Augustus's Mistakes

Rome had seen many leaders step up to the plate in order to rule over Rome with absolute power. There were many who only wanted to exercise their power over the people, those who only wanted the army’s strength, and those who only wanted to advance the senate and laws than help the people or watch the army. However, there were a few emperors who were able to rise above these issues and bring about a seemingly peaceful time in Rome. I have chosen the three, in my opinion, best emperors of Rome, who were able to take command of Rome and make a huge impact. The three emperors that I chose were Trajan, Hadrian, and last but not least Augustus.

Augustus was one of the best emperors due to the fact that he learned well from the mistakes of those

Augustus wanted the Roman people to have children, he saw the declining population as a threat to Rome and wanted to fix it in the best way he could. Many could argue that forcing people to have children, and as many as they could, was intrusive to the private lives of the Roman people; if looked at closely, Augustus was only concerned for Rome. He was also willing to pay everyone one for the amount of children they raised. It would actually benefit a family that was very large since they would get money depending on how many children they had. Despite Augustus’ intrusive law he was still well loved by the people of Rome so much that when he resigned from consulship he was begged to come back, there were even riots against his resignation. Augustus was a extremely well known figure in history and that is because he was known for the “[p]eace within the empire [that] was counted [as] the greatest blessing,” (192.) He was always concerned with the welfare of the people, the laws of Rome, and the fact that power should not be flaunted around. This highlights Augustus’ strong points as an emperor of Rome, and all the things he did for Rome that changed it

He was the successor to Trajan and in many ways kept with his reformer mind set and peaceful outlook in life. Unlike Trajan and even Augustus, he chose to keep the Roman Empire smaller rather than continue to expand. This doesn’t mean that he could not protect Rome and its citizens, he was in fact well versed in dealing with the military. However, he did have the similar problem that Trajan had had before, and that was the Jewish revolts. They were worse under Hardian due to his Greco-Roman culture push on the people, but that still doesn’t take away from the fact that he was an amazing emperor. Hardian was an emperor who truly loved the people of Rome, and this meant everyone. He was known for rarely being in the capital, in fact he traveled “throughout the empire, visiting cities, natural wonders, and troops along the frontier,” (225.) He could have been focused on affairs outside of Rome’s boundaries like many leaders before him, but Hardian genuinely wanted to make Rome a better place from the inside. Which reflected in the time of peace that overcame Rome in his reign, regardless of the Jewish revolts. He took his position of emperor very seriously and felt that the people’s welfare was highly important. He was also known to encourage talented people to help share their talents in