Worst Roman Emperors

[LouisJoseph]

Who do you think are the worst roman emperors?

 

[innonimatu]

From that selection, Elagabalus. There is not a single good thing to say about him, that I know. There are good things to say about Caligula and Nero, and perhaps even of Caracalla and Commodus.

 

[Dachs]

Avitus I/Elagabalus is the worst of the choices up there, yeah. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.

I personally would pick either Honorius or Valentinianus III, on the grounds that they both lacked redeeming qualities and, through both action and inaction, both screwed the Roman Empire over in ways that it was difficult, if not impossible, to recover from. Elagabalus' idiocy didn't even come close to destroying the Empire.

 

[RedRalph]

I pick Nero, because he played the fiddle while Rome burned

 

[LightSpectra]

I personally hate Diocletianus the most just because older historians incessantly harp about him "saving the Roman Empire" when that's a bunk of bollocks. But he's far from the worst I suppose, just in the bottom tier.

Of those choices, probably Caligula.

 

[RedRalph]

I pick Nero, because he played the fiddle while Rome burned

Isn't that right, Dachs?

 

[Gruekiller]

The Angelos Dynasty was pretty bad - that is, Isaac II, Alexius III, and Alexius IV.

Unless you just mean Western Roman Emperors.

 

[LouisJoseph]

I pick Nero, because he played the fiddle while Rome burned

Here's my two cents on that. First, Nero played the lyre, not the fiddle. Second, I don't think the fiddle had been invented yet. Third, I'm pretty sure Nero wasn't in Rome at the time of the fire.

 

[Dachs]

Isn't that right, Dachs?

herpaderp

assumed you were just joking; you still are, but I feel bound to respond anyway

Nero's response to the Great Fire of Rome was, by the standards of Roman Emperors, pretty good, actually. He didn't set the fire. He was out of the capital when it happened, but came back quickly and organized relief efforts. And regardless of why the fire started - although such fires were almost a dime a dozen in Rome at that point, because of the city's shoddy construction - he found unpopular scapegoats and had them executed. The whole series of events probably won him more popularity among the urban populace of Rome than anything else he did during his reign.

Of course, using the space "cleared up" by the fire to build monuments and palaces for himself probably erased a lot of that goodwill.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

No hate for Commodus? He shafted a perfectly good general

 

[Dreadnought]

I practically despise Heraclius for letting a silly dream prevent the defense of the Byzantine Levant.

 

[Dachs]

I practically despise Heraclius for letting a silly dream prevent the defense of the Byzantine Levant.

What are you talking about?

 

[Gruekiller]

I require clarification as well.

 

[Masada]

Wiki offers a possible answer. It says that Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari writing in the 830s makes mention of Heraclius having a dream that a cut dude would be victorious against all his enemies. Apparently, Heraclius reveals this dream and some of his 'patricians' tell him to go all Herod-like and behead all the Jews. All this is cleared up when some helpful trader dood told him about Muhammad. Yeah, even were we to accept all that nonsense, I don't see how that lost him teh world.

 

[Dreadnought]

What are you talking about?

I require clarification as well.

Wiki offers a possible answer. It says that Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari writing in the 830s makes mention of Heraclius having a dream that a cut dude would be victorious against all his enemies. Apparently, Heraclius reveals this dream and some of his 'patricians' tell him to go all Herod-like and behead all the Jews. All this is cleared up when some helpful trader dood told him about Muhammad. Yeah, even were we to accept all that nonsense, I don't see how that lost him teh world.

Also, that's why he left command of army operations against the Arabs to his brother Theodore.

 

[Masada]

Seems a stretch to say the least.. not the mention that the whole story seems to be reliant on a single source ctiation written 200 years after the event with oral testimony as the probable base.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Nero gave us Dispensationalists, so I'm going with him.

 

[RedRalph]

I read on the side of a sugar packet that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, so it is true.

Honestly, what type of Emperor plays the fiddle while his city burns. Is there any record of what he was playing? Cotton Eye Joe or something?

 

[flyingchicken]

I read on the side of a sugar packet that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, so it is true.

Honestly, what type of Emperor plays the fiddle while his city burns. Is there any record of what he was playing? Cotton Eye Joe or something?

This is, and I think this is the first time I've ever used this word, weaksauce.

 

[Dreadnought]

This is, and I think this is the first time I've ever used this word, weaksauce.

Agreed. I'm a bit disappointed, too. He's just saying the same thing as in the last thread; he needs more creativity.