Roman Emperors

Trajan

Full Name: Marcus Ulpius Traianus

  Nerva–Antonine Dynasty AD 98 - 117

Trajan expanded Rome to its greatest territorial extent and became one of its most celebrated soldier-emperors. His correspondence with Pliny records Roman policy toward accused Christians.

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Hadrian

Full Name: Publius Aelius Hadrianus

  Nerva–Antonine Dynasty AD 117 to 138

Hadrian abandoned some of Trajan's conquests and concentrated on defensible frontiers and imperial consolidation. Late in his reign he suppressed the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judea.

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Antoninus Pius

Full Name: Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius

  Nerva–Antonine Dynasty AD 138 - 161

Antoninus Pius presided over a long and generally peaceful reign marked by effective administration and financial stability. Christian tradition remembers his period as comparatively peaceful.

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Marcus Aurelius

Full Name: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

  Nerva–Antonine Dynasty AD 161 to 180

Marcus Aurelius was both Roman emperor and an influential Stoic philosopher. His reign faced war and plague, while several significant episodes of local persecution of Christians occurred.

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Lucius

Full Name: Lucius Aurelius Verus

  Nerva–Antonine Dynasty 161 - 169

Lucius Verus ruled jointly with Marcus Aurelius from AD 161 to 169, the first sustained co-emperorship in Roman history. His reign was dominated by war with Parthia.

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Commodus

Full Name: Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus / Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus

  Nerva–Antonine Dynasty 177 - 192

Commodus ruled jointly with Marcus Aurelius before becoming sole emperor in AD 180. His increasingly arbitrary rule and self-glorification ended with his assassination in AD 192.

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Pertinax

Full Name: Publius Helvius Pertinax

  Year of the Five Emperors 2 months and 27 days in AD 193

Pertinax succeeded Commodus but ruled for only 87 days in AD 193. His efforts to restore discipline alienated the Praetorian Guard, whose soldiers murdered him in the palace.

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Julianus

Full Name: Marcus Didius Severus Julianus

  Year of the Five Emperors March to June 193 (66 days)

Didius Julianus gained the throne after the Praetorian Guard effectively auctioned the imperial office following Pertinax's murder. His rule lasted only 66 days before Septimius Severus prevailed.

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Septimius Severus

Full Name: Lucius Septimius Severus Pertinax

  Severan Dynasty 9 April 193 – 4 February 211

Septimius Severus emerged victorious from the civil wars of AD 193 and founded the Severan dynasty. His reign strengthened the army and expanded Roman power on several frontiers.

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Caracalla

Full Name: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

  Severan Dynasty 198 - 217 AD

Caracalla ruled first with his family and later alone after arranging the murder of his brother Geta. His Constitutio Antoniniana extended Roman citizenship to nearly all free men in the empire.

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Geta

Full Name: Publius Septimius Geta

  Severan Dynasty 4 February 211 – 26 December 211

Geta became co-emperor with his father Septimius Severus and brother Caracalla. After Severus died, rivalry between the brothers ended when Geta was murdered on Caracalla's orders.

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Macrinus

Full Name: Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus

  Severan Dynasty 11 April 217 – 8 June 218

Macrinus, formerly Caracalla's praetorian prefect, became the first Roman emperor from the equestrian rather than senatorial class. Military revolt ended his reign after little more than a year.

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