The first answer is simple: hereditary rule. For most of this period, emperors were not chosen on the basis of their ability or honesty, but simply because they were born in the right family.

In Mary Beard’s book, she examines twenty-nine of ancient Rome’s emperors beginning with Julius Caesar and ending with Alexander Severus, who ruled from 222 until 235 C.E.

The two most powerful people in the senate were the consuls. The emperor ruled over the Roman Empire, a bit like a king. Find out below about some of the emperors who influenced Britain.

This story appears in the January/February 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. The emperor Hadrian was well known for building monuments across the Roman Empire, a territory that ...

Never the preferred heir, Tiberius (42 BC – 37 AD / reigned 14 – 37 AD) soon showed why Augustus had wanted someone else. His political inability, poor judgment and jealousy led Rome into a ...

The two most powerful people in the senate were the consuls. The emperor ruled over the Roman Empire, a bit like a king. Find out below about some of the emperors who influenced Britain.

and Tiberius became Rome’s second emperor in 14 CE. Ancient authors did not remember Tiberius kindly, inevitably comparing him to Augustus and finding him lacking. But they also consistently ...

In back-to-back wars fought between A.D. 101 and 106, the emperor Trajan mustered tens of thousands of Roman troops, crossed the Danube River on two of the longest bridges the ancient world had ...