Arminius, as chief of the Cherusci, headed a confederacy of German
tribes to expel from northern Germany the invaders and partial
conquerors of the fatherland. The Roman governor, Quintilius Varus, and
his officers and troops, had provoked the German outbreak by their
licentious behavior, and the vengeance wreaked on the offenders was
complete in itself, and effectual for the preservation of German
freedom.
The German hero, when his plans were formed, tempted Varus and his three
legions, by a revolt of the tribes near the Weser and the Ems, to march
into the difficult country now called the Teutoburger Wald, a woody and
hilly region near the sources of the Lippe and the Ems. When the Roman
force was thoroughly entangled amidst the forests and hills, and had
been further imperiled by the rashness of the incompetent tyrant Varus
in the order of his march, then Arminius and the Germans fell on the
hated foe; the Roman column was broken, and its cavalry fled, but was
pursued and utterly destroyed.
Varus slew himself in despair. His infantry was overpowered and slain
almost to the last man. All the efforts of Rome thereafter never secured
her a permanent foothold on German soil. This great deliverance of
Germany, so full of chagrin to Augustus and so momentous in European
history, occurred in A.D. 9.
DEATH OF AUGUSTUS.--Augustus died in 14 A.D.; so that, counting from his
formal accession to title, 27 B.C., he ruled over the Roman dominion for
forty-one years.
The following table gives a list of the Roman Emperors, with the dates
of their reigns and other facts. Many of them were quite insignificant
in personality and in their influence upon history. The greater rulers
call for more extended notice in their proper historical place in the
Outline of Universal History, as well as in the Dictionary of
Biography.
=THE EMPERORS OF ROME=
---------------------------------------------+--------+-------+-------
=Name, Lineage or Basis of Accession and | =Period|=Birth=|=Death=
Cause of Death= |of Rule=| |
---------------------------------------------+--------+-------+-------
THE CÆSARS | | |
| | |
Octavianus Cæsar, “Augustus” (majesty).--A |B.C. 27-|B.C.63 |A.D.19
title conferred by the Senate; died August 19|A.D. 14 | |
| | |
Tiberius (Claudius Nero).--Stepson of |A.D. 14-| 42 | 37
Augustus; murdered by a tribune |37 | |
| | |
Caius Caligula.--Youngest son of Germanicus, | 37- 41 | 12 | 41
nephew of Tiberius; poisoned by his wife, | | |
Agrippina, to make way for | | |
| | |
Claudius I. (Tiberius Drusus).--Grandson of | 41- 54 | 10 | 54
Tiberius | | |
| | |
Claudius Nero.--Son of Domitius Ahenobarbus; | 54- 68 |A.D.37 | 68
deposed; kills himself | | |
| | |
Servius Sulpicius Galba.--Proclaimed Emperor;| 68- 69 |B.C. 3 | 69
slain by the prætorians | | |
| | |
M. Salvius Otho.--Proclaimed Emperor; stabbed| 69- |A.D.32 | 69
himself | | |
| | |
Aulus Vitellius.--Proclaimed Emperor; deposed| 69- 69 | 15 | 69
by Vespasian, and put to death | | |
| | |
Titus Flavius Vespasian.--Proclaimed Emperor | 70- 79 | 9 | 79
| | |
Titus (Vespasian).--Son of Vespasian | 79- 81 | 41 | 81
| | |
Titus Flavius Domitian.--Brother of Titus, | 81- 96 | 51 | 96
second son of Vespasian; last of the _twelve_| | |
Cæsars | | |
| | |
THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS | | |
| | |
Cocceius Nerva.--Proclaimed Emperor | 96- 98 | 32 | 98
| | |
Trajan (M. Ulpius Crinitus).--Adopted son of | 98-117 | 53 | 117
Nerva | | |
| | |
Hadrian (Publius Ælius).--Nephew of Trajan |117-138 | 76 | 138
| | |
Antoninus Titus, surnamed Pius.--Adopted son |138-161 | 86 | 161
of Hadrian | | |
| | |
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.--Nephew of |161-180 | 121 | 180
Antoninus Pius | | |
| | |
THE PERIOD OF MILITARY DESPOTISM | | |
| | |
Commodus (L. Aurelius Antoninus).--Son of |180-193 | 161 | 192
