The Five Bad Emperors

One fun, popular, and easily-obtained set in the Roman series is of the so-called five good emperors. I recently came across Emanuelle Degli Esposti's article for The Telegraph, "Rome's Most Controversial Emperors" and realized the emperors mentioned were five in number and serve as a contrast to the aforementioned good ones.

The text is from the Telegraph article; the coins are from my collection.

As always, feel free to post whatever you feel is relevant!

Caligula (full name Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) – Emperor from 37-41AD. The young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula, meaning "little boot", from his father's soldiers when accompanying him during his military campaign in Germania. Caligula was known for his cruelty, extravagance and sexual perversity. During his reign he strove to increase the authority of the emperor, earning him the reputation of a tyrant.

Some sources suggest that he once ordered his guards to throw an entire section of the crowd into the arena to be eaten by deadly animals at some games he was presiding over because there were no criminals to be prosecuted and he was bored. He is also said to have proclaimed himself God and wanted pilgrims to worship a statue of him in the Temple of Jerusalem.


Caligula, AD 37-41
Roman provincial Æ 20 mm, 6.74 g
Peloponnese, Corinthia, Corinth, Ae. P. Vipsanius Agrippa and M. Bellius Proculus, duoviri, AD 37-38
Obv: C CAESAR AVGVSTV, bare head right
Rev: M BELLIO PROCVLO IIVIR / COR, Pegasus flying right
Refs: RPC I 1173; Amandry (1988) XVII; BCD Corinth 405-6.

Nero (full name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) – Emperor from 54-68AD and the last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero's rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance. He is known for a number of executions, including those of his mother, Agrippa, and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother, Britannicus.

He is also infamously known as the emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned", and as an early persecutor of Christians. He was known for having captured Christians burned in his garden at night for a source of light. This view is based upon the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Nero's reign.


Nero and Poppaea Sabina
Roman provincial billon Tetradrachm; 23.1 mm, 11.55 g
Egypt, Alexandria, AD 64/65
Obv: ΝΕΡΩ ΚΛΑV ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ ΑV, radiate head of Nero, right
Rev: ΠΟΠΠΑΙΑ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΗ, draped bust of Poppaea, right, LIA (year 11) before
Refs: RCV 2002; SGI 664; RPC 5280; Köln 168; BMCG 124; Milne 223; Curtis 138; Cohen 315, 3; Emmett 128.

Commodus (full name Lucius Aurelius Commodus Antonius) – Emperor from 180-192AD and also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. He was known for his depraved lifestyle, and reportedly had over 300 concubines. He once ridiculed a fat man by cutting open his stomach so that his intestines spilt on the floor.

Commodus put to death the most illustrious men of the time, encouraged informers and false accusations and filled Rome with absolute terror. In the midst of these cruelties Commodus often sang, danced, or played the buffoon in public, as well as actually fighting as a gladiator in the circus (as immortalised by Joaquin Phoenix in the film Gladiator).


Commodus, AD 177-192
Roman AR denarius, 3.42 g, 18 mm Rome, AD 180
Obv: M COMMODVS ANTONINVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: LIB AVG TR P V IMP IIII COS II P P, Liberalitas standing left, holding counting-board and cornucopiae
Refs: RIC 10; RSC 302; BMC 3; Szaivert 496/4.

Caracalla (full name Lucious Septimus Bassianus) – Emperor from 209-217AD, he jointly ruled with his younger brother Geta until he murdered him, and reportedly 20,000 of his friends and supporters, in 211. Caracalla is remembered as one of the most notorious emperors due to the numerous massacres and persecutions he authorised throughout the empire. He was assassinated while urinating at a roadside near Carrhae on April 8, 217, by Julius Martialis, an officer of his personal bodyguard.


Caracalla AD 198-217
Roman AR Denarius 3.37 g; 19.7 mm
Rome mint, AD 211
Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head, right
Rev: INDVLG FECVNDAE, Julia Domna as Indulgentia, wearing polos, seated left on cerule chair, extending right hand and holding scepter
Refs: RIC 214; BMCRE 73; RCV 6805.

Elagabalus (full name Varius Avitus Bassianus) – Syrian-born emperor who reigned from 218-222AD. During his rule, Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. He replaced the traditional head of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter, with a lesser god and forced leading members of the government to participate in religious rites he personally lead.

He reportedly married up to five times, enraging Roman society by taking one of the Vestal Virgins as his wife, and was rumoured to have homosexual affairs with some of his courtiers. He had the hairs plucked from his body in order to appear more female and appeared in public wearing make-up and women's clothing.


Elagabalus, AD 218-222
Roman AR Antoninianus; 5.17 g, 21.3 mm
Rome, AD 219
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS AVG, radiate and draped bust, right
Rev: P M TR PII COSII P P, Fortuna enthroned left, holding rudder on globe and cornucopiae; wheel below seat
Refs: RIC 18; BMCRE 94; Cohen 148; RCV 7495.

