The Roman emperors held vast wealth and control in the ancient world. But while many people wanted the title, it wasn’t a great job: A 2019 study calculated that almost two-thirds of Roman emperors died violently.
Historians record that the unified Roman Empire was ruled by 69 emperors between the first emperor Augustus (who reigned from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14) and Theodosius (ruled from A.D. 379 to 395), but there were more than 170 when the entire lines of both the Western and Eastern Roman emperors are included.
Some emperors were famously bad — such as Caligula (ruled from A.D. 37 to 41) and Nero (ruled from A.D. 54 to 68) — but history judges a few of the others more favorably, such as Marcus Aurelius (who ruled from A.D. 161 to 180), an important Stoic philosopher.
Here are 15 questions to test your knowledge of the rulers of the Roman Empire. Good luck! And if you need a hint click the yellow button.
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