Top Five Roman Emperors

• The Five Roman Emperors who built or transformed the Roman Empire are: Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian, Diocletian and Constantine I.
• These are not quite the same as the Five Good Emperors of the Nervo-Trajanic Dynasty: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.

The Top Five Roman Emperors

1. Augustus (27BCE-14 CE)
   • He was the First Roman Emperor and Founder of the Roman Empire, and he also annexed Egypt.
2. Trajan (98-117 CE)
   • He expanded the Empire to its greatest extent through continuous wars.
3. Hadrian (117-138 CE)
   • He consolidated the Roman Empire by avoiding any wars but reinforcing all the frontiers.
4. Diocletian (284-305 CE)
   • After a fifty year period of Civil Wars known as the Crisis of the Third Century, he re-established the Roman Empire by introducing The Tetrarchy which divided the Roman Empire into East (Greek Speaking) and West (Latin Speaking).
5. Constantine I (306-337 CE)
   • He reconsolidated the economy of the Roman Empire after its near bankruptcy by the Crisis of the Third Century.
   • He was the first Emperor to allow the free worship of Christianity throughout the Empire. However, it did not become the State Religion until 381 CE under Theodosius I.
   • Constantine I founded Constantinople in 330 CE as the ‘New Rome’, formerly known as Byzantium. It went on to become the Capital City of the Byzantine Empire.
6. Theodosius I (379-395 CE)
   • This Emperor is also considered to have been great.
   • He adopted Christianity as the Roman State Religion by the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE.
   • He briefly reunited the eastern and western Empire for the last time.
   • He ended the wars with the Goths, but was obliged to accept their settlement south of the Danube and use them as recruits in the Roman Army, creating problems for his successors.

The Five Good Emperors

• The ‘Five Good Emperors’ are considered to have been Rulers who governed wisely and were admired by the Roman People. The Five Good Emperors were all Heirs by Adoption.
• The quote was made by Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), who said that the moment that the Heirs to the Imperial Throne were by birth again after 180 CE, the Empire was ruined.

1. 1. 1. Nerva (96-98 CE)
      2. Trajan (98-117 CE)
      3. Hadrian (117-138 CE)
      4. Antoninus Pius (138-161 CE)
      5. Marcus Aurelius (161-180 CE)