10 Spectacular Books about the Roman Emperor for You Now
Book ListsThe most powerful person in history? Bloodthirsty tyrant? Check out our curation of 10 of the best books on the emperor of Rome.
Links to purchase or find a copy in your library are available for each book listing. (Note: books are listed in reverse-chronological order).
For more Roman book lists, check out our book list on Ancient Rome or Roman slavery or our other book lists.
1. Beard, Mary. Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World. Liveright, 2023.
Publisher Description
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome, from its slightly shabby Iron Age origins to its reign as the undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean. Now, drawing on more than thirty years of teaching and writing about Roman history, Beard turns to the emperors who ruled the Roman Empire, beginning with Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) and taking us through the nearly three centuries—and some thirty emperors—that separate him from the boy-king Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE).
Yet Emperor of Rome is not your typical chronological account of Roman rulers, one emperor after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Instead, Beard asks different, often larger and more probing questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? What kind of jokes did Augustus tell? And for that matter, what really happened, for example, between the emperor Hadrian and his beloved Antinous? Effortlessly combining the epic with the quotidian, Beard tracks the emperor down at home, at the races, on his travels, even on his way to heaven.
Along the way, Beard explores Roman fictions of imperial power, overturning many of the assumptions that we hold as gospel, not the least of them the perception that emperors one and all were orchestrators of extreme brutality and cruelty. Here Beard introduces us to the emperor’s wives and lovers, rivals and slaves, court jesters and soldiers, and the ordinary people who pressed begging letters into his hand—whose chamber pot disputes were adjudicated by Augustus, and whose budgets were approved by Vespasian, himself the son of a tax collector.
With its finely nuanced portrayal of sex, class, and politics, Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman fantasies (and our own) about what it was to be Roman at its richest, most luxurious, most extreme, most powerful, and most deadly, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.
Author
Mary Beard is the author of the best-selling The Fires of Vesuvius and the National Book Critics Circle Award–nominated Confronting the Classics and SPQR. A popular blogger and television personality, Beard is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. She lives in England.
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2. Hekster, Olivier. Caesar Rules: The Emperor in the Changing Roman World (c. 50 BC – AD 565). Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Publisher Description
For centuries, Roman emperors ruled a vast empire. Yet, at least officially, the emperor did not exist. No one knew exactly what titles he possessed, how he could be portrayed, what exactly he had to do, or how the succession was organised. Everyone knew, however, that the emperor held ultimate power over the empire. There were also expectations about what he should do and be, although these varied throughout the empire and also evolved over time. How did these expectations develop and change? To what degree could an emperor deviate from prevailing norms? And what role did major developments in Roman society – such as the rise of Christianity or the choice of Constantinople as the new capital – play in the ways in which emperors could exercise their rule? This ambitious and engaging book describes the surprising stability of the Roman Empire over more than six centuries of history.
Author
OLIVIER HEKSTER is Professor of Ancient History at the Radboud Institute for Culture and History, Radboud University Nijmegen. He is chair of the international network ‘Impact of Empire’, and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Academia Europaea. His publications include Emperors and Ancestors. Roman Power and the Constraints of Tradition (2015).
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3. Strauss, Barry S. Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine. Simon & Schuster, 2020.
Publisher Description
Bestselling classical historian Barry Strauss delivers “an exceptionally accessible history of the Roman Empire…much of Ten Caesars reads like a script for Game of Thrones” (The Wall Street Journal)—a summation of three and a half centuries of the Roman Empire as seen through the lives of ten of the most important emperors, from Augustus to Constantine.
In this essential and “enlightening” (The New York Times Book Review) work, Barry Strauss tells the story of the Roman Empire from rise to reinvention, from Augustus, who founded the empire, to Constantine, who made it Christian and moved the capital east to Constantinople.
During these centuries Rome gained in splendor and territory, then lost both. By the fourth century, the time of Constantine, the Roman Empire had changed so dramatically in geography, ethnicity, religion, and culture that it would have been virtually unrecognizable to Augustus. Rome’s legacy remains today in so many ways, from language, law, and architecture to the seat of the Roman Catholic Church. Strauss examines this enduring heritage through the lives of the men who shaped it: Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, Vespasian, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Diocletian, and Constantine. Over the ages, they learned to maintain the family business—the government of an empire—by adapting when necessary and always persevering no matter the cost.
Ten Caesars is a “captivating narrative that breathes new life into a host of transformative figures” (Publishers Weekly). This “superb summation of four centuries of Roman history, a masterpiece of compression, confirms Barry Strauss as the foremost academic classicist writing for the general reader today” (The Wall Street Journal).
