who is the best and who is the worst roman emperor
>Best Roman Emperor
Trajan or Augustus. Honorable mention to Aurelian for reviving the Empire.
>Worst
Caracalla or Commodus for being insane, destructive bastards.
>>82348
Caligula is a given for worst.
Augustus is best.
Augustus for overall best but Trajan, Hadrian, and Diocletion
what did caracalla do that was so bad?
>>83071
He slaughtered the population of Alexandria for hurting his feelings.
>>82348
Sulla and Caesar should be allowed to counted too
My history teacher always said that he thought the worst of them all was Flavius Phocas, though he never did explain why. What did he do that was so awful?
Marcus Aurelius was the Calvin Coolidge of the Roman Empire. Just throwing it out there.
Trajan was good, but he was also handed the Empire during its golden age.
I say Diocletian.
>>83188
Shhh.
We don't speak of that anymore.
Damnatio memoriae.
>>83145
This. Getting Asia Minor and Gaul gotta count for someting.
Julius Caesar wasn't an Emperor damn it.
>>83331
Dictator for life, same thing.
>>82348
Have to give it to Augustus. I hate the guy but you can't compete with his results.
>>83360
Why do you hate him?
>>82348
I find Marcus Aurelius interesting. He had a character that seemed to be excellently suited towards leadership but then Commodus fucked things up. Or did he? He was smart enough to recognize what was wrong around him but felt obliged to do the best job he could with the circumstances he found himself in. Is this how a leader should act? He had the intelligence to do something great but settled for doing a great job of what was expected of him. How boring.
Marcus Aurelius a shit and stoicism is slave ideology: y/n?
Historians almost unanimously cite Augustus as the best emperor.
Honorable mentions: Trajan, Diocletian. Hadrian was a cunt but maintained a prosperous and orderly empire. People have been trying to rehabilitate Tiberius for ages but I'm not sure whether it's been successful.
>>83402
>Marcus Aurelius a shit and stoicism is slave ideology: y/n?
He would have been a fantastic Emperor in a more stable time. His qualities were wasted by having to lead during a period of decline and campaigning against the Marcomanni. He also failed to raise his son properly.
>>83437
The republic was corrupt and the civil wars were going to keep happening.
>>82348
God tier philosopher emperor
>>83437
The Republic needed to die. Romans prospered more under the Caesars than the Consuls.
>>83520
You mean corruption and civil wars that devasted Rome so much? The Social Wars for example?
>>83382
>>83437
Yeah I don't like him because he was a well known coward in battle. At least early in his life. He grew more courageous as he got older. When he was younger he would get "sick" before important battles and stay in his tent. kek. Also he steals a lot of glory from Agrippa.
>>83553
I said Romans prospered. Conquest is fine and all, but it was better to be living in a stable state that provided the poor with food.
>Worst
>Not Heliogabalus
I'm sparing you quotes about his supposed biography, or else this thread would turn into a bunch of greentext and reaction faces.
On the other hand, Trajan was the best imho.
Worst: Julius Ceaser the whatever
Best: Nero
>>83672
I realize that Rome was declining at the 3rd century but it would have faced a quicker death under the republic.
>>83630
Do it you lazy faggot
>>83724
>implying the average pleb could even find a job in the Republic because of the massive estate farms worked almost exclusively by slaves
The Empire uplifted the mob.
Best: T R A J A N
Worst: Nero the fuckstick
>>83653
Nero god tier emperor
>>83879
If that's true, then why was the Republic racked unrest caused by masses of unemployed Plebians clamoring for work but being unable to find it?
>>83630
>Literally a gay prostitue.
Gallienus underappreciated.
>>83802
It survived for all those years because it was expanding and had concerns with assimilating the natives of Italy as well as conquesting it.
After the second Punic War problems arose with slavery taking the jobs of the commoners, people having armies loyal to them, all while the higher class was benefitting from this.
>>83402
Marcus Aurelius was an excellent man and model Roman as well as being a very capable leader and statesman but he produced an extremely unworthy heir and came to power at too late a period to really do anything about the coming decline of the WRE.
Stoicism is a very practical philosophy that has tremendous utility for anyone in a leadership position (particularly in a context where western social paradigms dominate) but the level of spiritual and intellectual austerity that it takes to really live and die by stoicism is far too great for your average man.
>>83188
phocas wasnt THAT bad
he usurped power, killing the previous emperor Maurice (who was a decent emperor but his stinginess made him unpopular with the soldiers)
>>83013
Commodus is worse than Caligula. Caracalla may or may not be worse than Commodus but he's certainly the biggest bastard to ever wear the purple.
