Italy: Icon of Nerva Caesar (30-98 CE), 12th Roman emperor, from the book Icones imperatorvm romanorvm (Icons of Roman Emperors), Antwerp, c. 1645

Born in 30 CE, Marcus Cocceius Nerva (30-98 CE) was a member of Italian nobility rather than Roman elite, though the Cocceii were still one of the most esteemed and influential political families of the late Republic and early Empire.

Nerva served much of his imperial service under Nero and the Flavian dynasty, and when Domitian was assassinated in 96 CE by a conspiracy of freedmen and Praetorian Guard, Nerva was declared emperor by the Roman senate. This marked the first time the Senate had ever elected an emperor. He was sixty-five when he became emperor, and one of his main goals was to restore liberties to the senate that had been curtailed during Domitian's autocratic rule.

Nerva's very brief reign was hindered by various problems, and a revolt in in 97 CE by the Praetorian Guard forced him to adopt an heir of their choosing, Trajan. Nerva died of natural causes after barely fifteen months in office, and was succeeded and deified by Trajan. He was known as a wise and moderate emperor, who ensured a peaceful transition of power after his death, and was the first of the 'Five Good Emperors'.

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