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The Roman Emperors
s/t: A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Imperial Rome 31 BC-AD 476
Michael Grant has established himself as one of the leading classical historians of our time. Here, from the author of such outstanding works as History of Rome and From Alexander to Cleopatra, are the biographies of ninety-two Roman emperors to A.D. 476. The Roman emperors were the men who wielded power over the vast empire stretching from Britain to the Sahara and from the Atlantic to the Euphrates -- one of the greatest multiracial states the world has ever known. Almost two thousand years later, it is no easy task to reconstruct the truth about the careers and characters of these controversial, often extraordinary individuals. Michael Grant brings together ancient writings, coins, medallions, inscriptions, and archaeology to help fill many of the tantalizing gaps in our knowledge. He portrays great men such as Augustus, the first Roman princeps, or emperor, and one of the most talented, energetic, and skillful administrators the world has ever known; Claudius, a suspicious and fearful man who ruled with a curious mixture of progressive broadmindedness and antiquarian pedantry; and Aurelian, Diocletian, Constantine, and other emperors who decisively directed the course of events in their times. The result is a magnificent collection of biographical cameos, illustrated throughout with ancient contemporary portraits. Remarkable for its breadth of coverage and eloquent, readable style, The Roman Emperors will become a standard work of reference for students and a treasured addition to the collections of all enthusiastic readers of history.
Michael Grant has established himself as one of the leading classical historians of our time. Here, from the author of such outstanding works as History of Rome and From Alexander to Cleopatra, are the biographies of ninety-two Roman emperors to A.D. 476. The Roman emperors were the men who wielded power over the vast empire stretching from Britain to the Sahara and from the Atlantic to the Euphrates -- one of the greatest multiracial states the world has ever known. Almost two thousand years later, it is no easy task to reconstruct the truth about the careers and characters of these controversial, often extraordinary individuals. Michael Grant brings together ancient writings, coins, medallions, inscriptions, and archaeology to help fill many of the tantalizing gaps in our knowledge. He portrays great men such as Augustus, the first Roman princeps, or emperor, and one of the most talented, energetic, and skillful administrators the world has ever known; Claudius, a suspicious and fearful man who ruled with a curious mixture of progressive broadmindedness and antiquarian pedantry; and Aurelian, Diocletian, Constantine, and other emperors who decisively directed the course of events in their times. The result is a magnificent collection of biographical cameos, illustrated throughout with ancient contemporary portraits. Remarkable for its breadth of coverage and eloquent, readable style, The Roman Emperors will become a standard work of reference for students and a treasured addition to the collections of all enthusiastic readers of history.
367 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
About the author
Michael Grant
177 books162 followersMichael Grant was an English classisist, numismatist, and author of numerous popular books on ancient history. His 1956 translation of Tacitus’s Annals of Imperial Rome remains a standard of the work. He once described himself as "one of the very few freelances in the field of ancient history: a rare phenomenon". As a popularizer, his hallmarks were his prolific output and his unwillingness to oversimplify or talk down to his readership.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 16, 2020
Classical scholar Michael Grant put together an excellent, well-sourced collection of brief biographies covering all the Roman emperors from the first emperor Augustus (31 BC) to Romulus (476 AD) the last emperor of the West. The Eastern (Byzantine) Empire, which was more Greek than Roman, lasted another thousand years until the capital, Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. (Trebizond, a rump state of the Byzantine Empire, limped on until 1461).
With the exception of some truly great emperors like the first Augustus, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius and Constantine and a handful of reasonably good ones like Nerva, Antoninus Pius, Trajan and Vespasian, the remainder tended to run the gamut from competent to mediocre to unremittingly evil or hopelessly insane. Moreover, in the case of the majority of the non-entities who held the job--some simultaneously and for very short periods--the emperors' life expectancy was short. However, for that brief period they lived much better than most people in the ancient world. Many were assassinated, killed in battle or executed and, while they remained in power they had to deal with constant attack on all frontiers from Vandals, Goths, Huns et. al. (by the time of Romulus the legions, including the generals, in Italy were mostly German) palace intrigue, rivals in their own family, plagues, famines, economic disaster, hyper-inflated currency, riots and civil war. To paraphrase Gilbert and Sullivan's police sergeant, Ah, take one consideration with another, a Roman emperor's lot was not a happy one.
