The first answer is simple: hereditary rule. For most of this period, emperors were not chosen on the basis of their ability or honesty, but simply because they were born in the right family.

100 BC – 44 BC / Reigned 46 – 44 BC) changed the course of Roman history. Although he did not rule for long, he gave Rome fresh hope and a whole dynasty of emperors. Born into an aristocratic ...

Female members of the imperial family, the wives, daughters - and particularly - mothers of Roman emperors are some of the most colourful characters of Rome in the early imperial age; as described ...

The emperor Hadrian was well known for building monuments across the Roman Empire ... known during the imperial period by the Latin name Tibur, would not fill the standard role of the villa ...