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On this day in AD 31 the Praetorian Prefect Sejanus was executed.

Sejanus rose to power and great influence as the prefect of the Praetorians, the imperial bodyguard, under the emperor Tiberius.

On this day in AD 54, the Roman emperor Claudius died at Rome

Tradition holds the Praetorian guard made him emperor when they found him quivering behind a curtain, reasoning that he wouldn’t be too ruthless in power.

On this day in AD 4 Augustus organised the imperial succession

Tiberius was very much Augustus’ reserve choice for the succession…

On this day in AD 192, the Roman emperor Commodus was murdered.

The emperor was strangled in his bath by Narcissus, a wrestler who was tasked with the deed by a small group of conspirators.

On this day in 3BC the Roman emperor Galba was born

Galba was born into an ancient and noble family, the Sulpicii, at a country villa near the town of Tarracina (around 50 miles southeast of Rome).

On this day in AD 37, the Roman emperor Nero was born at Antium, in Italy

The emperor who supposedly fiddle while Rome burned…

On this day in AD 30, the Roman emperor Nerva was born in Narnia.

That’s the the Italian town of Narnia, in Umbria, of course.

On this day in AD14 Rome’s first emperor, Augustus, died aged 76 (Part II)

Text by Mike Welbourn Image © Mint Imperial In the first part we looked at Augustus’ rise to power. In this second part, we look at his time as emperor. Augustus thus came to enjoy an unassailable and unimpeachably legal pre-eminence. Beyond establishing a long period of peace and stability after decades of civil war, Augustus undertook …

On this day in AD14 Rome’s first emperor, Augustus, died aged 76 (Part I)

Text by Mike Welbourn Image © Mint Imperial In this first part we look at Augustus’ rise to power. In the second part, we will look at his time as emperor. Augustus had risen to power in the aftermath of the assassination in 44 BC of his great-uncle and adoptive father, the dictator Julius Caesar. In concert with Marc Antony, …