Author
Barry Strauss is a professor of history and classics at Cornell University, The Corliss Page Dean Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a leading expert on ancient military history. He has written or edited several books, including The Battle of Salamis, The Trojan War, The Spartacus War, Masters of Command, The Death of Caesar, and Ten Caesars. Visit BarryStrauss.com.
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4. Potter, David. The Emperors of Rome: The Story of Imperial Rome from Julius Caesar to the Last Emperor. Quercus Publishing, 2016.
Publisher Description
The Emperors of Rome charts the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through profiles of the greatest and most notorious of the emperors, from the autocratic Augustus to the feeble Claudius, the vicious Nero to the beneficent Marcus Aurelius, through to the maniac Commodus and beyond. Interwoven with these are vivid descriptions of sports and art, political intrigues and historic events.
In this entertaining and erudite work, acclaimed classical scholar David Potter brings Imperial Rome, and the lives of the men who ruled it, to vivid life.
Author
David Potter is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Greek and Latin in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Victor’s Crown, also published by Quercus.
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5. Potter, David. Constantine the Emperor. Oxford University Press, 2015.
Publisher Description
No Roman emperor had a greater impact on the modern world than did Constantine. The reason is not simply that he converted to Christianity, but that he did so in a way that brought his subjects along after him. Indeed, this major new biography argues that Constantine’s conversion is but one feature of a unique administrative style that enabled him to take control of an empire beset by internal rebellions and external threats by Persians and Goths. The vast record of Constantine’s administration reveals a government careful in its exercise of power but capable of ruthless, even savage, actions. Constantine executed (or drove to suicide) his father-in-law, two brothers-in-law, his eldest son, and his once beloved wife. An unparalleled general throughout his life, planning a major assault on the Sassanian Empire in Persia even on his deathbed. Alongside the visionary who believed that his success came from the direct intervention of his God resided an aggressive warrior, a sometimes cruel partner, and an immensely shrewd ruler. These characteristics combined together in a long and remarkable career, which restored the Roman Empire to its former glory.
Beginning with his first biographer Eusebius, Constantine’s image has been subject to distortion. More recent revisions include John Carroll’s view of him as the intellectual ancestor of the Holocaust (Constantine’s Sword) and Dan Brown’s presentation of him as the man who oversaw the reshaping of Christian history (The Da Vinci Code). In Constantine the Emperor, David Potter confronts each of these skewed and partial accounts to provide the most comprehensive, authoritative, and readable account of Constantine’s extraordinary life.
Author
David Potter is Francis W. Kelsey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Roman History and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. His books include Theodora, The Victor’s Crown, Emperors of Rome, and Ancient Rome: A New History.
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6. Goldsworthy, Adrian Keith. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome. Yale University Press, 2014.
Publisher Description
The dramatic story of Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, who plunged into Rome’s violent power struggles at the age of nineteen, proceeded to destroy all rivals, and more than anyone else created the Roman Empire “A fascinating study of political life in ancient Rome.”—Nick Romeo, Christian Science Monitor
Caesar Augustus’ story, one of the most riveting in Western history, is filled with drama and contradiction, risky gambles and unexpected success. Thrusting himself into Rome’s extremely violent politics while yet a very young man, Augustus skillfully maneuvered his way through twisting alliances during years of civil war. Named heir to the murdered Julius Caesar, he outwitted and outlasted far more experienced rivals like Antony and Brutus. Ruling supreme, he reinvented himself as a benevolent man of peace and created a new system of government.
In this highly anticipated biography Goldsworthy puts his deep knowledge of ancient sources to full use, recounting the events of Augustus’ long life in greater detail than ever before. Goldsworthy pins down the man behind the myths: a consummate manipulator, propagandist, and showman, both generous and ruthless. Under Augustus’ rule the empire prospered, yet his success was never assured and the events of his life unfolded with exciting unpredictability. Goldsworthy captures the passion and savagery, the public image and private struggles of the real man whose epic life continues to influence Western history.
Author
Adrian Goldsworthy is a leading historian of the ancient world and author of acclaimed biographies of Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra among many other books. He lectures widely and consults on historical documentaries produced by the History Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC. He lives in the Vale of Glamorgan, UK.
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7. Scarre, Chris. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome. Thames & Hudson, 2012.
Publisher Description
The essential dual-purpose book on imperial Rome: a highly readable popular history and a unique work of reference.
This is the first book to focus on the succession of rulers of imperial Rome, using timelines and other visual aids throughout. Now no one need be in any doubt as to who built the Colosseum or when Rome was sacked by the Goths: Chronicle of the Roman Emperors provides the answers quickly and authoritatively.
