In the 500 years Rome was an Empire, there were over 140 different emperors!

Some emperors were good. Some were bad. 
Some were just plain crazy! 

Augustus: Augustus was Julius Caesar's adopted son. Meet Emperor Augustus - The First Roman Emperor

Nero:  At first people thought Nero was great. They soon discovered that Emperor Nero was insane. 

Trajan: Trajan was the first Roman emperor who was not from Italy. He was Spanish. He was a great conqueror. Under his rule, the empire grew and covered more geography than at any other time.

Diocletian: In an effort to better manage the Roman Empire, Diocletian split the empire into two pieces. Historians call these pieces the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire.  

Constantine: Constantine was the first Christian Roman emperor. He lived in the Eastern Roman Empire, and chose his capital to be the small town Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. 

The western side of the empire, which included the city of Rome, became less and less important to the Eastern Roman Empire.  

Byzantium was located in a perfect position to trade with the east and the west. Rather than send traded goods onto to Rome, Constantine kept most of the goods in his own half of the empire. He also took money from the Roman treasury and used it to help build his city, Constantinople. 

This weakened the Western Roman Empire. Rome already did not have enough money to pay their bills, including paying the men in the Roman army. 

Valens: Emperor Valens & the Barbarians 

Meet the Emperors

The Emperor of Rome Game

Emperor Augustus - Walk the Plank

Every Coin Tells a Story  

List of Roman Emperors

 Roman Empire Map  

See Also: Julius Caesar 

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