A Dark History: The Roman Emperors: From Julius Caesar to the Fall of Rome

A Dark History Series

by Michael Kerrigan

From the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. to the fall of Rome in A.D. 476, A Dark History: The Roman Emperors reveals the adultery, incest, profligacy, sadism, and insanity of Rome’s 500-year empire, including:
•A.D. 40 Caligula orders his troops to collect seashells as the “spoils of war”
•A.D. 54 The bumbling Claudius, who had his nymphomaniac third wife killed, was murdered himself by his fourth wife, his niece
•A.D. 64 Nero sings and plays the lyre while Rome burns
•A.D. 192 The megalomaniac Commodus is assassinated by his wrestling partner Narcissus
•A.D. 193 Rome’s Year of Shame: the office of Emperor is put up for sale to the highest bidder
•A.D. 238 Six emperors hold the throne in one year —five were murdered

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Historical, European History, Military Fiction, World History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2008

About the author

Michael Kerrigan is a seasoned freelance writer and editor with over thirty years of experience across a wide spectrum of publishing work, from advertising and catalogue copy to book blurbs and specialist nonfiction. A prolific author, he has written around sixty full-length books on subjects ranging from ancient warfare and Slavic myth to modern architecture and the science of consciousness, all aimed at a general readership. He contributed a weekly Books in Brief column to The Scotsman for two decades and has reviewed extensively for the Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, and Financial Times.

Reviews

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saya sudah membaca banyak Buku Sejarah Gelap series ini, tapi khusus buku ini masih bisa membuat saya takjub dan tercengang oleh perilaku-perilaku Super Ajaib Kaisar-Kaisar Romawi Kuno ini.

Dimulai dari kisah Julius Caesar dan berkuasanya Kaisar Romawi pertama mereka, Kaisar Agustus. Setiap kali terjadi pergantian kekuasaan, kaisar yg menggantikan selalu lebih bejat dan lebih parah daripada pendahulunya, terutama pada era Dinasti Julio-Claudian ini. Semua skandal dan intrik politik dan kerajaan yg sebelumnya tidak pernah terpikirkan, segalanya ada di buku ini. Segala kisah ajaib tingkah laku manusia dari yg normal sampai abnormal, tergambar semuanya.

Saat saya membaca kisah Caligula yg sinting dan hobi orgy, saya dikejutkan lagi saat membaca sepak terjang Nero yg lebih mirip Titisan Iblis. Atau paranoid dan super kepo versi Presiden Nixon zaman Romawi Kuno pada diri Domitian. Perseteruan kakak beradik ala Kain dan Habel di diri Caracalla dan Geta. Dan kalau masih kurang absurd, Romawi pernah memiliki Kaisar yg super rewel dan berjiwa waria, Elegabalus. Tapi saya juga terperangah mengetahui sebagian Kaisar Romawi ini adalah homoseksual. Jadi sungguh ironis jika ada yg mengatakan kaum homoseksual tidak becus di bidang maskulin, sebab terbukti kaisar-kaisar yg cakap sangat kompeten di bidang militer dan pemerintahan.

Sayangnya buku ini diakhiri sampai dgn Dinasti Severian. Padahal perjalanan kekaisaran Romawi tersebut baru separuhnya sblm runtuh pada tahun 475 M. Saya kecewa tidak ada bab khusus ttg sepak terjang Constantine the Great, spekulator yg berperan besar dlm segi religi bangsa Romawi, dgn menjadikan agama Nasrani menjadi agama resmi, menggantikan politeisme menjadi monoteisme.

Buku ini akan lebih baik jika ada tabel silsilah para kaisar tsb, sebab walaupun mereka adalah adopsi dari Kaisar sebelumnya, kebanyakan masih bertalian saudara.

Buku ini tidak mengecewakan bagi yg mau mempelajari awal sejarah Romawi Kuno ini. Penggambaran dan deskripsi dari author ringkas dan tidak berbelit, mudah dicerna dalam pemikiran saya. Saya bisa dgn mudah membayangkan hedonisme dan dekadensi ala Romawi dgn pemborosan super luar biasa, dan pelacuran yg menggerogoti spt kanker di kalangan bangsawan. Dan dibalik pria hebat muncul wanita hebat, seperti Julia Domna sbg istri Septimius Severus. Atau sebaliknya, di belakang pria yg lemah ada wanita yg rendah, seperti Messalina, istri Claudius. Anda mau pilih yg mana? Terserah Anda.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on Roman history. Really enjoyed it.

