Five of the first eleven emperors of Rome were assassinated and another two killed themselves rather than face the fury of their subjects. Nero sang while Rome burned. Caligula proclaimed himself a god. If not mad enough already, he also gave one of his horses a place on the senate. Rome rejoiced when many emperors died, only to find that they hated the next one just as much. From the death of Julius Caesar in 44BC to the fall of Rome in 476AD, Dark History of the Roman Emperors presents a wry and witty look at five centuries of Roman mayhem, murder, incest, infanticide, sadism, sexual depravity and madness. Featuring such notorious names as Claudius, Tiberius and Commodus, this book retells all of the most eye-opening accounts of imperial misdeeds, drawing on many original Roman sources. Illustrated with striking images of the protagonists and their deeds, from ancient statues to medieval engravings and renaissance paintings, Dark History of the Roman Emperors is an entertaining and visually spectacular account of the skulduggery of the greatest empire the world has ever known – and the hubris that came with it.
Table of Contents:
Prologue
1. The First of the Caesars (27 B.C.E.)– 37 . C.E.)
Augustus (27 B.C.E.).-14 C.E.)Tiberius (14-37 C.E.). Germanicus. Agrippa and Agrippina. Prefect of the Praetorian Guard Sejanus.
2. ‘Little Boots’ – Caligula. (37-41 C.E.)
His horse Incitatus. Incestuous passions. Agrippina the Younger. Roman banquets.
3. The Ignominious Emperor Claudius (41-54 C.E.)
Antonia Minor. ‘A monstrous specimen’. Claudius’s wives. The scheming Valeria Messalina. Juvenal. Pliny the Elder. The Gardens of Lucullus. Claudia Octavia.
4. Nero: ‘What an artist!’ (54-68 C.E.)
Artistic fop. The story that Nero‘Fiddled while Rome burned’. The castration of Sporus. The Showman. Locusta. Poppaea Sabina. Britannicus. Statilia Messalina. Christianity.
5. In the Steps of the Caesars (81-96 C.E.)
Galba, Vitellius, Otho, Titus, Domitian. Pompeii and pleasure seekers. Vestal virgins.The Black Banquet.
6. Good Men...Mostly (117-138 C.E.)
Five ‘Good Emperors’. Trajan and the Empire at its largest. Hadrian and Antinous. Hadrian’s Wall. Titus. Jewish uprising. ‘Greek love’. Marcus Aurelius.
7. Commodus: An Emperor Unhinged (180-192 C.E.)
Gladiators. A bungled plot against Commodus. Perennis. Cleander. Corruption. His sister Lucilla’s plotting his death.
8. 193 C.E. - Rome’s Year of Shame
Septimius Severus. Pertinax. Didius Julianus buying the office of Emperor. Clodius Albinus’s plot to topple Didius Julianus. Virgin soldiers. Pescennius Niger.
9. The Feuding Emperors - Caracalla (211-21 C.E.) and Geta (211 C.E.) Julia Domma. Gaius Fulvius Plautianus. Rape of Alexandria. Prostitution.
10. A Teenage Reprobate - Elagabalus (218-222 C.E.)
Macrinus. Julia Soaemias. Elagabalus and the sun cult. Luxury and aesthetes. Anna Faustina. Alexander Severus.
Epilogue
Philip The Arab. Diocletian. Constantine. Justinian. Visigoths and the Sack of Rome.
Index
About the Author :
Michael Kerrigan was educated at St. Edward’s College and University College, Oxford, England. He is the author of History of the World, Abandoned Places of World War II, The Cold War and Amazing Churches of the World. He is a columnist, book reviewer, and feature writer for publications including the Scotsman and the Times Literary Supplement. Michael Kerrigan lives with his family in Edinburgh.
