![]() A conspiracy to assassinate Nero in 65 CE was discovered and thwarted, but the turmoil led the emperor to take an extended tour of Greece. The rebuilding of Rome was not without controversies and financial strains, ultimately leading to Nero's death. He was at least involved behind the scenes in some other way, and he blamed the Christians and had many of them executed for Rome's burning. The fire destroyed three of Rome's 14 districts and severely damaged seven others.Īn artist at heart, Nero was said to be quite skilled at playing the lyre, but whether he truly played it while Rome burned is debatable. Some said that Nero used the fire to clear space for a palace expansion. ![]() Nero also confiscated senators' property and severely taxed the people so that he could build his own personal Golden Home, the Domus Aurea.ĭuring Nero's reign, Rome burned for nine days, the cause of which was fiercely debated. But his transgressions go far beyond just that he was accused of sexual perversions and the murder of many Roman citizens. Nero is perhaps the best known of the worst emperors, having allowed his wife and mother to rule for him and then stepping out from their shadows and ultimately having them, and others, murdered. He imprisoned, exiled, or executed those who criticized him. His most stable relationship was with his chariot driver, and some sources suggest Elagabalus married a male athlete from Smyrna. In his short life, he married and divorced five women, one of whom was the vestal virgin Julia Aquilia Severa, whom he raped, a sin for which the virgin was to have been buried alive, although she seems to have survived. Some report that he worked as a prostitute, set up a brothel in the palace, and may have sought to become the first transsexual, stopping just short of self-castration in his pursuit of alien religions. Writers including Herodian and Dio Cassius accused him of feminity, bisexuality, and transvestism. Elagabalus instead behaved as a high priest of an exotic and alien god. Elagabalus's besetting sin was not as murderous as the others, but rather simply acting in a manner ill-befitting an emperor. A member of the Severan dynasty, Elagabalus was the second son of Julia Soaemias and Sextus Varius Marcellus, and of Syrian background.Īncient historians put Elagabalus on the worst emperors along Caligula, Nero, and Vitellius (who didn't make this list). The assassination was part of a conspiracy formed between the Senate, equestrian order, and the Praetorian Guard.Įlagabalus, also known as Heliogabalus, served as a Roman emperor from 218 to 222, a time that significantly impacted his placement on the list of worst emperors. In January 41 CE, the officers of the Praetorian Guard, led by Cassius Chaerea, killed Caligula, his wife, and his daughter. Thanks to his life of excess, Caligula earned himself many enemies, which led him to be the first Roman emperor to be assassinated. In addition to all that, he thought he should be treated as a god.Īmong the people Caligula is alleged to have murdered or had murdered were his father, Tiberius his cousin and adopted son Tiberius Gemellus his grandmother Antonia Minor his father-in-law, Marcus Junius Silanus and his brother-in-law Marcus Lepidus, not to mention a large number of unrelated elites and citizens. He revived the treason trials of his adoptive father and predecessor Tiberius, opened a brothel in the palace, raped whomever he wished and then reported her performance to her husband, committed incest, and killed for greed. During this time, he is known for his feats of waste and carnage that exceeded even that of Nero, his infamous nephew.Īccording to some Roman writers, such as Suetonius, although Caligula started out as a beneficent ruler, he became cruel, depraved, and vicious after he suffered from a serious illness (or perhaps was poisoned) in CE 37, shortly after he took the throne. ![]() Trustees of the British Museum, produced by Natalia Bauer for the Portable Antiquities SchemeĬaligula, who was also formally known as Gaius, was the third Roman emperor, ruling for four years.
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