[Marksfransen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a pretty in depth look at the lives of Rome's first emperors. Augustus to Marcus Aurelius are covered pretty intensely and it was fascinating to read the backgrounds of these historical people. After Marcus Aurelius, only a few stand out Emperors are covered. I would have liked to have seen more about Constantine because of his impact on the world, but strangely, he isn't covered at all.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I liked this book but the title is false. It does not continue through to the fall of Rome. It spends about a chapter on each Emperor (unless they didn't last long which happened often) until Elagabalus was killed in 222 C.E. Then the next 190 years are glossed over in a 4 page Epilogue. What? That's leaving out a whole lot of interesting and Dark stuff, and not even a mention of Constantine. Did the author hit his page limit and just stop? What is going on here, I feel cheated, like half my book is missing.

While I feel cheated I did still enjoy the book. I don't believe everything I read here, because this series deals in gossip and rumor. Other books in the Dark History series I read, where I'm more educated on the subject matter, have passed a lot of untrue or questionable facts off as matter of fact. But it was interesting enough that I plan to read up on the subject further to get a more complete and accurate picture.

I would very much enjoy reading the second half of this book that doesn't exist, but since it doesn't I'll have to deal with being entertained with what I've been given and I was.

[Cristian China birta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aş fi vrut să vă pot recomanda cu dragă inimă să aveţi cartea asta în bibliotecă, dacă mai aveţi chef din când în când să consultaţi chestiunea cu împăraţii. Dar nu am cum. Sau, mă rog, hai să o fac. Dar doar cu jumătate de tastatură.

Partea bună a cărţii este grafica şi calitatea tiparului. Chiar mi-a plăcut. Curge totul lin când o parcurgi, nu ai surprize, nu ai enervări.

Partea proastă ţine de anumite – hai să le spun aşa diplomatic – scăpări în ceea ce priveşte textul. Pe Republica Culturală Chineză vă dau două exemple. După care punem punct, căci nu mai este nimic de spus după aşa ceva.

Păcat. Mare pacăt. Ar fi putut fi o carte adevărată. Doar că nu e.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting, if occasionally over-editorialized, book. There are a number of value judgements that I'm not sure are appropriate to what purports to be a work of history. If you have some acquaintance with the time period it won't hurt you any but if you are looking at Roman emperors for the first time I think you might want to look for something a bit more balanced.

I don't think I can recommend this book as an e-book read. It is one of those books with panels of extra information here and there which can make it a challenge to follow in the e-book format.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and engrossing read. I love books that take what I know of history, which is in bits and pieces - Julius Caesar and Nero yes, Commodius and Elagabalus, no - making it into a cohesive whole for me for the first time. The pictures were beautiful although it is always so amusing to see art representing the Roman Emperor as a distinguished Rennaissance prince and the details fascinating. The author was amusing when he would discourse on 'good' Emperors like Marcus Aurelilus, explaining apologetically that there was not much material in their lives for a book like this (about dark history) so we kind of skipped over those guys lightly. A fascinating glimpse into what it must have been like to live in those days - not as am Emperor necessarily but Heaven help you as a slave or common person or the wife of a noble etc.

[Cathy Ames · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave it two stars because it is such an explicit book. The Roman Emperors (almost without exception) were base and deviants. While I read this book because I have an interest in the Roman Empire, I honestly would have preferred to know that it was in my opinion rated XXX! (I then would have chosen not to read it). I did put it on hold for a while because it was so lewd however I have never not finished a book I started so pushed through.

It's a wonder that the Roman Empire lasted as long as it did. But then it is no surprise that it did end. A world filled with selfish, amoral leaders will implode.

[Mark Isaacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this history collecting dust as I searched for something to read while I ate breakfast one day and expected just to skim through it. But I quickly became immersed in a chapter about the Oedipus-complexed Nero and couldn't put the book down. If you have the slightest hankering to learn of the depravities and debaucheries of the most dastardly of the Roman emperors in the time it takes to watch a week's worth of a not anywhere as salacious soap opera, I highly recommend this sumptuously illustrated salacious study that reads like the Marquis de Sade.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here’s the first couple of centuries of the Roman Empire distilled down to the gossipy bits. If you’ve seen I, Claudius, you already know most of the dirt about the Julio-Claudians. Some of the rest of it was interesting, but some of it wasn’t. In such a deep morass of torture, poisoning and the like, how scandalous is “He was the gay” supposed to be? Still, overall it was a diverting read.

[Donna Krebs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a really good summary of the Roman Emperors. Although I knew a little about the most well-known ones, I learned SO MUCH! The author is great at writing in an interesting style . I was stunned by how awful some of these rulers were even in this violent era! It's just a fascinating book!

[Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book about one of the most intesting civilizations in the world. It shows the emperors of Rome and most all of their dark seccrets and how they lived. I would recomend to anyone interested in Rome or it's emperors.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent pop intro to the history. The style is easy to read, though I found a few typos. There's a bit of gloss, and mixing of rumor with fact, but it's a fine launching point into a much deeper study. There are tons of glorious photos and paintings, too.