 

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A more fun of a set

 

Not sure Agrippa was Nero's mother

Interesting meeting of bastards here, even though one might expect from a professionnal journalist a more historical than anecdotic approach. Not that I would have any of them as a friend, but each of them brought more to history than just their sexual deviances.

Nice illustrations RC !

Q

 

A good idea! Does it say something about me that I don't have a complete 5 good bset but have a 5 bad set?

Caligula


Nero


Commodus


Caracalla


Elagabalus

 

Interesting approach! And wonderful posts!!

Each bad Emperor repels and fascinates at the same time and makes for a wonderfully interesting collection. An example of each of mine minus my missing sole example of Caligula.....

 

Caligula

RI Gaius Caligula AE As 37-41 CE Vesta seated S-C

Nero

RI Nero AR Tetradrachm Antioch Syria 54-68 CE Eagle HIP Regnal Year 8

Commodus

RI Commodus 177-192 CE AR Denarius 17.7mm 2.42g Apollo Plectrum Lyre RIC 218 RSC 25 BMCRE 292 Rare Type

Caracalla

RI Caracalla 198-217 AR Quinarius CE 213 1.3g 13.6mm Laureate - Victory Wreath Palm RIC IV 101 RSC 450 RARE

Elagabalus

RProv Elagabalus CE 218-222 AE 18mm 4.3g Thrace Philippolis Serpent entwined tripod Pythia Festival Moushmov 5423

 

@Mikey Zee I love the bust on your Commodus because you can really see the lion skin.

@Alegandron I love those Syrian tets and hope to get one of Nero one day. Interesting Caracalla - not the usual denarius.

 

Great coins from the OP and also the additional photos. I'm still missing an Elagablus though I've bid on a nice Antioch tet of his in another auction. Hope I get it.

 

I believe you could pull the name of any Roman Emperor out of a hat and find ample reasons that they were "bad."

The so-called "Good Emperors" from Nerva to Marcus Aurelius would be genocidal tyrants by any objective standard of morality. Severus Alexander may have been a good natured person who enjoyed nothing more than playing with puppies (yes ancient sources record that he loved playing with puppies), but he was so weak willed that he allowed his mother to to have his wife Orbiana exiled to North Africa and his father in law executed. Julius Caesar and Titus are both said to have presided over the deaths of more than a million people (and although those numbers may be high there is no question that they left a pile of corpses behind them.

I do not say any of this to be critical of this thread, it is a good one that I have enjoyed reading and there are some great coins posted here. I'm just pointing out that the "good emperor" bar is set very low

 

Hmmm... musing on the 5 GOOD Tyranical Population Killer Emperors... I still fall back on having 2 Consuls changing offices each year. No system is perfect, but absolute power in a few individuals over Humanity is always a scary proposition... It seems History can hate or adore them, the reality is life or death.

Nerva

RI Nerva AE Dupondius 96-98 CE LIBERTAS PVBLICA -pileus
Ex: @TIF

Trajan

RI Trajan AR Denarius 98-117 CE Soldier over Vanquished Foe

Hadrian

RI Hadrian AR Quinarius 1.30g, 14mm Rome, AD 119-122 cuirassed laureate COS III Victory seated wreath palm RIC 108a

Antoninus Pius

RI Antoninus Pius 138-161 BCE AR Denarius

Marcus Aurelius

RI MARCUS AURELIUS AR Den as Caesar TR POT VI COS II - Genius stg at altar hldg standard

 

Great idear !

The good and the bad:

 

My bads











Q

 

I have not actually put together a complete set of the five good emperors.



Hadrian, AD 117 - 138
AE as, 10.8g, 27mm; 6h; Rome mint, AD 128 - 132
Obv.: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS PP; laureate head right
Rev.: COS III, S C in fields; Salus, draped, standing right, feeding out of patera in left hand snake held in right hand


Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161
AE, As, 27mm, 9.3g; 2h; Rome, AD 148-149
Obv.: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XII; Laureate head right, aegis on left shoulder
Rev.: MVNIFICENTIA AVG; elephant walking right with trunk raised
In Ex.: COS IIII SC
Ref.: RIC III 862(a), p. 134

MVNIFICENTIA AVG refers to the games he held during the celebration of his vota decenallia (AD 149).

 

It doesn't say anything bad about you...as far as you know.

 

I'm still working on the five good emperors. The five villainous emperors sounds like a great collection goal also.

 

Good point about the low bar. Also these guys may be better named "the 5 most slandered emperors."
(I haven't posted the Caracalla before. It's the Pluto + Cerberus reverse, seems fitting for this thread.)

 

Great coins all! I can't participate because the Telegraph writer mysteriously left out Domitian!