How Good Were The Five Good Emperors of Rome?

864 Words2 Pages

Imagine a world where if the Senate did not like the President, they murdered him. In some years there would be up to five different rulers in a year. What would it be like to have murder mixed in with the craziness of politics? How would your life change if people were murdered by the Senate because they did not like the person? This was the way of life in many ancient empires. Murder was a just a way of life in ancient Rome. The Roman Senate would be so fed up with losing power that they killed several Emperors. However, there were five good emperors in a row who became known as The Five Good Emperors. These Emperors were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. They were mainly considered good for gaining the support of the Senate (Encyclopedia Britannica). After gaining the support of the Senate, these Emperors brought in and improved the tradition of adoption, doing different public works; the way they died also showed many truth about how these Emperors Ruled.
In the age of the Five Good Emperors, they used adoption to pick their successors. Adoption allowed for the Emperors to choose from all of Rome on who they wanted to take their place. Nerva was more so forced to pick his adopted son, Trajan, rather than waiting longer, but this allowed him to live in peace for his last few years (Scarre 88). Trajan was alerted of his adoption from a handwritten note from Nerva. Later, Hadrian told Trajan of the Emperor’s death, but Trajan waited a year before coming into Rome to start his rule (Scarre 91). Nobody thought that Trajan would pick Hadrian as his successor. It is also believed that his wife hid his death until it was determined that Hadrian was chosen. “But these carried her own signature rather than T...

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... the Five Good Emperors won the support of the senate and they improved Rome in many ways.

Works Cited

"Five Good Emperors (ancient Rome)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
Milani-Santarpia, Giovanni. "The Five Good Emperors of Ancient Rome." The Five Good Emperors of Ancient Rome. Giovanni Milani-Santarp, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. .
Morey, William C. "Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 26." Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 26. American Book Company, 1901. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. .
Scarre, Christopher. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The Reign-by-reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome. London: Thames and Hudson, 1995. Print.

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