[I Nyoman Dhimas Yudha Yudha Satria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Book,, But Too focused on the "Dark" Side...
And the Indonesian translation make it harder to read...
Still the pictures great...
And it tell the reader how "Dark" Roman empire was.

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gnarly

[Edu Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and easy to read, entertaining. A solid history book.

[Saul Carvajal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief but really good look into the lives of each one of the roman emperors up to the third century. I will be looking back at this one as a reference in the future

[Putri Khairani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how cruel and out of the box those emperors are lmao

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it .

[Rob Worth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well put together. My first book about the Roman Empire, and it was laid out very well for me to follow along and learn.

[Fiona Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very much a list of emperors and their lifestyles; nothing you couldn’t find from any other book about Rome

[Inna Mercado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read and quite easy to follow

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"De la maxima înălțime a puterii sale, Imperiul Roman se întindea vast din deșerturile Africii până la granița cu Irlanda de nord.
Peste un sfert din populația lumii a trăit și a murit sub domnia Caesarilor."
(sau a Împăraților Romani)
Despre autor (britanic sau scoțian) nu se știu prea multe, dar poate fi dedus faptul că are o cultură de interese foarte eclectice, el având în palmares numeroase cărți de popularizare a științelor (istorie, artă, geografie etc), temele sale variind de la picturile lui Gustav Klimt sau secretele insulelor Hawaii, la biserici scufundate, locuri abandonate, istorii întunecate ale papilor, președinților americani și romanilor, neratând nici subiectul războaielor mondiale și a celui Rece. Sau probabil a scris o carte pentru orice subiect care ar putea aduce profit sau măcar venit.
Când vine vorba despre istoria romană, un autor de "cărți de pus pe măsuța de cafea" (sau mai elevat un autor de popularizare - în acest caz, a istoriei) are de unde alege. Iar dacă alege să pună efectiv accentul pe partea întunecată a unor oameni (implicit coruptibili - doar conduceau practic zeci de țări) care au stăpânit unul dintre cele mai întinse și puternice imperii din istorie, cartea se va scrie aproape singură. Evident, din alte cărți. Sau surse istorice - chiar dacă autorul reușește să nu menționeze niciun titlu în bibliografia de studiat, pentru cei versați în acest subiect izvoarele sunt evidente: Suetoniu în principal, un pic de Dio Cassius, și poate ceva Titus Livius - fiecare zvon, fiecare calomnie, fiecare bârfă menționată cel puțin o dată le prezentăm ca adevăruri aproape adevărate, paginăm textul și apăsăm print. Cu toate acestea, cartea este chiar informativă, la un nivel bazic, chiar dacă trebuie filtrată serios cu niște opere academice pentru a interpreta anumite aspecte mai controversate - iar ilustrațiile (numeroase, lucioase și imense) ajută proporțional la parcurgerea mai rapidă a ei.
În concluzie, nu este o operă de calitate îndoielnică, doar că se nișează inutil doar pe împărații "răi", iar peste cei considerați mai "buni" (de exemplu - Traian, Marcus Aurelius, Nerva, Hadrian) autorul trece rapid și pasager în câteva rânduri. Probabil sfatul cel mai potrivit ar fi să folosiți cartea ca album de ilustrații :)

[Scott Klemm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Dark History: The Roman Emperors is not a scholarly book with copious footnotes, but a popular history with plenty of illustrations and an engaging and easy-to-read writing style. As the first part of the title suggests, the emphasis is on the intrigues, murders, cruelty, unbridled extravagance and depravity of the Roman emperors. It makes for a fascinating read providing details one would never hear in the classroom. It also makes the scandals involving today’s politicians seem trivial in comparison.

Inevitably the reader will make comparisons with our modern-day. In regards to the controversial issue of gay marriage, it’s interesting to note that two emperors had gay marriages performed on their behalf. Nero married the boy Sporus and Elagabalus married a youthful charioteer named Hierocles. In Elagbalus’ case he probably was transexual. However, proponents of gay marriage would not want to hold up either of these as a “poster child” for their cause. They both had unsavory reputation.

Limitless spending and luxury gone wild depleted the treasury. Later attempts to impose austerity measures were met with hostility by the general population. The populace had grown accustomed to panem et circenses or bread and circuses and considered it a right. Furthermore, any want-to-be emperor who ignored the donativum, a “gift” or bribe to the Praetorian Guard, had a “snowball’s chance in hell” of staying in power. A good source of additional revenue for the emperors was to trump up charges against members of the wealthy senatorial class so that their property could be confiscated.

