Roman ethics

[Ensifer]

Rome did deify the emperors. But the individual personalities of the various emporers never defined what it meant to be a Roman in the same way that the individual personality of Hitler defined what it meant to be a Nazi. The influence of Hitler's personality was pervasive and defining.

In Rome, one crazy emporer soon gave way to one less crazy--or more crazy. There was certainly an array of personalities. But none of those personalities fundamentally redefined what it meant to be Roman.