Who was the best Roman emperor? (Combine courage, conquerings, nobility, virtue, leadership, age and experience)

I assume (cynically) the one who committed the least number of crimes. :p

I have a highly individual definition of 'best', so: Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula).

A bit naughty, but in a fun way.

i think there were way to many brilliant emperors to pick an outstanding one, if i had to pick i would go for augustus as he was the first true emperor and made the roman empire, that said there were other great emperor such as claudius, traijen and hadrean, sorry about spelling btw, and also julius

I've been reading this book entitled A History of Rome lately (rereading, actually), and what it has to say about Augustus's position and power within the Roman world during his reign is very interesting.

When you study the structure of the Julio-Claudian Principate, as opposed to the later emperors, mostly starting with Vespasian but culminating in the Byzantine emperors, you find that the title princeps more closley resembles the titles fuhrer and duce used by Hitler and Mussolini, respectively. In other words, the position occupied by the early emperors was one which put them outside of the constitutional structure of the Roman government.

so who is your pick jaster

Well, I would obviously say Augustus, since it is my contention that the Roman Imperial structure depended entirely on his personality. You see, the Principate as begun by Augustus really was a personality cult, much like Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The difference is that it survived (because it had the kind of hegemony that both of these governments desired), and that Augustus dominated political life in Rome (I hesitate to say "ruled", or "reigned" any longer, since it was much more subtle that that) for long enough that he was concerned with his succession.

Despite this, though, it is quite clear that the Principate depended entirely on Augustus, and that after his death the regime was half-heartedly continuing (often under incompetent leadership) until the Flavians replaced it under Vespasian. We call them dynasties, acting as if they constituted some kind of monarchy... but I would say that the regimes more closely resembled the Nazi regime (in it's political structure and subtly, not in it's policies, of course) than, say, the Bourbons of France, or the Plantagenet kings of England.

It's a new idea for me, but if you read the Wikipedia article on auctoritas, then you can understand why I am starting to think the way I am:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auctoritas

My personal opinion is Trajan. If I had a second choice, I'd say Augustus Caesar.

whats your reasoning?

Marcus Aurelius is my pick, with Hadrian as a close second.

I would have to go with Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major

for the simple fact that he refused the fiance of a carthaginian tribal cheif and had her returned to him in a time of war.

That's what the Romans described as a true Roman. This man was it.

Among many victories he was just an overall good person and held the office of Consul.

if was to have made a guess at the start of this thread it would have been that most people picked augustus or one of the 5 good emperors

Emperor Vespasian. Given little recognition, yet managed to buy the Roman Empire a couple more centuries of stability and glory. Had it not been for him, the Roman Empire would have collapsed due to a bloody civil war.

Caligula.

Emperor Vespasian. Given little recognition, yet managed to buy the Roman Empire a couple more centuries of stability and glory. Had it not been for him, the Roman Empire would have collapsed due to a bloody civil war.
and started the collosieum

I'd say Augustus. Marcus Aurelius and Vespasian are close seconds.

Charlemagne is also a good choice, depending on how wide you define "Roman Emperor".

thedevil:

and started the collosieum

I WAS going to mention that. But I thought that that was sort of incidental, when compared with saving an entire Empire from imploding in on itself!

dont underestimate it

Amazed nobody has mentioned good old "I" Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Caesar Augustus Germanicus Brittanicus). He had to rebuild the empire finances after Gaius Caligula had pissed it all away, rebuild the senate after Caligula and Tiberius before him had decimated it. He built a great aqueduct and made Ostia a proper harbour for Rome, thus stopping the starvation winters.

Robert Graves's theory was that, the son of a Republican, Claudius had been a Republican himself, i.e. he was an anti-monarchical Emperor! And after discovering that his wife Messalina had re-filled the city with corruption, he decided to let Rome have a puppet emperor (himself) and a bad emperor (his successor Nero) and between the two of them turn Rome off the empire and return to Republican government for good!

It didn't work, of course, due to the above-mentioned (and excellent) Vespasian.

Amazed nobody has mentioned good old "I" Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Caesar Augustus Germanicus Brittanicus). He had to rebuild the empire finances after Gaius Caligula had pissed it all away, rebuild the senate after Caligula and Tiberius before him had decimated it. He built a great aqueduct and made Ostia a proper harbour for Rome, thus stopping the starvation winters.

Robert Graves's theory was that, the son of a Republican, Claudius had been a Republican himself, i.e. he was an anti-monarchical Emperor! And after discovering that his wife Messalina had re-filled the city with corruption, he decided to let Rome have a puppet emperor (himself) and a bad emperor (his successor Nero) and between the two of them turn Rome off the empire and return to Republican government for good!

It didn't work, of course, due to the above-mentioned (and excellent) Vespasian.

i think there were way to many brilliant emperors to pick an outstanding one, if i had to pick i would go for augustus as he was the first true emperor and made the roman empire, that said there were other great emperor such as claudius, traijen and hadrean, sorry about spelling btw, and also julius

i mentioned him early in the thread