Emperors 2 Flashcards
1
Q
Demise of Nero
A
- Provincial mismanagement
- Jewish revolt
- Unhappy generals
- Suicide, 68 CE
2
Q
Lessons from the Year of the Four emperors
A
- Praetorians can make an emperor
- But legionaries will defeat them
- Don’t have to be in Rome
- Skill, not birth, can matter
3
Q
Flavian dynasty, 69-96
A
- Military, administrative experience
- Restore treasury
- Build Colosseum
- Mt. Vesuvius erupts, AD 79
- Vespasian, Titus, Domitian
4
Q
Domitian
A
- Good provincial rule
- Successful wars in Germany
- Autocratic
- Wanted to be treated as living divinity
- Assassination
5
Q
Adoptive emperors, Nerva to Marcus Aurelius (96-180)
A
- Choose a successor by
adoption (smooth transitions) - Prosperity
- Emperors can come from the provinces: Trajan and Hadrian are from Spain
6
Q
Hadrian (117-138)
A
- Consolidates frontiers
- e.g. Hadrian’s wall!
- No expansion
- Prosperity
- Built the Pantheon
- Hadrian’s love of Greek culture
7
Q
Antoninus Pius, 138-161
A
- Deifed after his death
- Prosperous era
- Adopted two heirs
- Few written sources on him
8
Q
Commodus, 180-192 CE
A
- Marcus Aurelius’ son
- Thinks of himself as Hercules personified
- Colonia Commodiana
- Fights as a gladiator
- Assassinated
- Damnatio memoriae
- But later Septimius Severus deifies him
9
Q
Septimius Severus Severan dynasty, 193-234
A
- From Libya in Africa
- Adopts Marcus Aurelius as father
- Emphasis on military support for emperor (dismissive of senate)
