The Five Good Emperors That Made Romes Golden Age

In this article the “five good emperors” and their contributions to the Golden Age of Rome will be discussed. Included in the five are Emperors Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius.

The first of the five good emperors is Nerva. There remains today much argument over the events that led to the rise of Emperor Nerva. His predecessor, Emperor Domitian, is believed to have been murdered in 96 C.E. to pave the way for Nerva to ascend to the throne[i]. There is not much in the way of written facts about Nerva either before or after he became Emperor. Before becoming the leader of Rome he was heavily involved with consulting Nero[ii]. Some historians may argue that Nerva was an incompetent ruler, and that his greatest achievement likely could be the adoption of Trajan[iii]. Shortly after adopting his new heir an old and fragile Nerva died in 98 C.E.[iv]

The adopted son of Emperor Nerva was next in line of the five good emperors. Trajan, who ruled from 98 to 117 C.E., was not born an Italian, which caused much dissension among some of the more powerful Romans of his day[v]. Once in power he was heralded as the greatest of the emperors, and even given the title of the perfect prince[vi]. Trajan was a just emperor who contributed wealth, happiness, and culture to the Roman Empire throughout his time of rule. Emperor Trajan won three major military campaigns during his time of rule. He defeated the Dacians in 102 and 106, and then defeated the Parthians in 116, which led to the areas becoming client states to Rome[vii]. In failing health Trajan suffers a stroke in early 117 and then dies later that same year leaving the throne open for Hadrian[viii].

Hadrian was born in 76 C.E. and adopted by Emperor Trajan shortly before he died[ix]. With the death of his adopted father it was Hadrian’s right to assume the rule of Rome. According to David W. Del Testa, “Hadrian promoted a Golden Age by ordering administrative reforms and patronizing the arts. He . . . gave more authority to and [lightened] the burden on the provinces . . . to make them just as dynamic as Rome itself and thus make the empire a whole of integrated, mutually supporting regions.”[x] Hadrian is probably most popularly known for the building of Hadrian’s Wall in what is now Britain. From 121 to 135 Hadrian had many successful campaigns against the Germans, Britons, Parthians, and Jews[xi]. Emperor Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius in 136 who became emperor in 138 with the death of Hadrian[xii].

Antoninus Pius had a prosperous and peaceful reign from 138 – 161 C.E.[xiii]. Antoninus Pius was held in high regard by most Romans, and held many government offices before taking on his role as emperor. Although Antoninus had many great contributions to Roman life there were a few that made him stand out amongst his former peers. He was a very religious and devoted man that had the senate sanctify his adopted father, and also started a charitable fund for daughters of poor families when his wife Faustina died in 140[xiv]. While most of his reign was peaceful there were small uprisings in Numidia, Mauretania, Egypt, and Judaea that he quickly quieted[xv]. In March 161C.E. Antoninus Pius passed away peacefully[xvi].

Marcus Aurelius was the fifth and final of the good emperors. During his reign from 161 – 180 C.E. he kept journals of his personal thoughts on philosophy that are today named Meditations[xvii]. Marcus contributed mostly to philosophy during his reign. He was very focused on his stoic beliefs, and also a follower of Platonism and Epicureanism styles of philosophy[xviii]. Though he had successful campaigns in Germany and Sarmatia most of his battles were small border skirmishes and he tended to be a bit inattentive about military affairs[xix].

After the period of these five emperors things in Rome began to take a turn for the worse. Weak rulers and government along with civil unrest led to the end of Rome’s Golden Age. By looking at the accomplishments, and beliefs in honor and justice, held by these emperors one should be able to see a pattern of leadership that brought prosperity to Rome.

Notes

[i] Charles Leslie Murison. "M. Cocceius Nerva and the Flavians." Transactions of the American Philological Association, 133, no. 1 (April 1, 2003): 147-157. http://www.proquest.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/ (accessed January 28, 2011).

[ii] Ibid., 149.

[iii] Grainger, John D., Nerva and the Roman succession crisis of AD 96-99. Routledge, 2003.

[iv] “Marcus Cocceius Nerva ”, http:// www.roman-empire.net/highpoint/nerva-index.html

[v] Bennett, Julian, Trajan: optimus princeps. Routledge, 1997. 1. http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/lib/apus/Doc?id=10097437

[vi] Ibid., 211.

[vii] Ibid,. X –XI

[viii] Ibid,. XI

[ix] David W. Del Testa, Florence Lemoine, and John Strickland. Lives and Legacies: An Encyclopedia of People Who Changed the World, ed. David W. Del Testa. (Oryx Press, 2001), 73.

[x] Ibid., 73.

[xi] Ibid., 73.

[xii] Ibid., 73.

[xiii] Andrew G. Traver, From polis to Empire, The Ancient World, C. 800 B.C. – A.D. 500: A Biographical Dictionary. Great Cultural Eras of the Western World (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002), 33, http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/Details.aspx?ProductId=99170&Terms=antoninus+pius&ReturnLabel=lnkSearchResults&ReturnPath=/Search/SearchResults.aspx

[xiv] Ibid., 33.

[xv] Ibid., 33.

[xvi] Anthony R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius: A Biography. London Routledge, 2002, 114. http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/Details.aspx?ProductId=70478&Terms=antoninus+pius&ReturnLabel=lnkSearchResults&ReturnPath=/Search/SearchResults.aspx

[xvii] Andrew G. Traver, From polis to Empire, The Ancient World, C. 800 B.C. – A.D. 500: A Biographical Dictionary. Great Cultural Eras of the Western World (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002), 67, http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/Details.aspx?ProductId=99170&Terms=antoninus+pius&ReturnLabel=lnkSearchResults&ReturnPath=/Search/SearchResults.aspx

[xviii] Ibid., 68.

[xix] Ibid., 68.

Bibliography

Bennett, Julian, Trajan: optimus princeps. Routledge, 1997. http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/lib/apus/Doc?id=10097437

Birley, Anthony R., Marcus Aurelius: A Biography. London Routledge, 2002. http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/Details.aspx?ProductId=70478&Terms=antoninus+pius&ReturnLabel=lnkSearchResults&ReturnPath=/Search/SearchResults.aspx

Del Testa, David W., Florence Lemoine, and John Strickland. Lives and Legacies: An Encyclopedia of People Who Changed the world, Edited by David W. Del Testa. Oryx Press, 2001.

Dench, Emma, Romulus’ asylum: Roman identities from the age of Alexander to the age of Hadrian. Oxford University Press, 2005. http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=149333

Grainger, John D., Nerva and the Roman succession crisis of AD 96-99. Routledge, 2003. http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=96419

Murison, Charles L. "M. Cocceius Nerva and the Flavians ." Transactions of the American Philological Association, 133, no. 1 (April 1, 2003): 147-157. http://www.proquest.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/ (accessed January 26, 2011).

Traver, Andrew G., From polis to Empire, The Ancient World, C. 800 B.C. – A.D. 500: A Biographical Dictionary. Great Cultural Eras of the Western World. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/Details.aspx?ProductId=99170&Terms=antoninus+pius&ReturnLabel=lnkSearchResults&ReturnPath=/Search/SearchResults.aspx