumb. When Caligula, the Roman Emperor before Claudius, died, the soldiers found Claudius hiding and trembling behind a curtain. He wrote lots of books that have unfortunately been lost to time, including histories, political arguments, and a book on playing dice. His family kept him hidden inside most of his life, so he spent most of his time studying. He was greatly underestimated by his peers because of his unattractive appearance, clumsiness, and sickly body. “O dear, I’ve made a mess of it.” - ClaudiusĬlaudius was the fourth Roman Emperor. He was later suspiciously favored by Caligula, who took Tiberius’ place as Emperor.ģ. In another act of betrayal, Macro is rumored by ancient historians to have suffocated Tiberius with a pillow. Indeed, Macro was deserting Tiberius to “court” the soon-to-be emperor. This is when Tiberius admonished Macro, “You leave the setting to court the rising sun”. Towards the end of Tiberius’ reign, when Tiberius’ health was diminishing, Macro began to make moves in support of Caligula, his hopeful successor. After this, Tiberius had a new right-hand man, the Praetorian Prefect Macro. The time finally came when Tiberius learned of Sejanus’ deceit and had him executed. While Tiberius was in Capri, Sejanus plotted to take over, and he censored communications with Tiberius in Capri. In Rome, he left his friend Sejanus in charge. Some of his family members were secretly murdered in the struggle for the succession, and Tiberius’ own son lost his life as a victim of this plotting.Įventually, Tiberius decided to leave Rome and retire to Capri. Throughout his reign, Tiberius experienced many betrayals and insincerity from friends and Senate members. He ruled in moderation at first and helped Rome to increase its treasury to the highest level it had ever been. Tiberius was a war hero, and he used his military background to rule Rome. Tiberius did seem to very much despise his role in the line of Roman Emperors. He, too, put on the appearance of being a reluctant Emperor, but in the end, his reign came off as much more bitter. Tiberius was the second Roman emperor and Augustus’ stepson. “You leave the setting to court the rising sun.”. Tiberius Portrait of Tiberius, 1st century CE, from the Chiaramonti Museum, Vatican City, via Hence, Augustus finally gave up the façade, and he would exit the stage of life, to the applause of a successful Empire.Ģ. Then, Suetonius says that Augustus called his friends and asked them if he had played the farce of life well? And if so, they should applaud. Satisfied with the answer that there was peace, he finally asked for a mirror and fixed his appearance. His arduous efforts securing his line of succession prove he desired to keep power within his family.Īugustus grew to an old age, and on his deathbed, the historian Suetonius claims that Augustus would continually ask if there were any disturbances in the Empire.
Augustus was very interested in maintaining his hold on power. While Rome was indeed successful under Augustus’ rule, his apparent reluctance to hold power was simply a farce. However, throughout Augustus’ entire time in power, he never returned power back to the Senate, but continued to rule, claiming that he was doing the best for the people and the Empire. Augustus appeared to support the Republic, the previous form of government, and he claimed that he would eventually restore the Republic to Rome. Ancient historians such as Suetonius and Tacitus heavily imply that Augustus put on the appearance of being a benign emperor, who was reluctant to hold all these powers.
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