With the exception of some truly great emperors like the first Augustus, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius and Constantine and a handful of reasonably good ones like Nerva, Antoninus Pius, Trajan and Vespasian, the remainder tended to run the gamut from competent to mediocre to unremittingly evil or hopelessly insane. Moreover, in the case of the majority of the non-entities who held the job--some simultaneously and for very short periods--the emperors' life expectancy was short. However, for that brief period they lived much better than most people in the ancient world. Many were assassinated, killed in battle or executed and, while they remained in power they had to deal with constant attack on all frontiers from Vandals, Goths, Huns et. al. (by the time of Romulus the legions, including the generals, in Italy were mostly German) palace intrigue, rivals in their own family, plagues, famines, economic disaster, hyper-inflated currency, riots and civil war. To paraphrase Gilbert and Sullivan's police sergeant, Ah, take one consideration with another, a Roman emperor's lot was not a happy one.
June 5, 2023
I haven't really read anything on Ancient Rome, except for some Osprey books, so this was one of the first books I've read on anything related to Rome, and I have to say that I enjoyed it. I was trying to figure out exactly where to start with Ancient History, and then I found this at the Goodwill thrift store a week or so ago and I just decided to read it. I really like Grant's writing styles, and while I did found it hard at times to keep track of all the names and emperors, I feel I came back a lot less ignorant than I was before I read this book (which is my philosophy when it comes to reading books). Definitely would recommend it as a reference book as well, at only 334 pages. I have to say that one inference that I made was this: the Roman empire seemed to fall slowly, not quickly, and so many emperors were disposed and crowned by the military.
February 15, 2012
A superb reference work but perhaps I am being too harsh when I ask for more. I kept wondering how the empire kept going on despite such chaos in the empire's leadership. Most of these emperor's were killed, which makes Romulus Augustulus interesting: it seems he was not murdered.
February 27, 2021
uomini prima che imperatori con i loro vizi, le loro fragilità e i loro modi di pensare e di affrontare le prove che la vita gli ha posto dinnanzi. Uomini che hanno scritto e fatto la storia di un grande impero
April 24, 2009
1st Recorded Reading: October, 2005
According to my records, I read this book back in 2005; but I decided to read it again, not least because I had bought a new used copy. It is a good book, going through all the Emperors chronologically (all 92 of them), and is a very good resource volume. It is a book that I very much enjoyed reading; not least because it helps to remember the past to help understand the present and to plan for the future.
The Roman Empire has a definite beginning, with the accession of Gaius Octavius, known as Octavian, the heir of the assassinated Julius Caesar, who chose to be known as Augustus in 27 BC; all Emperors after him added the name “Augustus” to their titles. For nearly 500 years the Empire lasted, with Emperors being chosen because of their blood or marriage or professional relation to the previous Emperor, or because the legions in a particular area were able to nominate a candidate acceptable to them who survived the consequent civil war. The book follows the lives of the 92 Emperors of the Roman Empire, until the Roman Empire effectively ceased to exist in the West in AD 476 (the Eastern Empire, based in Constantinople, lasted from about AD 300 until 1453).
The book includes several maps, a Key to Latin Terms, an Index of Latin and Greek Authors, and an Index to Maps and Places (with modern equivalents of place-names). The one thing that the book does not have is a regular Index; the author may have thought one unnecessary, because of the book being arranged chronologically by Emperor, but in my humble opinion I think an index would have been useful.
I very much enjoyed reading this book (again), and with any luck will not purchase the book again, thinking that it will be a good book to read; while it is indeed a good book, I do not need more than one copy of the book.
According to my records, I read this book back in 2005; but I decided to read it again, not least because I had bought a new used copy. It is a good book, going through all the Emperors chronologically (all 92 of them), and is a very good resource volume. It is a book that I very much enjoyed reading; not least because it helps to remember the past to help understand the present and to plan for the future.