Marcus Aurelius; poisoned by his favorite | | |
mistress, Martia, December 31 | | |
| | |
Publius Helvius Pertinax.--Proclaimed |193- | 126 | 193
Emperor; killed by prætorian band | | |
| | |
Didius Julianus.--Proclaimed Emperor |193- | ... | 193
| | |
Lucius Septimus Severus.--Proclaimed Emperor;|193-212?| 146 | 211
died at York, in Britain | | |
| | |
M. Aurelius Caracalla and Septimius Geta.-- |212-217 | 188 | 217
Son of Septimius Severus; Caracalla murders | | |
Geta, 212; is slain by his successors | | |
| | |
M. Opilius Macrinus, prefect of the guards; |217-218 | 164 | 218
beheaded in a mutiny | | |
| | |
Heliogabalus (M. Aurelius Antoninus), a youth|218-222 | 205?| 222
(Elagabalus).--First cousin of Caracalla; put| | |
to death for enormities | | |
| | |
Alexander Severus.--Cousin of Heliogabalus, |222-235 | 205 | 235
by whom he was adopted; assassinated by | | |
soldiers corrupted by Maximinus | | |
| | |
Caius Julius Verus Maximinus.--Elevated by |235-238 | 173 | 238
soldiers; assassinated in his tent | | |
| | |
M. Antonius Gordianus and his son; the latter|238-238 | ... | {238
falling in battle with partisans of | | | {238
Maximinus, the father strangled himself in | | |
despair, at Carthage, in his eightieth year. | | |
--Appointed by the Senate | | |
| | |
Gordian II.--Grandson of Gordian I.; |238-244 | 224 | 244
assassinated by guards, instigated by Philip | | |
the Arabian | | |
| | |
Philip the Arabian.--Murdered Gordian and |244-249 | ... | 249
usurped the throne; assassinated by his | | |
soldiers | | |
| | |
Metius Decius.--Proclaimed Emperor by the |249-251 | ... | 251
army; he perished in battle with Goths | | |
| | |
Gallus Hostilius, and his son Volusianus.-- |251-254 | ... | 254
Elected Emperor by Senate and soldiers; both | | |
slain by soldiers | | |
| | |
Æmilianus.--Elected Emperor by Senate and |254- | 208?| 254?
soldiers; put to death after reign of four | | |
months | | |
| | |
Valerian.--Elected Emperor by Senate and |254-260 | ... | 260
soldiers; taken prisoner by Sapor, king of | | |
Persia, and flayed alive | | |
| | |
Gallienus |260-268 | ... | 268
| | |
Flavius Claudius |268-270 | 214 | 270
| | |
Aurelian.--Designated by Claudius; |270-275 | 212 | 275
assassinated by soldiers on march against | | |
Persia | | |
| | |
Tacitus.--Elected by Senate and soldiers; |275-276 | 200 | 276
died at Tarsus, in Cilicia | | |
| | |
Florian.--Proclaimed Emperor; not recognized |276-276 | ... | ?
by Senate | | |
| | |
M. Aurelius Probus.--Choice of the army; |277-282 | ... | 282
assassinated by troops at Sirmium | | |
| | |
M. Aurelius Carus.--Elevated to throne by |282-283 | 222 | 283
soldiers; killed at Ctesiphon by lightning | | |
| | |
Carinus--Elder son of Carus} | | |
and }both assassinated|284-284 | ... | 285
Numerian.--Son of Carus } | | |
| | |
Diocletian.--Proclaimed Emperor by the army} | |{ 245 | 313
and } |284-305 |{ |
Maximian.--Made Cæsar by Diocletian } | |{ ... | 310
| | |
Constantius} | |{ 250 | 306
and }Created Cæsar |305-306 |{ |
Galerius } | |{ ... | 311
| | |
Constantine the Great.--Eldest son of |306-336 | 272 | 337
Augustus Constantius Chlorus | | |
| | |
Constantius II.--Third son of Constantine the|336-361 | 317 | 361
Great | | |
| | |
Julian the Apostate.--Son of Julius |361-363 | 331 | 363
Constantius; mortally wounded in battle with | | |
Persians | | |
| | |
Jovian.--Elevated to the throne by the army |363-364 | 332 | 364
| | |
ROMAN EMPERORS OF THE WEST | | |
| | |
Valentinian I.--Proclaimed Emperor by the |364-375 | 321 | 375
army | | |
| | |
Gratian.--Son of Valentinian I |375-383 | 359 | 383
| | |
Maximus--Made Emperor by the legions in |383? | ? | 398
Britain | | |
| | |
Valentinian II.--Son of Valentinian I |383?-388| 371 | 392
| | |
Eugenius.--Proclaimed Emperor |388-394 | ... | ...
