Search Results: Year of the Four Emperors

During the Year of the Four Emperors (69 CE), the fight between Vitellius and Vespasian would ultimately bring about the demise of four legions, the XV Primigenia, I Germanica, IIII Macedonica, and XVI Gallia. All four of these legions had...

Vitellius was Roman emperor from April to December 69 CE. Vitellius was the third of the four emperors who ruled the Roman Empire in the year 69 CE. One of his predecessors, Galba, who had replaced the fallen Emperor Nero, was murdered by...

Vespasian was Roman emperor from 69 to 79 CE. Vespasian was the last of the four emperors who governed the Roman Empire in the year 69 CE. The previous three had died either by murder or suicide. Unlike Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian...

Otho was Roman emperor from January to April 69 CE. Immediately after the assassination of Galba, Otho, the governor of Lusitania, was proclaimed emperor by the army. However, the unrest that existed in the short reign of Galba would spell...

Galba was Roman emperor from June 68 to January 69 CE. With the death of Emperor Nero on June 9, 68 CE, the Julio-Claudian dynasty officially ended, leaving the Roman Empire without a clear successor to the throne. With the assistance of...

The “Barracks Emperors” is a term coined by later historians referring to the Roman emperors who were chosen and supported by the army during the period known as the Crisis of the Third Century (also known as the Imperial Crisis, 235-284...

A poster with facial reconstructions of Roman emperors who ruled during the Principate, from the reign of Augustus (r. 27 BCE-14 CE) to Carinus (r. 283-285 CE). These photorealistic reconstructions are only best guesses at how their subjects...

Batavian revolt was a rebellion of the Batavians against the Romans in 69-70 CE. After initial successes by their commander Julius Civilis, the Batavians were ultimately defeated by the Roman general Quintus Petillius Cerialis. The year...

When Maximinus Thrax was named Roman emperor upon the death of Alexander Severus, the news was not well-received by many in Rome and the Roman Senate considered him an illiterate barbarian. His financial excesses, principally used to fund...

A map illustrating the fluctuation of powers in the Roman Empire during 69 CE (also known as The Year of the Four Emperors,) a turbulent period in Roman history that involved the rapid succession of Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian as...