The Five Good Emperors of the Roman Empire

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Күн бұрын

Did you know that the term Five Good Emperors is from the modern era? This video is all about five emperors of the Roman Empire that are collectively known as the good emperors.
The first of the five, Nerva, reigned from 96 to 98 CE, taking the throne after Domitian of the Flavian Dynasty had been assassinated. Trajan reigned from 98 to 117 and was regarded as a great emperor early on. Hadrian became an even more popular emperor than Trajan. Antoninus Pius, who reigned from 138 to 161, found favor with Hadrian early and was married to his niece Faustina the Elder, to whom he was famously devoted. Marcus Aurelius reigned from 161 to 180 and Lucius Verus between 161 and 169, and the two were almost complete opposites in character. Unlike his predecessors, Aurelius chose his son Commodus, his co-ruler, as heir but Commodus proved to be a disappointment, ending the period of the Five Good Emperors of Rome. According to some historians, Commodus’ reign marks the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire as well as it was followed by the chaotic time of the Year of the Five Emperors and, shortly after, the Crisis of the Third Century.
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- CHAPTERS -
0:00 Introduction
0:42 The Five Good Emperors of Rome
3:13 Nerva 96 - 98 CE
4:38 Trajan 98 - 117 CE
6:02 Hadrian 117 - 138 CE
7:09 Antoninus Pius 138 - 161 CE
8:14 Marcus Aurelius 161 - 180 CE
10:10 Outro
- WANT TO KNOW MORE? -
Visual Chronology of Roman Emperors: Augustus to Constantine
www.worldhistory.org/article/...
Nerva
www.worldhistory.org/Nerva/
Trajan
www.worldhistory.org/trajan/
Hadrian
www.worldhistory.org/hadrian/
Antoninus Pius
www.worldhistory.org/Antoninu...
Marcus Aurelius
www.worldhistory.org/Marcus_A...
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- ATTRIBUTIONS -
You can find all attribution and credits for images, animations, graphics and music here - worldhistory.typehut.com/the-...
The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:
www.ancientlyre.com
open.spotify.com/artist/7Dx2v...
/ @michaellevymusic
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#History #AncientRome #FiveGoodEmperors #romanemperor

Пікірлер: 52

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Do you agree that these were the Five Good Emperors of Rome or would you choose others?

@spw947 11 ай бұрын

Enjoyed the video! Thanks for sharing.🙏🏼

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Thank you for watching! We're glad you enjoyed the video. 🙂

@merlizaserna 11 ай бұрын

Great work, thanks!

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@michaelolsson5335 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video. Keep up the good work and let us hope for a Aussie win in soccer this evening!

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Thanks, Michael! Unfortunately no win for the Aussies, but we still did well. 😊

@Tekmirion 11 ай бұрын

Well done!

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching! :)

@cyclopediatv 11 ай бұрын

Nice sharing

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@Chase_baker_1996 11 ай бұрын

Marcus Aurelius is my favorite Emperor

@quiquemarquez3211 11 ай бұрын

Mine is Aurelian(Restitutor Orbis) but damn Trajanus was optimums princeps indeed.

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Ours too! Thanks for watching!

@KumarAnshs 9 ай бұрын

@@quiquemarquez3211Aurelian is my role model. A man who was not given any hand to emperorship, still became emperor, fixed the broken empire. Rebuilt the capital. A legend truly and a blessing to the Roman World

@ForgedFloki 7 ай бұрын

same here i own 2 copies of meditations :D

@KumarAnshs 7 ай бұрын

@@ForgedFloki bet you like talking about the books more than you actually read it.

@krisv001 11 ай бұрын

Never knew where that quote came from .. (because they weren't that "good" except maybe for Marcus Aurelius). Thanks for the video!

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

You're so welcome. 🙂

@gregputman 10 күн бұрын

Why would you say that the others are not good? For example, what is not good about Antoninus Pius? I don't think anyone had a bad thing to say about that guy.

@WildMen4444 11 ай бұрын

Ave Divus Nerva! Ave Divus Traianus! Ave Divus Hadrianus! Ave Divus Antoninus Pius! Ave Divus Marcus Aurelius!

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@HistoryfortheAges 11 ай бұрын

I cover all 5 every semester. I do make sure to tell my students that they were not "good" to all. Just look at what Hadrian did to the Jews. Most of my students only know Marcus Aurelius b/c of the movie Gladiator 🤣

@artinrahideh1229 11 ай бұрын

Cinema usually ruins People's understanding of history

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

They each had their pros and cons, that's for sure. Thanks for watching!

