Was he objectively the most competent Emperor in Roman history?
>>1050729
Charlemagne was pretty competent by christening his enemies so they were bound by church law to not fight
>>1050729
Augustus
>>1050743
Fuck off with your shitty bait.
>>1050744
He wasn't dealt a hand nearly as bad as Aurelian was.
>>1050745
What makes someone Roman, as a catholic he was allowed into the Vatican, so was a Roman citizen, he got his title through conquest like the last 'official' Roman emperors
Explain to me how he is not a Roman emperor
>>1050729
No. At the very least Augustus was clearly better.
But he was top tier for sure.
Who where the biggest meme Emperors?
>>1051155
Nero, for one.
Hadrian in terms of overall ability.
Otto the Great is underrated by modern people.
>>1051155
Elagabalus.
>>1050729
Certainly in the top 5. His attempts to reform the coinage and halt the rampant debasement pof currency at least shows he had some idea as to why the Roman economy has completely gone to shit, unlike most of his counterparts.
Diocletian's "reforms" in this regard were fucking outrageously retarded, but then again he is a massively overrated Emperor anyway, and most of his success can pretty much be attributed to Aurelian's work.
What about emperor Majorian?
Marcus Aurelius
He was one of the best conquerors, expanded the borders of Rome, pretty much always on campaign. Managed to do all this while writing one of the most essential philosophical novels (though he didn't intend to publish it and it doesn't really reflect his ability to rule).
>>1050743
>Charlemagne
>Roman
>Emperor
Julian was the best emperor. Had he not been assassinated by cowardly Christians he likely would have reversed the decline and saved the Empire.
>>1051275
He came to late.
>>1051275
Watching Roman art through the ages is like watching a loved one slip away to dementia.
>>1051468
Late Roman art is patrician tier you filthy pleb
>>1051306
Aurelius looses points for how badly he fucked up in raising his son and choosing his successor.
>>1051523
I don't quite get the Religious views of Gibbons.
While he did view Christianity as one of the main causes for the fall of Rome he seem to have cared enough about the faith to covert to Catholicism, why? I mean, being such a gigantic Romanophile that should have pushed him away from the Church and especially the Catholic Church.
>>1051523
>Antoninus Pius
The guy was the most useless lazy piece of shit to ever rule the empire. He did absolutely nothing of any note, and as soon as his reign ended, Marcus Aurelius was left dealing with all the shit Pius had neglected to do.
He had twenty years of peace, a long and stable reign without any war or invasions or plagues, and he didn't take advantage of it at all. Other emperors would have killed for the chance to rule when he did.
>>1051536
He had twenty years of peace and prosperity because he wasn't constantly getting Rome involved with stupid wars or other unessesary shit.
>>1051555
No, he had it because he was lucky. Aurelius was an infinitely batter ruler, but had a troubled reign because he was unlucky when plague wiped out 1/3 of the empire's population and the Marcomans and their allies launched massive invasions.
>>1051523
Pius was good at managing the empire at its height. He was never really faced with a major plague, war or economic crisis. Its impossible to say if he'd be able to achieve military, economic or social changes on the scale of the icons. Mainly because he never tried.
Super good at building roads though, which is something no US president can claim since Ike
>>1051155
Hadrian
Alexios Komnenos
>>1051562
He should have sorted out the long-standing problems in Dacia and Britain, the former by conquering the entire territory along the length of the Danube, and the latter by actually making a proper effort with the Antonine Wall. By neglecting to do these, the Empire had to spend far more manpower and resources in Britannia than was necessary, and Dacia was so vulnerable Aurelian had to abandon it.
>>1051561
The plague spread to Rome because of eastern invasions. This which made Rome look weak and caused all of Marcus's troubles.
>>1051589
The war in the east was started by Parthia. Verus' campaign and his bringing the plague back was hardly his fault, or Marcus'.
>>1051582
I agree with you about Britain, but Dacia was a lost cause from the start
>>1051611
It certainly could have been held longer than it was historically, had the Romans made the effort to conquer the Roxolani territory and the free Dacians. There was a good opportunity to do it during Pius' reign, but as usual the lazy fuck didn't do anything.
If anything, a stronger Dacia in the 3rd century would have blunted the barbarian invasions that ravaged the Balkans and weakened the Empire sufficiently, allowing disasters like Adrianople to occur later on.
>>1051603
I wasn't trying to imply that the Antonine plague was Marcus's fault, just that Rome's sudden decline after Pius's death was unavoidable.
>>1051620
>lazy
Cautious and patient, not lazy.
>>1051155
Caracalla
>>1051620
You have to remember though that Pius was far from a military expert. It took Trajan's full attention to conquer Dacia and MA full entire life to hold it. Pius was a senator's senator and almost no military activity before taking office. This dislocation with the military was why he was selected. He most likely would have failed in taking any trans-Danube territory.
>>1051603
Marcus probably could have persuaded Lucius otherwise, as far as i know they were close
Bump in the name of the Senate and People of Rome
Can we take a moment to appreciate a top 5 that never gets counted?
>>1053105
>Constantine XI
>Heraculus
>Otho
>Tiberius II Constantine
>Claudius Gothicus
>>1051658
why?
>>1050729
Aurelian is objectively the most underrated Roman Emperor
>>1051502
Had a lot of kids die though I think
>>1051502
But was Commodus really as bad as they say?
There's literally nothing wrong with being a spoiled little brat.
>>1050729
Meme emperor. No skill in rule, and he gets credited for a comeback that he wasn't really responsible for
>>1055786
>But was Commodus really as bad as they say?
Literally yes. Did nothing but alienate the senate, lose wars against the germs, and organize games.
>>1050729
Antonius Pius
Vespasian
Aurelian
Theodosius
Anastasius
LeoVI
John I Tzimiskes
Nikephoros II Phokas
Augustus was just as good if not better.
Say what you want but he really did find Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble.
>>1056564
Do we know what Rome looked like during say, the last 100 years of the republic? And how it compared with the imperial era city? (I know the colisseum, pantheon, etc are imperial buldings).
>>1050743
>church law
>implying anyone gave a fuck
>>1056608
Aside from gilded aesthetics, late Republic Rome was literally really no different from early Principate Rome.
>>1059347
What about the Rome of the Gracchi brothers? Do we still have intact buildings from the 200-100s B.Cs?
>>1051483
it's literally plebeian inspired trash
>>1051570
Fuck you nigger
>>1060641
>he's mad that somebody insulted his homo emperorfu
He's the worst of the five good emperors and would have had his memory damned by the Senate if it weren't for Pius.
valtetinian 1 is the best emperor
>>1062831
Why would you say that?
>>1051195
>Otto the great
>roman
>>1051573
I'll second this, I don't give a fuck what anybody says. Really clever guy with an astounding level of patience, which ultimately wore off for the betterment of the Empire.
>>1051275
He tried so hard
>>1051201
Objectively correct.
>>1051155
Julian.
>>1053159
>Otho
"He renounced fighting that would have cost much blood,
And with sure hand pierced right through his breast.
By all means let Cato in his life be greater than Julius Caesar himself;
In his death was he greater than Otho?":
>>1053159
Probus
>>1062831
How so?
>>1064164
And got so far
>>1051191
>tfw you will never fuck and kill your mum
>tfw you will never kick your pregnant wife to death
>tfw you will never castrate a qt trap and make her your empress