| | |
Theodosius the Great.--Son of Theodosius, a |394-395 | 346 | 395
Roman general | | |
| | |
Honorius.--Second son of Theodosius |395-423 | 384 | 423
| | |
Valentinian III.--Son of Constantius |423-455 | 419 | 455
| | |
Maximus Petronius.--Proclaimed Emperor |455- | 395?| 455
| | |
Avitus.--Assumed the purple |455-457 | ... | 457
| | |
Majorian or Majorien.--Elected by Ricimer |457-461 | ... | ?
| | |
Severus.--Raised to imperial dignity by |461-467 | ... | 465-7?
Ricimer | | |
| | |
Anthemius.--Son-in-law of Emperor Marcian |467-472 | ... | ?
| | |
Olybrius.--Made Emperor through influence of |472-473 | ... | ?
Ricimer | | |
| | |
Glycerus.--Proclaimed Emperor (or Genseric) |473- | ... | ?
| | |
Nepos.--Proclaimed Emperor by order of Leo X.|473-475 | ... | 480
| | |
Romulus Augustulus.--Son of Orestes |475-476 | ... | 476
| | |
Augustus is deposed and banished by Odoácer, | | |
who thus puts an end to the Western Empire of| | |
Rome. | | |
---------------------------------------------+--------+-------+-------
(See Chronology of the more important events under Rome in Comparative
Outlines of Universal History.)
VI. FROM CONSTANTINE TO THE FALL OF ROME, 306-476 A.D.--The _sixth_
period includes the remainder of Roman history, extending from the
reign of Constantine to the Fall of Rome, when captured by the
Heruli, A.D. 476. The reign of Constantine the Great imparts
splendor to the commencement of this period. He embraced the
Christian faith himself, and patronized it in the Empire, as did
also most of his successors; on which account this may be called the
period of the Christian Emperors.
One of the most important events of his reign, and one which had a great
influence on the subsequent affairs of Rome, was the removal of the
Government to a new seat. He selected Byzantium for his capital, and
removed there with his court, giving it the name of Constantinople,
which it still bears. He left his empire to five princes, three sons and
two nephews; the youngest son, Constantius, soon grasps the whole, A.D.
360. By the death of Constantius, his cousin Julian received the purple,
which he was already on his march from Gaul to seize by force. The reign
of Julian, styled the Apostate, is memorable for his artful and
persevering attempts to destroy the Christian religion, and his
unsuccessful efforts to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, with the
express purpose of casting discredit on the predictions of the Bible.
From the death of Julian, A.D. 363, to the reign of Theodosius the
Great, A.D. 379, the history presents little that is important to be
noticed, except the jealousies between the eastern and western portions
of the Empire, which grew out of the removal of the court to
Constantinople. Theodosius was the last emperor who ruled over both. In
395 he died, leaving to his sons Arcadius and Honorius separately the
east and west. From this time the Eastern portion remained distinct, and
its history no longer belongs to that of Rome.
The western portion languishes under ten successive emperors, who are
scarcely able to defend themselves against the repeated attacks of
barbarian invaders. At length, under Augustulus, the eleventh from
Theodosius, Rome is taken by Odoácer, leader of the Heruli, and the
history of ancient Rome is terminated, A. D. 476.
The whole of the period from Constantine to Augustulus is marked by the
continued inroads of barbarous hordes from the north and the east. But
the greatest annoyance was suffered in the latter part of the time, from
three tribes, under three celebrated leaders; the Goths, under Alaric;
the Vandals, under Genseric; and the Huns, under Attila. The two former
actually carried their victorious arms to Rome itself (A.D. 410 and
455), and laid prostrate at their feet the haughty mistress of the
world; and the latter was persuaded to turn back his forces (A. D. 453)
only by ignoble concessions and immense gifts.
By A.D. 300 great changes had passed over the empire. Its population had
become largely barbarized; the armies contained great numbers of Goths,
Vandals, and Sarmathians (from territory now the west and south of
Russia). Germans were spread through the empire more than any other
nationality. The former distinction as to Roman citizenship having been
lost, the distinction between the “Roman legions” and the “allies” was
now effaced, and the last visible record of Rome’s conquest was
obliterated.