Five Good Emperors

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--> The "Five Good Emperors" (sometimes erroneously called the Nervan-Antonian Dynasty, which is actually a conflation of the Nervo-Trajanic and Antonine dynasties, including Commodus) were a series of five emperors of the Roman Empire who ruled from 96 to 180. They were known for their moderate policies, in contrast to their more tyrannical and oppressive successor; they also ruled at the height of the Empire's prosperity during the Pax Romana.

These emperors were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius

Among the Roman emperors, the period of the five good emperors was particularly notable for the peaceful method of succession. Each emperor chose his successor by adopting an heir, thus preventing the political turmoil associated with the succession both before and after this period. The naming by Marcus Aurelius of his son Commodus as heir proved to be an unfortunate choice, and the end of the Pax Romana.

Marcus Aurelius was a good emperor because he was well known as a Stoic philosopher.

If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus. The vast extent of the Roman Empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom. The armies were restrained by the firm but gentle hand of four successive emperors, whose characters and authority commanded respect. The forms of the civil administration were carefully preserved by Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, who delighted in the image of liberty, and were pleased with considering themselves as the accountable ministers of the laws. Such princes deserved the honour of restoring the republic had the Romans of their days been capable of enjoying a rational freedom. — The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

However, more recent historians, while agreeing with many of the details of this analysis, would not entirely agree with Gibbon's praise of this period. There were more people under the rule of these emperors than the few affluent individuals whose lives are mentioned or recorded in the historical record. A large fraction of the rest were farmers or their dependents, who lived their lives always at the whim of avaricious government officials, or unrestrained bandits, no less during the reign of these "Good Emperors" than before or after. The extent to which these people suffered or were happy continues to be a subject of historical debate.

Though these emperors are considered the five good emperors, many other Roman emperors had a positive effect on the empire. Augustus is also considered one of the best Roman emperors but is not included in the Five Good Emperors because of the time of his reign.

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Period = from:90 till:190 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:90 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:5 start:95

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align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,black) shift:(0,-5)

bar:barre1
from:    96   till:  98   color:purple   text:Nerva
from:    98   till:  117  color:yellow   text:Trajan
from:    117  till:  138  color:blue     text:Hadrian
from:    138  till:  161  color:red      text:Antoninus Pius
from:    161  till:  180  color:green    text:Marcus Aurelius]

Roman Emperors by Epoch
see also: List of Roman Emperors · Concise List of Roman Emperors · Roman Empire

Principate Crisis of the
3rd Century Dominate Late Empire

Julio-Claudian dynasty
Four Emperors 68–69
Flavian dynasty
*Five Good Emperors
Six Emperors 192–193
Severan dynasty

Barracks
Emperors
Illyrian
Emperors

Gallic
Emperors

Tetrarchies

Constantinian
dynasty
Valentinian
dynasty

Britannic
Emperors
Theodosian
dynasty
Emperors of the
Western Empire
Byzantine
Emperors

→ (In Italy:)

Barbarian kings

→ (Much later in Western Europe:)

Holy Roman Emperors

→ (Continuing in Eastern Europe:)

Byzantine Emperors

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Five Good Emperors

See also