Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus(AD 15 – AD 68) Nero was born at Antium (Anzio) on 15 December AD 37 and was first named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. He was the son of Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was descended from a distinguished noble family of the Roman republic (a Domitius Ahenobarbus is known to have been consul …
Tiberius Claudius DrususNero Germanicus(10 BC – AD 54) Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus was born in Lugdunum (Lyon) in 10 BC, as the youngest son of Nero Drusus (Tiberius’ brother) and of Antonia the younger (who was the daughter of Marc Antony and Octavia). Suffering from ill-health and an alarming lack of social skills, for …
Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus(AD 12 – AD 41) Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus was the third son of Germanicus (nephew of Tiberius) and Agrippina the elder and was born at Antium in AD 12. It was during his stay with his parents on the German frontier, when he was between two and four, that his miniature …
Tiberius Claudius Nero(42 BC – AD 37) Tiberius was born in 42 BC, the son of the aristocratic Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. When Tiberius was two, his father had to flee Rome from the second triumvirate (Octavian, Lepidus, Mark Antony) because of his republican beliefs (he had fought against Octavian in the civil …
Augustus Caesar was the first emperor of the Roman Empire and is famous not only for that fact but also because of the impressive groundwork he laid for all future emperors. Beyond this, he was also a very capable administrator of the Roman state, learning much from his advisors like Marcus Agrippa, as well as …
Nowhere does the Roman talent for organization show itself so clearly as in its army. The story of the Roman army is an extensive one, demonstrated in part by the scale of this chapter. The first part of this chapter considers the history of the Roman army (concentrating on the legions), trying to explain as …