The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Augustus, Octavian

• Laws banning gambling, drinking, idleness, and divorce.

• A great Roman Emperor

Caligula

• Appointed horse consul.• Killed w/o remorse.• Believed himself to be

above the laws of normalcy and decency.

Claudius• Defeated the

Celts• Married his own

niece, Agrippina, who had him murdered.

• To maintain power, had his mother and wife murdered.

• Persecuted the Christians.

• Blamed for the burning of Rome in 64 a.d.

• In the final years, was a drunk, spent tons of money, and made enemies in the Senate.

• Committed suicide

Vespasian

• Built the Roman Coliseum

• Destroyed the city of Jerusalem

Hadrian

• Built a wall in Briton separating the Romans from the barbarians.

• Made it illegal for master to put slaves to death.

Marcus Aurelius

• Loved philosophy and wrote “Meditations.”

• Devoted to the Roman Empire.

Commodus

• Poor ruler, spent all of his time at the games.

• Was killed at a bathhouse by a wrestler, strangled.