Asher Sisneros

Rome peaked after Augustus idealized a proven method for emperors to maintain power. The Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties contained some of the most notorious, insane, delusional, and erratic emperors in history. This essay seeks to answer whether all were the same or how they differentiated their lunacy.

Octavian was very strategic in maintaining a colossal standing army. He won the throne by commissioning private legions to fight for him. After becoming emperor, he amassed a colossal army of 60 legions. Normally, emperors disbanded the legions after a military victory. But once he subdued Egypt, he kept 28 of the legions. The sheer size of his standing army was ludicrous, but it existed so no private citizen could afford to steal the throne. No individual had the power or the wealth to amass an army a fraction of the size. Thus, the civil wars over emperorship ended after Octavian. The tactic resulted in peace through fear.

Tiberius (14-37 A.D.) was Augus/Octavian’s successor. He followed in Octavian’s footsteps and centralized power even more than his predecessor. But when his son died, he went into total seclusion, and the government stopped functioning in his absence.

Caligula (37-54 A.D.) became emperor after Tiberius died, but he was even more cruel and insane. For one, he declared divinity and made Rome worship him, but he also sent women letters of divorce in their husbands’ names so he could marry them. On one occasion, he divorced one of those women immediately after marrying her. The wealthy weren’t safe from him either, as he often accused them of treason to confiscate their riches. His reign came to an end, however, when the Praetorian Guard assassinated him. Caligula rashly insulted one of the guards’ male dignity. After that, he made a proactive effort to plan an assassination on the man he swore to protect.

Unlike his predecessor and successor, Claudius (41-54 A.D.) didn’t want to become emperor. However, he was a military leader, and the Praetorian Guard loved him. They urged and supported him, and he became emperor. He was one of the more reasonable emperors, but, partly because he was incompetent. But the reasonableness that accompanied incompetence died with Claudius when Nero took power.

Nero (54-68 A.D.) was selected by the Praetorian Guard to be an emperor. Some believe he was more sensible and humane during his first five years in office, possibly because of the influence of one of his advisors, Seneca. However, he became a gloating tyrant. The consensus is that he was literally mentally unstable. One of his most notorious acts of lunacy was when he burned Rome to the ground and accused the Christians of being terrorists. Then he went on a massive campaign to exterminate them. On one occasion, he used Christians as human torches to light up the city. Meaning he burned people for spectacle. After a rebellion in Gaul, Nero lost hope and committed suicide. He was beyond cruel and half insane.

Emperor Vespasian started the Flavian dynasty. Before him, the emperor, Senate, or Imperial Guard selected successors who weren’t related to the prior emperor. Vespasian spat in the face of tradition and made his son Titus the emperor. Domitian, Titus’ brother became emperor after that. Of the two brothers, Domitian was significantly worse. Titus sacked Jerusalem during the first Jewish rebellion and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. But while Titus was responsible for destroying the sacred monument of another religion, Domitian established his own religion. He claimed divinity and mandated Rome worship him. The monotheistic Jews and Christians were appalled. Rejecting Domitian’s demand, many of them were martyred. Similarly, disgusted philosophers were also banished. The Flavian dynasty ended in 96 A.D.

Collectively, all the emperors through the Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties were atrocious. Some were more humane than others, but none of them were special. Some, like Claudius, were incapable. Others, like Nero and Domitian, were insane killers. But both dynasties consisted of wretchedness.