>>82348
Caracalla for blown opportunities, if he had gone into his marriage in good faith and produced an heir the Roman and Persian empires would have merged. Islam never would have been more than a local heresy and one common civilization would have ruled the entire western world.
![nerobust[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/cJ31pT8.jpg "nerobust[1].jpg")
>>83292
>>83794
lol fuck u guys the fiddle wasnt even invented by the time of the great fire u IDIOTS!! i didnt do SHIT!
>>83071
Feuded with his brother for control of the Empire. Their mother set up a meeting on neutral ground (her home) so they could work things out, Caracalla's goons busted in, murdered Geta in front of her and injured her in the process.
Slaughtered Alexandria because a play there made fun of him.
The Red Wedding from Game of Thrones was taken from him. He pulled the same trick to get the Parthians into going to war just because.
Gave lavish raises to the military and gave citizenship to everyone. The second might SEEM good but it was done as a way to pay for the taxes that would be required to keep with the first and by doing so took away a big incentive for people to join the army (and thus become properly Romanized and loyal to the Roman state) leading to it's eventual weakening. Killed by one of his Praetorians while taking a piss on the side of the road anyway; guy deserved nothing less.
Anyway I don't know if he's the BEST but Domitian's one of my favorites. Really good emperor even egocentric. Majorian's one of my favorite underappreciated ones too.
some of them are just rotten human beings, but didn't do much to significantly degrade the state of affairs (beyond the damage done to prestige by having a psycho in charge). Elagabalus, say.
Caracalla handing out citizenship to every tom, dick, and harry to pay off the glutinous army still strikes me as one of the most craven, destructive acts of all time.
Why did ancient Roman government have such a track record of mentally ill leadership?
>>83402
idk, Seneca really helped me work on my anger
>Anger is like ruin, which break itself upon that it falls
laid the foundation tier:
>julius caesar
the OG:
>caesar augustus
god tier:
>majorian
>aurelian
>hadrian
>trajan
>aurelius
>constantine
>komemnos
bordering god tier:
>diocletian
>tiberius
hack tier:
>justinian
shit tier:
>commodus
>caligula
>nero
>caracalla
>palaiologos fucking filth
special mention:
>cincinnatus
>>82348
Hadrian was pretty cool, built the wall to keep the immigrants out and didn't afraid of anything.
>>85437
>tiberius
>not a shit tier nutjob
>including a bunch of Byzantine fucking shits in god tier
>>85618
fuck off pax romana dicksucking degenerate
those emperors were fucking great and theres not a single fact you have to refute it besides your faggot "lol greEk" horseshit
1. Trajan 2. Aurelian 3. Diocletian
>only knowing the early and mid big-name emperors
confirmed pleb-tier thread. Honorius was easily the worst
>Lost Britannia
>Killed the one person who was keeping the empire together (Stilicho)
>The Barbarians crossed the Rhine during his reign
>Rome got sacked
This is comparable to being the the president when mainland USA gets invaded, it hadn't happened in a thousand years and was totally unthinkable at the time.
Galba and Pertinax because they have badass names
also because they were the legitimate successors (to nero and commodus respectively)
>>85437
>no Sulla
>>85437
>majorian
yes this guy is so underrated, he almost saved the western roman empire only to be assasinated at the last hurdle. he basically reconquered the whole thing back form the barbarians which is quite an achievement because you know western europe is pretty big
>>85952
>"At that time they say that the Emperor Honorius in Ravenna received the message from one of the eunuchs, evidently a keeper of the poultry, that Rome had perished. And he cried out and said, 'And yet it has just eaten from my hands!' For he had a very large cock, Rome by name; and the eunuch comprehending his words said that it was the city of Rome which had perished at the hands of Alaric, and the emperor with a sigh of relief answered quickly: 'But I thought that my fowl Rome had perished
kek
>>86021
This can't be real
What kind of retard leader feels happy about his city being destroyed
>>86434
Emperors have done worse things, sometimes they're just fucking stupid
>>86434
most of that sort of history is propaganda written after the fact by guys looking to blame someone else.
sort of like the holocaust.
>>83292
>>84910
>>85324
Nero wasn't that bad, he was popular with the people, and he wasn't as insane as he is said to be. He put his horse in the Senate because the Senate was a bunch of aristocratic dicks. The things said about Nero was probably all slander from the Senate, he was really unpopular in tje Senate.
>Worst
Egalabus by far
Litterally a tranny, lopped his own dick of. Didn't do shit for the empire, worshipped a rock and then declared himself God.
>best emporor
Problably Traianus
Stole 200000 gold bars from dacian king decalabus and anexed dacia
Declared holy by the Catholic Church evem though he wasn't Christian.
Emperors had to pledge that they would try to be as good as Traianus.
