The Five Good Emperors Essays
Hi guys i am doing an essay about the five good emperors! The first one i wrote was about Neva: The five good emperors was the expression that describes the time period between 96 A.D. and 180 A.D. in which the Roman Empire was at its peak.
There were five emperors who ruled in this period starting with Nerva and ending with Marcus Aurelius. The reason for the success of these five emperors was that all of them adopted a successor in their lifetime, except Marcus Aurelius. Even though Marcus Aurelius was a brilliant philosopher, he simply couldn’t disinherit his son Commodus which plunged the empire into a downfall.
Before the five good emperors, around the time of sixty eight A.D when the Julius-Claudius dynasty ended because no heir to the imperial throne exsisted, the Roman empire engaged in a massive civil war in which a general named Vespasian won the empire to start the Flavian dynasty. But this dynasty was ended twenty seven years later when a senator, assassinated the lazy, and cruel emperor Domitian. Nerva then became the new emperor and solved a problem that would plagued the empire before he was enthroned. Before and after the reign of the five good emperors, there was always the problem of getting a good successor. So, Nerva started a system of adopting a son in your lifetime, so he can “watch and learn from the master” and when he died he would have a peaceful transfer in power. But before we get entangled in his reign you should know his life before he was emperor to know why he became the emperor of the most powerful nation in the known world. He was born of noble birth, able to trace his ancestry to a consul in 39b.c. on his father’s side as well as to Tiberius on his mother’s side. He was born on November 8, 30 A.D with the name of Marcus Cocceius Nerva.
Not much of his childhood is known but we do know that he belonged to a senatorial family and did not try to pursue the career of military or public speaking. He finally pops up in history when he is appointed as praetor in 65 A.D. In this office he was extremely helpful in revealing the conspiracy of Piso against Nero. His statue was erected in the palace because of this loyal act. When Nero fell in 68 A.D. he was loyal to Vespasian and thus was given a dual consulship with the emperor. Later he gained another consulship with Domitian because he warned him of a revolt in Germany. But when Domitian’s restrained relationship with the senate and the people became even worse, a senator assassinated him in 96 A.D. Nerva was probably named emperor because he was a good senator who had friends in good places and also because he knew how to negotiate. As soon as he was emperor he made some changes. He renamed Domitian’s palace- the house of the people and lived at Vespasian’s old palace. He pardoned all the people Domitian exiled or imprisoned as long as they didn’t do a serious crime and vowed in front of the senate that he would not execute any of its members.
He appointed five consular senators to basically help him from spending too much of imperial funds. No statues made of him were of gold or silver and he offered loans to Italians as long as they paid 5% interest to support needy families. Actually it was just a scheme to put more money in the imperial treasury. He didn’t do any major public works because he had such a short reign but he did make repairs to the Coliseum or as it was really called “the Flavian amphitheater” when the Tiber flooded. Militarily, he started colonies in Africa which were used as land payment to the legionaries. Other than that business with the army was carried on as usual. He was very smart in choosing his major appointments; giving them to men he knew and trusted. When a man named Trajan won brilliant victory against Germany, Nerva saw a chance to have an heir to the throne and wisely chose this man as his successor. It was a decision made just in time as a month or two later he died of a stroke. He was a fanatically loyal man with a reign was short and sweet, lasting only three years but it was three years that changed the empire for the better. Maybe with a longer reign Nerva could have become the next Augustus. He started a policy that led to a golden age in Roman history with the empire reaching its peak in power and influence.
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Originally Posted by Nikron
