Julio – Claudian Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero
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Julio – Claudian Emperors
Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero
AUGUSTUS - originally named Gaius Octavius,
Augustus was born in Rome on Sept. 23, 63 BC- first Emperor of Rome from 27 B.C. – 14 A.D.- restored “unity and orderly government” after
nearly a century of civil wars- presided over an era of peace, prosperity, and
cultural achievement known as the Augustan Age.
- he was the grandnephew of Julius Caesar
TIBERIUS- Emperor from 14 – 37 A.D.
- “efficient, tenacious administrator and general”
- “reserved, unapproachable replacement for the popular, charismatic Augustus.”
- adopted by Augustus and forced to divorce his beloved wife and marry Augustus’ daughter
- Tiberius came to power with great ambivalence and found little happiness in the course of his reign. He was an able ruler, but his reign was clouded by conspiracies and a degenerating relationship with the Senate.
- As a result, for the last decade of his reign he lived in seclusion on the island of Capri. [Source: Discovery Education]
CALIGULA- Emperor from 37-41 A. D.
• real name was Gaius Caesar (12-41),)
• the grandnephew of the Roman emperor Tiberius.
• His early life in military camps earned him the nickname Caligula (Lat., "Little Boot") because of his small military shoes.
• Tiberius named his grandson, Tiberius Gemellus (19-38), and Caligula joint heirs to the throne, but the Roman Senate and people chose Caligula as sole emperor.
• Caligula adopted Gemellus as his son but later had him murdered. A clement ruler for the first six months, he became a vicious tyrant after a severe illness. Historians believe that he probably went insane.
• he squandered his fortune on public entertainment and building projects; banished or murdered most of his relatives; had people tortured and killed while he dined; made his favorite horse a consul; declared himself a god; and had temples erected and sacrifices offered to himself. In 41 he was assassinated by his guard. [Source: Discovery Education]
CLAUDIUS- Emperor from 41-54 A.D. - The scholarly, crippled Claudius came to power at the age of 51, following the assassination of his nephew Caligula.- Certainly the most “competent and productive” emperor since Augustus, Claudius extended the empire’s borders by conquering and annexing Britain. - Internally, Claudius strengthened the state by extending enfranchisement and state offices to provincial Romans, and by reorganizing the imperial bureaucracy. - In later years, his power was undermined by failing health and by his scheming wife. Not long after adopting his wife's son Nero, Claudius died, perhaps the victim of poison. [Source: Discovery Education]
NERO- Emperor from 54-68 A.D.
- Like his uncle Caligula before him, Nero had “little talent or interest” in the exhaustive tasks of the office he inherited.
- His mother Agrippina ruled during his minority and was eclipsed soon afterwards by Nero’s astute advisors Seneca and Burrus.
- As fear of plots (real and imagined) increased, Nero’s popularity decreased.
- He had his mother assassinated, and later, Seneca.
- The great fire that destroyed much of Rome was unlikely to have been caused by Nero, but his ambitious plans for building a new palace in the ruins fueled suspicions.
- Nero fled, and committed suicide when the Praetorian guard abandoned him after the armies in the provinces rebelled and named their generals "emperor.” [Source: Discovery Education]
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