The Roman Empire has a definite beginning, with the accession of Gaius Octavius, known as Octavian, the heir of the assassinated Julius Caesar, who chose to be known as Augustus in 27 BC; all Emperors after him added the name “Augustus” to their titles. For nearly 500 years the Empire lasted, with Emperors being chosen because of their blood or marriage or professional relation to the previous Emperor, or because the legions in a particular area were able to nominate a candidate acceptable to them who survived the consequent civil war. The book follows the lives of the 92 Emperors of the Roman Empire, until the Roman Empire effectively ceased to exist in the West in AD 476 (the Eastern Empire, based in Constantinople, lasted from about AD 300 until 1453).
The book includes several maps, a Key to Latin Terms, an Index of Latin and Greek Authors, and an Index to Maps and Places (with modern equivalents of place-names). The one thing that the book does not have is a regular Index; the author may have thought one unnecessary, because of the book being arranged chronologically by Emperor, but in my humble opinion I think an index would have been useful.
I very much enjoyed reading this book (again), and with any luck will not purchase the book again, thinking that it will be a good book to read; while it is indeed a good book, I do not need more than one copy of the book.
August 16, 2008
Like the Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Grant packs a lot of information into necessarily brief essays on every Roman emperor from Augustus Caesar to Romulus Augustus but if you need to know about Pertinax's senatorial career or the first Gordian's family background, this is the reference for you.
December 16, 2019
Several years ago I picked up a small stack of Michael Grant books at The Last Book Store in Los Angeles. I had just recently begun a foray into ancient history focused (primarily) on Greek, Persian, Punic, and Roman civilizations. Decades ago I had read Grant’s still well-regarded The Twelve Caesars and thought this treasure trove of a find at the book store was serendipitous. (Yes, one must read more than Grant if interested in Classical and Hellenistic times and of course there are more “modern” narrative-driven historians, but Grant is still a good writer to spend time with.)
Move forward several years and I picked up a copy of GMT’s Time of Crisis. This is a politico-military game based on the 230s CE and models four emperors of that time: Maximinus Thrax, Gordian III, Balbinus and Pupienus. When I play these historical games - which I do all the time - reading a history book or two helps my immersion into a given time. I did a quick search and found a book centered on this decade (since received, read, and reviewed) but I also went to my book shelf and pulled out my trusty Grant: The Roman Emperors.
Part V is focused on “The Age of Crisis” and after reading it once again found Grant clear, succinct and illuminating. This book is unlikely to be read cover to cover but instead provides the perfect proverbial forty thousand foot view of 500 year’s worth of Roman emperors. As such it remains more a reference work to be consulted from time to time than devoured in a sitting. And for that it can be highly recommended.
Move forward several years and I picked up a copy of GMT’s Time of Crisis. This is a politico-military game based on the 230s CE and models four emperors of that time: Maximinus Thrax, Gordian III, Balbinus and Pupienus. When I play these historical games - which I do all the time - reading a history book or two helps my immersion into a given time. I did a quick search and found a book centered on this decade (since received, read, and reviewed) but I also went to my book shelf and pulled out my trusty Grant: The Roman Emperors.
Part V is focused on “The Age of Crisis” and after reading it once again found Grant clear, succinct and illuminating. This book is unlikely to be read cover to cover but instead provides the perfect proverbial forty thousand foot view of 500 year’s worth of Roman emperors. As such it remains more a reference work to be consulted from time to time than devoured in a sitting. And for that it can be highly recommended.
August 17, 2024
1.5
I knew this was going to be a whistle stop tour of the Imperial timeline based on the size of the book but this is so light on detail as to be pointless. I learned way more from The History of Rome podcast.
The quality of biography weirdly varies considering they are all by the same author. The early emperors sections finish with analysis of their personal habits and behaviours, often quoting contemporary sources. This is dropped pretty quickly. Later emperors who ruled for less than two years just get a summary of their reign, often filled with references to what coins were issued. You get no feel for the personalities involved - unlike the recent political biographies I've read.
