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Augustus to Marcus Aurelius
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Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by the Senate.
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Octavian, Mark Antony, and Lepidus start a triple alliance that ends in a major power play.
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Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra and becomes head Roman authority figure.
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He is given the official title Caesar Augustus.
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For better or for worse, this group would serve as bodyguards for the Roman emperors and sometimes for their rivals for many years to come.
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From Augustus to Nero...these emperors all came, sometimes indirectly, from the family of Julius Caesar, Julia Caesar, or Tiberius Claudius Nero, the husband of Augustus's first wife.
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The Aeneid, a foundational story of Rome that combines historical and mythological elements, is widely regarded as one of the greatest pieces of Roman literature. It was unfinished when its author Vergil died, and it was published post mortem against his will.
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Augustus dies presumably of natural causes at the age of 76. His last words to his subjects are traditionally thought to be "I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble."
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Tiberius ascends to the throne as the adopted son and heir of Augustus.
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The emperor went to visit the island of Capri but started to lose his mind on the journey there. He stayed on Capri for a much longer time then planned and imposed a "reign of terror" on the island where people were executed for the slightest misdemeanor.
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...which would make Jesus' Crucifixion under the reign of Tiberius
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He throws a javelin in a game and tears his shoulder. After this injury, Tiberius contracts the illness that leads to his death. Caligula then becomes emperor and executes his rival Gemellus.
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Caligula initiates many superfluous building projects which drain the money of the empire, including a two mile floating bridge across the Bay of Bauli.
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Caligula leads an army into Gaul and almost invades Britain but decides against it.
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The Romans grow fearful and angry at Caligula's excessive spending. The Praetorian Guard and the Senate conspire to kill him, and Caligula, his wife, and his daughter are stabbed to death. As an uncle of Caligula and someone the Praetorian Guard thinks they can control, Claudius becomes emperor.
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Claudius makes some land gains and adds Mauretania to the empire. He splits it into two provinces.
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Claudius actually takes the leap and commands his troops to invade Britain. He mainly made this move out of hope of gaining popularity.
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Claudius's power-hungry wife, Agrippina, poisons him. Her son, Nero, becomes emperor.
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This awful inferno burned down about two-thirds of the city. History is conflicted on its cause. Legend has it that Nero played his lyre as Rome burned because he started the fire as an excuse for rebuilding the city as he wanted it. Yet, Nero was actually away in Antium when the fire started. He blamed the fire on the Christians (presumably without evidence) and terrible persecution of this new faith followed.
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Nero faced financial struggles in the empire and decided to decrease the weight and percent of precious metal in Roman coins.
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Chaos and financial degradation continue in Rome after the fire. Nero loses his control, and the Senate turns against him. He commits suicide, and also effectively ends the Julio-Claudian dynasty because he did not have a clear heir. Galba, as governor-general of Spain and with the support of the Roman Army, becomes emperor.
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Galba decides to withhold pay from his troops, possibly not a good idea.
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Galba selects Lucius Calpurnius Piso as his heir, instead of Otho, a governor who had long hoped to be heir.
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Otho gains enough supporters and influence in the Praetorian Guard to have himself declared emperor and Galba killed.
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Otho's power is questioned by the governor general of Germany, Vitellius. Vitellius moves his army into Rome. Otho loses the ensuing battle and commits suicide. Vitellius becomes emperor.
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Vitellius gave his own German legions positions that the Praetorian Guard normally would have filled.
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The eastern provinces reject Vitellius as emperor. They crown an opposing emperor, Vespasian, who defeats Vitellius in the Second Battle of Cremona.
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Vitellius was tortured and killed by his enemy's supporters before Vespasian becomes the fourth emperor to rule in the year 69 AD.
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Due to financial and political instability, four different emperors (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian) all ruled in the year 69 AD.
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The Flavian Dynasty consisted of the reigns of Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. After the Year of Four Emperors, the Flavian Dynasty created a sense of greater permanency about the position of emperor.
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Vespasian realized that the empire was in great debt from Nero's spending and from in-fighting, so he increased taxes throughout the empire. Sometimes these taxes reached twice their original value.
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When Vespasian died of natural causes, his son Titus ascended to power with no bloodshed.
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When the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius kills an estimated 13,000 people in Campania, Titus sent aid to the region.
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Titus supposedly died of a fever in this year, but there is a legend that he was poisoned by his brother Domitian, the next in line to be emperor.
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Domitian mysteriously calls General Agricola back from Britain, allegedly right before he would have conquered the island.
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Domitian was very paranoid and made mass accusations of treason. A plot was hatched by the Praetorian Guard to assassinate him. Domitian was killed by a freedman known as Stephanus. After Domitian died, the Senate chose Nerva, a wise lawyer, to take over.
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The reign of the Five Good Emperors is not a dynasty because they were not directly related, but it includes the ruling periods of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. This time period was characterized by general peace and prosperity throughout the empire, although corruption simmered beneath the surface as more and more power was concentrated into the hands of the emperor.
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Within the Praetorian Guard, some men were still loyal to Domitian, and they revolted and killed the two men who plotted his death. Although Nerva was not hurt in the incident, it shook his power.
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Nerva publicly adopted Marcus Ulpius Trocianus as his heir.
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With Nerva's death from natural causes, his heir, Trajan, comes into power peacefully.
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Trajan has some success in these wars and is able to annex the Nabataean Kingdom and upper Mesopotamia.
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Trajan extensively supports Roman infrastructure with additions such as Trajan's Market, Trajan's Forum, and Trajan's Baths.
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Trajan appoints Hadrian as his heir shortly before dying of natural causes.
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The Arch of Hadrian was built in Athens, as Hadrian was praised as an honorary founder of the city for all the support that he gave to that area.
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Hadrian dies, possibly of a heart attack. Antoninus Pius becomes emperor as the designated heir of Hadrian.
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Antoninus Pius started the Puellae Faustinianae as an organization that gave aid to the daughters of the poor in memory of his wife Faustina.
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Antoninus Pius built the Antonine Wall in Britain to extend the northern barrier to the Roman Empire first created by Hadrian's Wall.
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Antoninus Pius died of natural causes, and Marcus Aurelius peacefully became emperor.
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Marcus Aurelius made his brother Lucius Verus co-ruler until Verus's death in 169.
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Marcus Aurelius suffers an invasion of Italy by German tribes while off fighting across the Danube.
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In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius recorded his daily thoughts and philosophies about life and ruling.
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Marcus Aurelius dies of natural causes and ends the reign of the Five Good Emperors.