The biographical portraits of the principal emperors from Augustus to Constantine, together with a concluding section on the later emperors, make the book a comprehensive history of imperial Rome. Colorful contemporary judgments by writers such as Suetonius and Tacitus are balanced by judicious character assessments made in the light of modern research. The famous and the infamous―Caligula and Claudius, Trajan and Caracalla―receive their due, while lesser names emerge clearly from the shadows for the first time.
In addition to timelines detailing major events, each emperor is introduced by a coin portrait, a bust, and a datafile listing key information, such as name at birth, full imperial titles, and place and manner of death.
111 color, 217 b&w
Author
Chris Scarre is emeritus professor of archaeology at the University of Durham and was head of its archaeology department from 2010 to 2013. He is editor of The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies and author of numerous books, including The Megalithic Monuments of Britain and Ireland and Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome.
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8. Sommer, Michael. The Complete Roman Emperor: Imperial Life at Court and on Campaign. Thames & Hudson, 2010.
Publisher Description
The most comprehensive and detailed book ever published on the Roman emperor and his world.
The eighty-five emperors who ruled Rome for five centuries are among the most famous and notorious leaders in history. But what do we really know about how they ran the empire and their behind-the-scenes machinations? How did they manage relations with their wives, courtiers, and officials? How indeed did they rise to the purple in the first place?
Organized thematically, this intriguing and enlightening book covers everything from the establishment of the role of emperor by Augustus to imperial building projects in Rome and Constantinople and the emperors on campaign. A day in the life of an emperor reveals that Vespasian started work before dawn, while Constantine read the Bible. Morning audiences hearing petitioners’ pleas and lawsuits were followed perhaps by a modest lunch of bread, fish, cheese, and figs (Augustus), an afternoon spent on correspondence or with concubines (Vespasian), or a lavish evening dinner (Nero showered his guests with flowers and perfume).
Hardy emperors such as Trajan, who imagined himself as a new Alexander, or Septimius Severus, who marched huge distances on foot with the legions, are contrasted with dissolute rulers such as Nero, who was said never to travel without a retinue of one hundred coaches. Above all, the book charts the immense changes over time, from the original “emperor as first among equals” to the soldier emperors of the third century, the aloof superhuman figures of Constantine’s era, and the weak, passive rulers of Rome’s decline and fall.
SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE • Information boxes on subjects ranging from the Roman Triumph to the empress Julia Domna • An extensive reference section including biographies of all the emperors • 150 color and 50 black-and-white illustrations
Author
Michael Sommer teaches Roman history at the University of Liverpool, England.
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9. Grant, Michael. The Roman Emperors: A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Imperial Rome 31 B.C. – A.D. 476. Barnes & Noble Books, 1997.
Publisher Description
The Roman emperors uses ancient writings, coins, medallions, inscriptions and archaeology to fill in the gaps in our knowledge about the Roman Emperors. The result is a collection of biographical cameos, illustrated throughout with contemporary portraits, of all the emperors to the demise of the Empire.
Author
Michael Grant was an English classicist, numismatist, and author of numerous books on ancient history.
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10. Millar, Fergus. Emperor in the Roman World. New edition. Bristol Classical Press, 1992. (Originally published 1977)
Publisher Description
This book offers a large scale reassessment of the function of Roman emperor over three centuries (from Augustus to Constantine) and of the social realities of this exercise of power. Concentrating on the patterns of communication between the emperor and his subjects, the author shows that such communications were normally initiated by the subjects – whether grouped in cities or other associations, or individually and that the emperor fulfilled his role primarily by making responses to them or giving decisions or verdicts between them.
The book casts new light on a number of detailed historical questions such as the sources of the emperor’s wealth and the ways he spent it; the imperial residences and the mobility of the court; and the relatively small and simple entourage that the emperor needed to perform his functions. But above all, it emphasizes two major historical themes: the steady detachment of the emperor from the republican institutions of the city of Rome; and the way in which relations between Emperor and Church were shaped by the emperor’s long-standing relations with cities, temples and associations in the pagan world.
Drawing on a wide range of evidence, from literature and legal writings to inscriptions and papyri, the main text can be read without any knowledge o f Latin or Greek.
Author
Sir Fergus Millar is Emeritus Camden Professor of Ancient History, University of Oxford, UK, and a Fellow of the British Academy, which awarded him the Kenyon Medal of Classics in 2005. Millar numbers among the most influential historians of ancient Greece and Rome.
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