In fact, it reads rather like a textbook. Fascinating periods of history, like the Tetrarchy are covered by reeling off battle after battle. None of the drama of the events as 4 men jostle for control is conveyed.
If you want to learn about the history of the Roman Empire, go elsewhere.
I knew this was going to be a whistle stop tour of the Imperial timeline based on the size of the book but this is so light on detail as to be pointless. I learned way more from The History of Rome podcast.
The quality of biography weirdly varies considering they are all by the same author. The early emperors sections finish with analysis of their personal habits and behaviours, often quoting contemporary sources. This is dropped pretty quickly. Later emperors who ruled for less than two years just get a summary of their reign, often filled with references to what coins were issued. You get no feel for the personalities involved - unlike the recent political biographies I've read.
In fact, it reads rather like a textbook. Fascinating periods of history, like the Tetrarchy are covered by reeling off battle after battle. None of the drama of the events as 4 men jostle for control is conveyed.
If you want to learn about the history of the Roman Empire, go elsewhere.
March 16, 2020
This is exactly what the title says it is. It is a biographical guide. You are not going to get a complete biography of every Roman Emperor from 31BC to 476AD in less than 400 pages. You will, however, get a very good guide to all of them. Recommended for anybody interested in the Roman Empire.
December 1, 2020
It was a fantastic read. I have read several of this amazing historian's books and he presents history in a concise and informative but also enticing way. He covers every every Roman Empire with just enough so that you will have a good base to start from for more indedpt studies.
October 2, 2023
Great group of short bios of the men who ruled the Roman Empire. It gets a bit dry at times - not all the emperors were fascinating fellows - but the summaries are extensive and will likely inspire you to read more on some of the Emperors
June 25, 2019
Easily the best book about emperors ever written. Covered all of them with enough detail without bogging overdoing it
June 25, 2020
Excellent one-volume survey from its origins with Octavian/Augustus to the fall of the Western Empire in 476/480.
September 14, 2021
Nel complesso una buona lettura consultativa, completa anche se, ovviamente, non esauriente.
Ma la bibbliografia aiuta e indirizza chi vuole saperne di più.
Sarebbero anche 3 stelle e mezza.
Ma la bibbliografia aiuta e indirizza chi vuole saperne di più.
Sarebbero anche 3 stelle e mezza.
October 9, 2023
Well written brief guide to the Roman rulers, but somewhat day and academic.
January 2, 2024
Interessante compendio degli imperatori romani (non include il successivo impero Bizantino). Testo non sempre scorrevolissimo, ma la trattazione e' buona sia come informazioni, sia come sintesi.
April 20, 2009
All though a little dry, there was a lot of great information in this book. It covers all of the Roman Emperors from Augustus to the fall of the Western Empire. Grant evens includes tidbits on upstarts who managed to actually get power for a small time. It seems well researched and I really learned a lot. I would have liked a complete biography through the end of the Byzantine Empire, but it was still a worth the time I took to read it.
May 29, 2008
It's good as a reference, but not to read straight-through. Plus, I could have done without the author referring to homosexual emperors as "sexual inverts."
March 19, 2009
Lots of information, but as difficult to read as you'd imagine if you wanted to give the biography of every single Roman emperor that ever lived.
April 13, 2012
A bit hard to keep track of the names in later years, but a good read. Interesting that Romulus Augustulus wasn't the last Emperor.
August 19, 2012
Everything you want to know about the Roman Emperors but where afraid to ask!
February 16, 2013
I will never finish reading this book - toward my betterment.
February 22, 2013
Really slow read.
February 9, 2015
Interesting, worth reading, but heavy-going at times.
May 1, 2015
Yet another history by Michael Grant.
February 4, 2016
Is what it is, an encyclopedia of Roman emperors. Nothing in depth but a good reference to have.
Want to Read
December 29, 2016I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14340376
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14340376
June 29, 2021
It’s covers the subject. Said as a keen amateur.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews