Emperors Behaving Badly

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Emperors Behaving Badly
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The Julio-Claudians
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Where the Trouble Started

• Augustus unable to produce heir
• Died in 14 CE
• "Alas for the Roman people, to be ground by jaws
  that crunch so slowly!"

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Tiberius Claudius Nero

• Augustus adopted son
• Reigned from 14 to 37 CE
• Never wanted to be emperor
• Failed at playing Augustus

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Private Problems

• Private playhouse
• His minnows
• Few immune from his desires
• Had trouble trusting people, despised his mother
• Afraid of thunder and fish

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More Succession Problems

• Tiberius withdrawn in later years
• Sejanus
• No heir named, immediate family dead
• Two possible heirs, Gaius Caesar and Tiberius
  Gemellus
• Died March 16, 37 CE

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Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Caligula)

• Son of Germanicus, a great Roman general
• Nickname stuck- little soldiers boots
• Very popular with the masses and soldiers
• Reigned from 37 to 41 CE
• I am nursing a viper in Romes bosom.- Tiberius

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No Problems at First

• Caligula appeals to Roman people
• Recalled exiles
• Held banquets and gave many gifts
• Revived Public Works
• However, later in the same year he was appointed,
  suffered a brain fever

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Caligula Assassinated

• 41 CE, Caligula violently stabbed to death
• Issue of succession comes up again
• Augustus took special measures to ensure that
  Tiberius Claudius would not become emperor
• Only one capable left alive

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Tiberius Claudius

• Reigned from 41 to 54 CE
• Historians have differing opinions on his
  character
• Generally agreed that he had some forms of
  physical disabilities

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Better than the Last Two..

• Erratic court behavior
• Paranoid
• Easily swayed by others
• Killed thirty-five senators and 300 equites
• Gluttony
• Sex addict
• Bribery
• Adopted Nero

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Succession Once Again Disputed

• Claudius died in 54 CE
• Senate was naturally concerned with safety
• Claudius named his adoptive son Nero as heir
  (Agrippina had a strong hand in this)
• Not many options

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Nero

• Became emperor at age sixteen
• Influenced by Agrippina and Seneca early in
  reign.
• Ruled from 54 to 68 CE
• Promised to rule as Augustus had
• Difficult to discern fact from fiction.

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Great Fire of Rome

• 64 CE
• Strongly suspected Nero caused fire
• fiddled while Rome burned
• Lasted six days, seven nights

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Persecution of Christians

• First emperor to do so
• Would throw parties lit by Christians on burning
  crosses
• Blamed fire on them
• Suspicious due to their strange rituals and
  monotheism

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End of Julio-Claudians

• Nero committed suicide in 68 CE
• No living male relatives
• Start of Flavian dynasty soon to follow
• Rome may never have truly recovered
• Start of Flavian dynasty under Vespasian

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Legacy of Julio-Claudians
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The End

• Bear in mind that I can do anything I want to
  anyone I want! - Caligula