The Julio-Claudian Dynasty: The History and Legacy of the First Family to Rule the Ancient Roman Empire

The importance of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (or as he was known from birth, Gaius Octavius “Octavian” Thurinus) to the course of Western history is hard to overstate. His life, his rise to power, his political, and his social and military achievements all laid the foundations for the creation of an empire which would endure for almost five centuries, and whose traditions, laws, architecture and art continue to influence much of Europe and the world today. Octavian was the first true Roman Emperor, and the first man since the Etruscan Tarquins five centuries earlier to establish a successful hereditary ruling dynasty in what had been a proud Republic for over half a millennium. 

Tiberius’s life soon became caught up with Augustus’s as the emperor worked to found and establish a dynasty, but it is unclear if Tiberius ever really wanted to be part of Augustus’s plans or inherit imperial power - Tiberius was known as a man who schemed and planned, but he was also a scholar and showed a marked desire throughout his life to retreat and escape the demands of power. 

All of Rome’s poor rulers pale in comparison to Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, a young man remembered by posterity as Caligula. Given how bad some of Rome’s emperors were, it’s a testament to just how insane and reviled Caligula was that he is still remembered nearly 2,000 years later as the epitome of everything that could be wrong with a tyrant. 

What makes Claudius such a surprisingly effective emperor, aside from his strange route to power, was that he was considered physically and mentally incompetent for political life. At the same time, Claudius managed to take the throne against the will of the Senate thanks to the support of the Praetorian Guard.

Claudius’s successor, Nero, ranks among the very worst of the Caesars, alongside the likes of mad Caligula, slothful Commodus, and paranoid Domitian.