@MultiCappie 11 ай бұрын

Kinda disagree with Machiavelli here, Aurelius, as the fool who nepotistically and tragically empowered Commodus, does not belong among the "good". Furthermore, Trajan to me stands quite apart from the remaining three, and I would further contend with Mr. Machiavelli, that the correct list of "Best Emperors" must also include non-emperor Julius Caesar and Augustus along with Trajan. And give me back my toaster, Niccolo!

@WildMen4444 11 ай бұрын

With all due respect, you're being a bit harsh regarding Marcus Aurelius. When Marcus named Commodus as the successor there was no way to truly know what would have happened. Commodus was a young man and would have probably turned out much differently if Marcus was able to be around more often rather than being on the battlefield. Marcus Aurelius was pulled away from being a father by His job which is why He tried to get other people to be good influences on Commodus. Couple this with the fact that choosing anyone other than His eldest son would have led to conflict and you see that really there was no choice. It would be unreasonable to not choose Commodus.

@MultiCappie 11 ай бұрын

@@WildMen4444 With respect, I disagree. I will only grant that the term "good" is obviously a matter of opinion, and in this case Machiavelli's, and according to his knowledge and criteria. But you know my opinion. Reverting to nepotism is notable, even if it hadn't become the worst outcome in imperial history.

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your opinion. We can see where you're coming from, but we do love Marcus Aurelius and think he earned a rightful spot on that list.

@llywrch7116 5 ай бұрын

@@WorldHistoryEncyclopediaIf we did not have Marcus Aurelius' _Meditations_, would we still feel the same about him? I think that work colors our opinion of that emperor, making him more sympathetic to modern historians than he might otherwise.

@gregputman 10 күн бұрын

To be honest, I think Antoninus Pius was probably the best one out of the batch. None were perfect though.

@Alexander-kj1bk 8 ай бұрын

Augustus Ceasar is my favorite emperor of the roman Empire

@lord_of_crabs 10 ай бұрын

as soon as i read the title i thought "huh, marcus aurelius, hadrian, antoninus pius, and... octavian?" and i could not for the life of me figure out who the 5th one was

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Haha, that would be Trajan and Nerva. 😉 Augustus wasn't officially placed on the list, although many believe he was the greatest Roman emperor.

@gregputman 10 күн бұрын

Nerva is probably overrated.

@jeckyfreaky 11 ай бұрын

is that ezio's friend

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

@jeckyfreaky 11 ай бұрын

machieveli was ezio friends in assassins creed 2 and assassins creed brotherhood 😅

@djpage7 10 ай бұрын

Trajan forever

@adamc1966 11 ай бұрын

Antoninus Pius...married to his niece...wow. 🙄

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Quite a common practice among the rich and powerful.

@circassianlondoner 11 ай бұрын

The Melbourne map to your right is not straight.

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

Ha! Thanks for pointing that out.

@HVLLOWS1999 11 ай бұрын

Trajan & Marcus Aurelius were the best of the 5 not Hadrian the Micromaniger. Although he is one of the best of Rome.

@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia 11 ай бұрын

In our opinion, he definitely earned his spot on the 'Five Good Emperors' list. Thanks for watching!

@thecat5872 2 ай бұрын

The 5 good is a real misnomer they were hardly good 😂 Nerva barely was emperor he had to adopt Trajan who conquered Dacia modern Romania where the subjects committed suicide then he took their gold to build monuments then there’s the Greekling Hadrian who threw the Jews out of Israel creating modern day Palestine not so good, Antoninus never left Rome and was no friend to Christians last but not least M Aurelius who waged war for most of his time in office against ancient Europeans and then put Commodus in power ( groan) not so good 😂Cheers

@gregputman 10 күн бұрын

What exactly did Antoninus do to the Christians? What are you talking about?

@someguysomeone3543 5 күн бұрын

Rome reached new peaks under their rule, the marcomanni invaded the empire first so obviously Marcus Aurelius would go to war against them.

@thecat5872 5 күн бұрын

@@someguysomeone3543 understandable however as an avid reader of ancient history and migration we now know most if not all supposed barbarians were fleeing adverse weather and other aggressive tribes of barbarians such as the Goths running from the Huns. With that being said they weren’t invaders or raiders at all, they were seeking help if not salvation from the Roman empire

@thecat5872 5 күн бұрын

@@gregputman it’s true Antonius didn’t persecute early Christian’s but he most certainly did not support their religion and offered no protection from what we would call carpetbaggers who preyed on them because of their outlawed status , like I said, no friend to the early Christians. There’s a great film about Antonius and Christianity. Androcles and the Lion check it if u can find it, Cheers