The book’s complete title, A Dark History: The Roman Emperors from Julius Caesar to the Fall of Rome, is a little misleading. It’s coverage of the emperors only goes as far as Elagabalus (A.D. 218-222). The Epilogue does briefly mention a few of the succeeding emperors including Diocletian, but makes no mention of Constantine. Of course the date 476 for the so-called Fall of Rome is arbitrary, and it may be argued that the Roman Empire survived in the East with its capital at Byzantium (Constantinople).

[David James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kerrigan, Michael. Dark History of the Roman Emperors

What a ghastly crew of robbers, schemers and perverts! Hitler was an angel by comparison. This is a well-illustrated and attractively packaged account of the major Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to the Fall of Rome. It’s Gibbon revisited with a Horrible Histories slant that is the reverse of funny. ‘Never were the stakes higher, the passions fiercer or the politicking more murderous than they were at the imperial court,’ declares Kerrigan. He spares us nothing as thousands of Christians, Jews and Romans are tortured, garotted, raped and mocked for the amusement of the populas and their fiendish masters, the emperors. The term Blood Sports then had an entirely different connotation. The Romans, so it would appear, owed nothing to the Greeks beyond their mythology. Meet Caligula who wants his victims ‘to feel the whole experience of death’so he keeps them alive and suffering. Or the playboy and mother’s boy Nero, legendary for fiddling while Rome burned, who ordered his teacher, Seneca, to commit suicide. Or Commodus, a criminally insane madman who re-ordered the calendar and combed the empire for the most beautiful women for his 300-strong harem. The book’s sordid narrative is punctuated by the most gorgeous artwork, providing a field-day for vulgarians.

[Indira Iljas · Rating 4 out of 5]

what can i say about this book ??? yg pasti cm bs mengurut dada doang... gmn enggak dr kaisar pertama romawi smp yg terakhir sblm roma jatuh kw tangan bangsa visigothi, smua mental pemimpin nya hancur sehancur hancurnya. inses, nafsu seksual yg tiada henti dan cenderung kebinatangan smua menjadi satu. blm lg korupsi yg merajalela , konspirasi yg menjadi makanan shari2 seakan menguasai istana dan pembunuhan2 yg sangat2 sadis. di tambah perempuan2 yg gak mau kalah saing sama laki2. sy cm mikir kasian bgt ya rakyat romawi jaman dulu pny pemimpin dan hidup si jaman itu... ck...ck.....ckkkk

peringatan bagi yg membaca buku ini, bacalah di malam hari ketika anak anda sudah tidur krn bnyk gambar2 yg disajikan akan membuat anda kewalahan menjawab pertanyaan si anak kalau mereka melihat gambar2nya... :)

[roland simarangkir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para kaisar Roma ternyata memiliki sejarah gelap, dari satu dinasti ke dinasti lainnya. Setiap pergantian kekuasaan diharapkan membawa perbaikan bagi kehidupan berbangsanya, tetapi sebagian besar mereka memerintah dengan suksesi berdarah alias kudeta.

Pengalaman memimpin para kaisar ini diwarnai dengan kudeta berdarah, pembunuhan para saiangan politik, pernihakan dengan banyak wanita, pembunuhan rakyat hanya untuk kesenangan, penghamburan kekayaan istana untuk kenikmatan belaka, pelacuran sampai kepada hubungan sejenis dan incest.

Buku ini menguak sisi-sisi lain para kaisar diluar kemampuan mereka untuk berperang, memperluas daerah kekuasaan dan ,mempertahankan kedamaian rakyat Romawi.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have decided that my current obsession with Roman Emperors is therapeutic during an election year. Perhaps I'll revisit it every 4 years.

This book was the perfect accompaniment to my reading of The Twelve Caesars and I, Claudius. It's full of photos of statues, ruins, coins, landscapes, reproductions of artwork. Some of the photographs take up entire pages. There are many sidebars of related information from Imperial Rome. It is not short on text either, a thorough accounting from Julius Caesar through the division of Eastern & Western Empires and the fall of Rome.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series. I hope they do more (but maybe they're running out of material). It's all been done a million times before, but what hasn't been done to this extent is the fabulous photos and illustrations that accompany the text (which is very good). I read everything I can get my hands on about the Romans, and there was nothing in this book that raised any red flags of shoddy work.

I now badly want to read a book on Caracalla and Geta. So thanks! My already boundless interest has been further whetted!

[Papalodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

After many years I read this delightful history again. "Little Boots", a delightful child, soon matures to become the beloved Caligula. The delightful women add pleasure to the after the orgy days of their lives. Too bad the 'dark ages' had to follow; but if we close our eyes, click our heels together, perhaps Rome shall rise again. Oh, did you gather that reading this history is a delight? The pictures, including statues, National Geographic worthy photographs and illustrations present you with a paper bound museum.