first by the conflict between papal and civil authority and later by religious strife and political fragmentation, and after the 1200s the emperors had little power in most of its constituent states. Upon Francis II's renunciation of his title at Napoleon's instigation in 1806, the empire cease...
Cruelty aside, the Emperor's poor leadership led Rome down a path of bankruptcy and chaos. So, in 192 CE, an attempt was made on his life. His favorite mistress, Marcia, tried to poison him. When his stomach rejected the poison he was strangled to death in the bath by a professional ...
The first sustained period of economic prosperity in post-Roman northwestern continental Europe came a little later in the 800s, when much of the region was under the rule of Charlemagne and his successor Carolingian emperors. Although he was a Frank, and therefore a descendent of one of the ...
senatus consultabecame resolutions thatendorsedthe proposals of the emperor. As the approval of the Senate became increasingly automatic, the emperor’s proposals became the true instrument of power. Consequently, emperors ceased referring proposals to the Senate and, not long after the early imperial ...
For example, early emperors such asTiberiusandNerohad much more authority and final say over matters than later emperors, as the Roman empire began to crumble for good and power struggles were far more frequent. Since the date of the legendaryfounding of Romein 753 BC by the twin brothersRomu...
of chaos. Here is a table showing the names of many of the emperors, their dates of rule, dates and place of birth, their ages at accession to the imperial throne, and the date and manner of their deaths. For more on this period, please read the relevant section on Brian Campbell's...
the Roman Republic, where the elected Senate controlled the government, and Imperial Rome, which was ruled by a series of autocratic emperors. An era of Roman history that is much less discussed is the time immediately following the founding of the city, when it was ruled by a monarch as ...
He would go on to become one of the most important fathers of the Western Church: a fierce opponent of heretics, admonisher of emperors, voluminous writer, worker of miracles, and the spiritual father of other great saints. This biography of Ambrose was written by one of the deacons who ...
Finds from the 1999 dig – which was undertaken by TV Channel Four’s ‘Time Team’, Birkbeck University of London and the Museum of London in the creation of a programme broadcast the following year – included part of an inscription to Jupiter and the spirits of the emperors and a stampe...
Corruption was a major problem in Rome towards the end of the empire. Corruption and bad government lead to inflation, starvation, disease, and excessive taxation. The last few centuries of the Roman Empire were presided over by some of the most corrupt and inept emperors in the history of...