Monarchs of Rome and Byzantium

Born Gaius Octavius, heir of Julius Caesar, he won the civil wars and became the first Roman emperor, styling himself princeps...

The Bulgar Slayer, under whom Byzantium reached its greatest medieval extent from Italy to Armenia. He campaigned every year...

First Christian Roman emperor, who credited a vision before his victory at the Milvian Bridge in 312 for his win and took control...

The last Roman emperor, who refused surrender when the armies of Mehmed II closed on Constantinople in the spring of 1453. He...

The last emperor to speak Latin as a first language, he recoded all Roman law in the Corpus Juris Civilis, the foundation of most...

Philosopher king, author of the Meditations written on campaign, the private stoic reflections still widely read. He spent much...

Last of the Julio-Claudians, remembered for extravagance and tyranny, though the surviving histories were written by hostile...

Optimus Princeps, the best of princes. He conquered Dacia in two wars, commemorated on his column in Rome, and his later war...