Your Favourite Emperor?

[Flavius Aetius]

I am a Trajan guy,he was one of the few who defeated the Parthians,even if the war was not resolved satisfactorily. Great commander and civil administrator-a winning combination!

[Flavius Aetius]

Oh Jona...

Marcus Aurelius. His Meditations may be a bit tedious, but he's sympathetic. And he had a beautiful wife.

But she certainly slept around a bit hock:

Actually, secretly I'm a Germanicus fan, but don't tell anybody :oops:

I often wonder what history would be like if Germanicus hadn't died. Great choice.

[Sardaukar]

Well, let me play the advocatus diaboli.

Titus Vespasianus. Short reign, but looked like a decent guy.

Note the cynical undertone of Suetonius' prologue: he condidered to be a good man "by nature, art, or good fortune". The anecdote in 9.1-2 is still shocking: offering two would-be murderers a sharp sword and saying that "danger threatened them both, but at some future time" - well, I think those guys never slept comfortably. As Brian Jones (no, not the guy you are thinking of) remarks in The Emperor Titus (1984): "The mask fell."

I think I would have to say Vespasion ... Indeed a very down to earth guy in his very last statement before he died, "Me think's I'm becoming a god".

Not his last words. Suetonius says that he suffered from an attack of diarrhoea, struggled to get on his feet, and died, saying "An emperor ought to die standing." It must have been a smelly affair, but I think these last words are even better than the well-known joke.

Maybe I should have said "decent Emperor" :wink: I am pretty sure Titus did lot of unsavoury things for example for his father when he was the commander of Pretorians. Kinda Emperor's henchman.

[Tiberius Clodius Corvinus]

We seem to have many Germanicus fans here. I admit he has (in Roman terms) good war records and was beloved by his troops, but what do we know about a possible political conduct? Not to bash his supporters ;-) ) , but I ever felt he was kinda short-sighted at least as his conduct in Germany suggests to me. :?

[Sardaukar]

We seem to have many Germanicus fans here. I admit he has (in Roman terms) good war records and was beloved by his troops, but what do we know about a possible political conduct? Not to bash his supporters ;-) ) , but I ever felt he was kinda short-sighted at least as his conduct in Germany suggests to me. :?

Well, we don't know anything about him as emperor because he was not. Caligula was liked by soldiers too.

At least Germanicus was competent commander..and that means a lot when considering support from legions.

[Ioannes_Ahenobarbus]

Not including anyone past 476, I give the following:
Well, Trajan was quite possibly the greatest of the 'soldierly' sort, Augustus without a doubt the greatest politician, and Hadrian builder of infrastructure. Maybe I can pick all three? :lol:

[Jona Lendering]

At least Germanicus was competent commander..and that means a lot when considering support from legions.

I'm not really convinced. Giving in to the soldiers' demands during the rebellion of the Rhine legions was not exactly a display of leadership and the return from the Teutobrug Forest was a near-disaster. Personally, I think he allowed himself to be hijacked by his men - he promised them pay, gave them the war they wanted, and went to the Teutoburg Forest. Tiberius would have had none of it.

[Octavianvs]

it was my understanding that tiberius sent him, in fact tiberius himself would have done so had he not ended up being emperor at that time. he stopped the rebellon he punished those responcible for causing it ( officer who had been extorting and keeping monys from thier soldier and placing them in debt this was the main mony issue ) many officers and centurion were removed. he dealt with the situation justly i believe. he brought it together and made it a solid fighting force. i doubt that weather could be blamed on germanicus which lead to alot of the difficulties contributing to the problems and hardships faced by the legions. ( the weather and the forests ) germanicus did a job most would not have wanted to undertake and carried it off splendidly considering all he had to over come( terrain weather logistics intel finding the strongholds etc ). and then when germanicus was ready to complete his victory over germania tiberius called him back. possably because of him being suddenly thrust into being emperor which i dont think he truly wanted i think tiberius was always a military man a general at heart and the politics he never got used to the politics. in battle you fought the barbarian, he faced you and tried to kill you, in politics there was too much plotting and personal interests and you could end up with a pugio in the back.
as far as going after arminius if they didnt they would have had to continually deal with him for years to come, he had to be stopped before he could unite the tribes a pose a real and serious threat

[L C Cinna]

At least Germanicus was competent commander..and that means a lot when considering support from legions.

I'm not really convinced. Giving in to the soldiers' demands during the rebellion of the Rhine legions was not exactly a display of leadership and the return from the Teutobrug Forest was a near-disaster. Personally, I think he allowed himself to be hijacked by his men - he promised them pay, gave them the war they wanted, and went to the Teutoburg Forest. Tiberius would have had none of it.

On the other hand, the soldiers' payment and conditions were quite bad at that time. There had been no adjustment to inflation for years, so it's not taht surprising that he gave in imho. Domitian later had to increase the salary by quite a bit and even that increase was not enough to fully cover the debasement of currency which had happened since Augustus.

[Ceannt]

Vespasian is mine 8) because he came from Italy :wink:

[Nerva]

At least Germanicus was competent commander..and that means a lot when considering support from legions.

I'm not really convinced. Giving in to the soldiers' demands during the rebellion of the Rhine legions was not exactly a display of leadership and the return from the Teutobrug Forest was a near-disaster. Personally, I think he allowed himself to be hijacked by his men - he promised them pay, gave them the war they wanted, and went to the Teutoburg Forest. Tiberius would have had none of it.

Well we have only Tacitus as a reference for that. I do agree with you though Jona, Germanicus certainly seems to have given in pretty quickly as opposed to Drusus but, given the scale of the mutiny in Germanica, he may have had little choice :?

But, by the same token, we have primarily Tacitus again to thank for our knowledge of his acheivements...

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

FLAVIvS VESPASIANvS, son of T. FLAVIvS SABINvS for me....

Because he was down to earth and saved the empire after the murderous reign of LUCIvS DOMITIvS AHENOBARBvS.... the wretched snake (spitting on the floor)


In a way its funny had to think about Chroestjev just after Stalin.......

M.VIB.M.

[Quintus Aurelius Lepidus]

Trajanus is my favourite because I think he was a really, really good general.

[Count Theo]

Constantine the Great because he was a great chancer :wink:








Count Theo/Darren

[Tita Iuventia Martia]

Salvete fraters,
my best emperor is M. Ulpivs Traianvs, because he was really good general and a great man :-) ) I am also a great fan of Emperor Augustus, Vespasianus, Titus, Nerva, Hadrianus and M. Aurelius - they were also great emperors of Rome.

Excuse my English, I am begginer...