>>85030
Probably because they sweetened their wine with lead
>>83071
Worst thing he did was make EVERYONE in the Empire a full citizen. All it did was plant the seeds of revolts by former provincials who finally got the administration and bureaucracy to make their own independent empires. The crisis of the third century and the breakaway Britannic, Gallic, Palmaryne Empires and well and Panonian governors creating independent Latin kingdoms is a result of this
>>87915
>He put his horse in the Senate
That's Caligula.
>>83482
Twf read ta eis hauton
>>82348
The best Roman emperor was apparently Diocletian, because the empire was the biggest and strongest during his rule
>>87509
To be fair Honorius is the closest thing to a real life Jeoffrey in that a boy emperor (who killed his "hand") is the worst thing to have in a time of crisis
>>88074
The best ceo of apple wad apperently Tim cock, because the company was the biggest and most profitable under his rule. Diocletian didn't really do something especially good besides not losing territory
Why do you all think Diocletian was good? I live in his city
>>88157
Diocletian unfortunately suffers from the fact that he couldn't get the tetrarchy to work without him being there. While he was a self made man who came from nothing (his parents might have even been former slaves) all his successes and policies were a result of his personality and force of will rather than a system that could sustain itself without him at the helm
Hi.
>>87915
FUCKING TRAJANUS GIVE BACK DACIAN GOLD YOU GODDAMN ROMAN NORMIES THAT I RIGHTFULL DACIAN GOLD REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
My favourites are Trajan, Claudius and Vespasian
>worst
Nero, Caligula, Domitian, Tiberius
>best
>Diocletian
>>88305
>Domitian
Domitian actually ran a very effective empire, his downfall was that he was in essence a horrible boss who despite his successes,managed to get everyone to hate him.
>Tiberius
For someone who was clinically depressed, did just about everything to avoid being the Emperor, was expected to fail by Augustus himself and at the same time took an office that no one really understood what it was at the time, Tiberius did extremely well. He consolidated Augustus' gains and left the empire with a budget surplus (that got instantly wasted by Caligula)
Do western and eastern/byzantine emperors count?
>>88543
Nothing after Heraclius.
>>88423
You're right actually. I do feel for Tiberius, knowing that he was pushed in Emperor by his mother (kek). Still, it's hard to put his horrible acts behind him after knowing what fucked up shit he was into.
The worst are certainly the most entertaining ones.
>>88597
The "fucked up shit" is most likely slander by senators who didn't like the fact that they were answering to Sejanus while thier Emperor had mentally checked out to Capri. It seems like Tiberius wanted to retire but there was no legal mechanism for him to do so.
>>88597
Tiberius at Tiberium
>>88679
Suetonius and Tacitus have negative views on Tiberius, and give in-depth descriptions of his vices. Maybe I'm too trusting of these sources.
Why didn't he just abdicate? He would have had a better reputation if he'd retired roughly half-way through hes reighn
>>88746
Abdicate to who? Germanicus was dead and Sejanus would never be supported by the senate, his only option was to try to train up Caligula the best he could and let the empire run on autopilot with Sejanus in Rome taking care of day to day shit
>>88786
good point
>>82348
Heliogabalus was pretty batshit insane, I suppose. Does he qualify for 'worst'?
>>83451
I dunno, from a few years of Latin I got the impression Tiberius could've been much more than he was but Livia's machinations kinda robbed him of ambition, desire to be emperor, and his waifu.
>>88945
He was insane but he didn't fuck shit up anymore than it was. Before his mid life identity crisis he was a rather successful general, unlike Emperors like Alexander Severus who was such a coward that he manged to turn the army against him while he was leading it.
>>88786
You know, I think it's a pretty common alternate history point of departure to have Germanicus survive and this somehow leads to the Roman Empire never falling.
marcus aurielius
>>89023
I think the myth of Germanicus persists because he wasn't the Emperor and therefore never had to take responsibility for dumb shit like Tiberius had to deal with on a daily basis. His war against Arminius was completely illegal and sanctioned by no one but himself and the shit he did in Germany while successful was literally wtf tier at times (lets take off our clothes and use them as sails on boats so we can sail behind the germans and attack them naked)
>>82348
Best and worst at the same time:
Elagabalus
>tfw I will never be the commander of the preatorian guard during the reign of Elagabalus
>I will never dominate him sexually and through that slowly start to control the goverment as well
>I will never marry him and through that emerge as the de-facto emperor of the Roman Empire
>I will never have the opportunity to tell him that fact in his face, when I cum into his boypussy
He would actually like that, wouldn't he? I don't want to assassinate such cute femboy as him.
So who's the biggest bitch in all of Roman history?
>>89471
see the poster above you
