Lesson 55 (Part 1): The Five Good Emperors

Second-Century Rome, 96 to 180 A.D., is the time of the five good emperors. These five emperors maintained a series of successions that brought harmony and prosperity to Rome. The first of the five, Nerva was set in power by the Senate. In most cases, when the Senate or the Praetorian Guard crowned an emperor, that emperor was wicked and foolish. However, Nerva was an exception.

Nerva ruled humanly, and instead of leaving the choice of succession up to the Senate, he adopted a son, Trajan, and named him his successor. Trajan then adopted Hadrian as his successor. Hadrian is known for building Hadiran’s Wall in Britain, separating the southern Roman-controlled half from the independent Northern half. Then came Hadrian’s adopted son Antonius Pius, who named Marcus Aurelius his successor.

Marcus Aurelius was emperor in 166 A.D. While reigning, Marcus defended Rome by fighting Germanic tribes on the Danube. This progressed for eleven years as he fought off various groups. During this time, Marcus Aurelius, a stoic philosopher, wrote his book Meditations.

Since none of the first four emperors had sons, there was no temptation to create a bloodline of emperors. All of Rome benefited. Whenever a bloodline was set in place in the past, it would come to a crazed, brutal end. We see this with the fifth and last of the good emperors, Marcus Aurelius, since he had a biological son, Commodus, and named him his successor.

Commodus ruled from approximately 180 to 192 A.D. when he was assassinated. This was the first assassination in many decades, and the assassinators can be sympathized with. Commodus was vicious to his subjects and incompetent in his rule. Thus came the end of Rome’s second century and the beginning of its third century and Rome’s assassination-filled dilapidation.