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Can you name all the emperors, by order?!
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<p>[QUOTE="dougsmit, post: 5181256, member: 19463"]I'm bothered by the question of 'legitimate' vs. 'usurper'. If we count as 'usurper' anyone who named himself Augustus in opposition to the standing ruler (who may very well have been equally as 'usurper' in the first place) we would have to include Septimius Severus, Diocletian, Constantine and a few other big names. The Gordians were recognized at Rome but never ruled there. I wonder if they ever actually saw a coin bearing there portraits or if the travel time was longer than their lives. Augustus may have been the most successful 'usurper' of them all since he invented the concept of Empire and turned the previous system into a rubber stamp. It is popular to say someone had to be recognized by the Senate to be legitimate but the fact was that the Senate did what they were told (sometimes it was necessary to kill a few of them to remind them of that fact). </p><p><br /></p><p>My answer is we should know all those who claimed to be Augusti and we have reason to believe they actually existed. Coins suggest someone actually existed more surely than being mentioned by some historian who wrote years after the period in question. If we collect coins and insist on defining 'complete' to suit what we can own we are cheating. </p><p><br /></p><p>When it comes to the 'Year of Five Emperors' a lot depends on definition. The Wikipedia article fails to distinguish between titles Augustus and Caesar. The coins we have of Clodius Albinus as Augustus are dated to time after the end of 193 so we have to wonder exactly when we count his reign. There are no foolproof answers to some of these matters but the days of measuring ability in history class by list memorization skills has passed. Collect what you will. Understand rather than recite.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="dougsmit, post: 5181256, member: 19463"]I'm bothered by the question of 'legitimate' vs. 'usurper'. If we count as 'usurper' anyone who named himself Augustus in opposition to the standing ruler (who may very well have been equally as 'usurper' in the first place) we would have to include Septimius Severus, Diocletian, Constantine and a few other big names. The Gordians were recognized at Rome but never ruled there. I wonder if they ever actually saw a coin bearing there portraits or if the travel time was longer than their lives. Augustus may have been the most successful 'usurper' of them all since he invented the concept of Empire and turned the previous system into a rubber stamp. It is popular to say someone had to be recognized by the Senate to be legitimate but the fact was that the Senate did what they were told (sometimes it was necessary to kill a few of them to remind them of that fact). My answer is we should know all those who claimed to be Augusti and we have reason to believe they actually existed. Coins suggest someone actually existed more surely than being mentioned by some historian who wrote years after the period in question. If we collect coins and insist on defining 'complete' to suit what we can own we are cheating. When it comes to the 'Year of Five Emperors' a lot depends on definition. The Wikipedia article fails to distinguish between titles Augustus and Caesar. The coins we have of Clodius Albinus as Augustus are dated to time after the end of 193 so we have to wonder exactly when we count his reign. There are no foolproof answers to some of these matters but the days of measuring ability in history class by list memorization skills has passed. Collect what you will. Understand rather than recite.[/QUOTE]
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Can you name all the emperors, by order?!
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