10 Tough Questions about Roman Emperors

Answer: Caligula

Gaius Iulius Caesar, despite the last part of his name, never was an emperor. He tried though, but 26 or 27 stabs (I'll not start that discussion again) ended his ambitions. Augustus may have been poisoned by his dear wife Livia. Tiberius may have been strangled by his successor Caligula, although it's probably just a rumour. Caligula was the man you were looking for.

Interestingly, his name refers to a little boot of a soldier.

Answer: Claudius

Agrippina had a son, Nero, from her marriage with Lucius Domitius, nicknamed Ahenobarbus (with the red beard). She wanted him on the throne, before Britannicus, the son of her new husband, turned 14 and was designated as successor to his father. That father was Claudius. You may know him as Clau-Clau-Claudius.

Answer: Vitellius

Galba was the emperor who succeeded Nero. He was killed by Otho. Otho committed suicide to avoid a battle against Vitellius. When Vespasianus showed up near Rome, the terrified Vitellius hid in his office, behind his own mattress. To no great success ...

Answer: Commodus

Commodus was our beloved monster. According to the movie 'Gladiator' he strangled his own father Marcus Aurelius, but that's just fiction. But in the end his opponents got at him. Narcissus killed him while he was in his bath. Not surprising, really: he used to take up to eight showers a day. Verus was his uncle and Pertinax was a rebellious general of those days.

Answer: Caracalla

Poor Caracalla. Septimius Severus was his father, who died peacefully in York. Caracalla and his brother Geta co-ruled for two years, until Caracalla got fed up with his brother and stabbed him to death (their mother was present at the scene and did nothing to prevent it). Elagabalus was a complete nut: he collected cobwebs, sank his own fleet and entered the senate naked, in a wheelbarrow drawn by naked women.

Answer: Carus

Carus was emperor for 11 months 282-2383 AD. that man.

Answer: Numerianus

Diocletianus, Constantinus and Theodosius are generally considered well-known emperors. Numerianus was the one. He had not yet chosen a successor, so his general Dicoletianus (real Greek name: Diokles) took the opportunity. He accused the dead emperor's brother-in-law of murder and instantly executed the poor, innocent fellow.

After that everyone accepted him as the new emperor. Guess why!

Answer: Iovianus or Jovian

After the death of Constantius II, Iulianus took control of the empire. This pagan emperor tried to restore peace both within the empire and at the borders. He had minor successes against the Persians but he was killed in action. Iovianus was his successor, for want of any serious candidate.

When he died, Valentianus took over. Other theories about Iovianus' death are: he was poisoned, he inhaled fumes of a fire, he had a heart-attack.

Answer: Procopius

You didn't really believe there was anyone named Bombasticus in Rome, did you? Valens had Procopius killed because of his rebellion. Procopius' generals were merely sawn in pieces. After Valens had died, Theodosius became the last emperor of the unified empire.

Answer: Zeno

There was only one philosopher named Plato (actually his name was Aristocles, Plato being his nickname) and no emperor by that name. However, there were two philosophical Zeno's (Zeno of Citium and Zeno of Elea) and one emperor named Zeno (althought he was born a barbarian with the name Tarasicodissa! I kid you not) Anthemius and Romulus Augustulus were emperors of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus actually being the last one of his kind.

He was 7 years old, when a Gothic warlord deposed him and seized control over Italy. Hope you enjoyed the quiz.