Important
Rulers of Rome from Romulus through Marcus Aurelius
(753 BC-180 AD)
7
Kings of Rome (753-509 BC)
- Romulus - son of Mars and Rhea Silvia; twin
brother of
Remus; founder of Rome
- Numa Pompilius -
encouraged religion and peace in Rome
- Tullus
Hostilius - war-like; destroyed Alba Longa after the
Horatii defeated the Curiatii
- Ancus
Marcius - built the Pons Sublicius, a wooden bridge
over the Tiber River
- Tarquinius Priscus/Tarquin
the Elder - husband of Tanaquil;
built the Circus Maximus
- Servius Tullius - son of
a slave; conducted the first
Census, dividing citizens by class
- Tarquinius
Superbus/Tarquin the Proud - built the Cloaca
Maxima; driven out by Brutus after his son Sextus Tarquinius raped
Lucretia
First
Consuls (in 509 BC) of the Roman Republic (509-27 BC)
- Lucius Junius Brutus - friend of Collatinus;
leader
of revolt against Tarquinius Superbus; ancestor of Julius
Caesar’s assassin
- Tarquinius Collatinus
- husband of Lucretia;
unrelated to the Tarquin kings
Four
Important Dictators
- Cincinnatus - left his farm to rescue the Roman
army;
retired after 16 days
- Camillus - made dictator 7
times; defeated the Gauls who
were besieging the Capitol
- Sulla - self-appointed
dictator; murdered his enemies;
succeeded by G. Marius
- Julius Caesar - given
extended dictatorships and finally
made dictator for life
The
First Triumvirate (59-53 BC)
- Marcus Licinius Crassus - the richest man in Rome
;
defeated Spartacus in battle; killed in battle in Parthia in 53 BC,
ending the triumvirate
- Gnaeus Pompeius
Magnus/Pompey the Great - cleared the
Mediterranean of Pirates; defeated Mithridates; crucified
Spartacus’ followers and got credit for his defeat
- Gaius
Julius Caesar - Consul in 59; defeated Vercingetorix
at Alesia in the Gallic Wars and made Gaul a province; defeated Pompey
the Great at Pharsalus in 48 after the Civil War; made dictator for
life in 44; assassinated by Marcus Junius Brutus later in 44 BC
The
Second Triumvirate (43-36 or 33 BC)
- Marcus Aemilius Lepidus - expelled from the
triumvirate by
Octavian in 36 BC
- Marcus Antonius/Mark Antony -
defeated by Octavian at
Actium in 31 BC
- Gaius Julius Caesar
Octavianus/Octavian - later given title
Augustus in 27 BC
The
Julio-Claudian Emperors (27 BC-68 AD)
- Augustus - formerly Octavian; adopted son of
Julius Caesar
- Tiberius - adopted son of Augustus
- Caligula
- name means “Little Boot”; he
went insane and was killed by guards
- Claudius -
Caligula’s uncle; he was killed with
poisoned mushrooms by his wife Agrippina; conquered Britannia( Britain
) and made it a province
- Nero -
Agrippina’s son; built Domus Aurea after
fire in Rome ; committed suicide
Year
of the Four Emperors (69 AD)
- Galba
- Otho
- Vitellius
- Vespasian
The
Flavian Dynasty (69- 96 AD)
- Vespasian - started the Colosseum (Flavian
Amphitheatre)
- Titus - Vespasian’s son;
destroyed Jerusalem ;
finished the Colosseum, ruled during eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD
- Domitian
- Titus’s brother; bad ruler; murdered
by his wife and guards
The
Five Good Emperors (96-180 AD)
- Nerva - appointed after Domitian’s death
- Trajan
- expanded the empire to its greatest extent; wars
in Dacia; Column of Trajan
- Hadrian - built
Hadrian’s Wall in Britannia
(Britain)
- Antoninus Pius - his great respect for
the gods earned him
the name Pius
- Marcus Aurelius - philosopher;
wrote
“Meditations”; defended empire’s borders;
his son and successor Commodus was the beginning of Rome's decline
Copyright
2003 by Mark
Spreitzer