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Septimius Severus (145-211 CE) was born in the Roman province of Africa, and advanced steadily through the customary succession of offices (the 'cursus honorum') during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. He was governor of Pannonia Superior when word of Pertniax's murder and Didius Julianus' accession reached him in 193 CE.<br/><br/> In response to Julianus' controversial accession through buying the emperorship in an auction, many rivals rose up and declared themselves emperor, with Severus being one of them, beginning what was known as the Year of the Five Emperors. Hurrying to Rome, Severus executed Julianus, and then fought his rival claimants for control of the Empire. By 197 CE, he was the sole power in the Empire, and began once more waging war to expand the borders of the Empire.<br/><br/> Severus fell ill in late 210 CE, fatally so, and died in early 211 CE. He was succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta, founding the Severan dynasty, the last dynasty of the Roman Empire before the Crisis of the Third Century.
Natural son and heir of Emperor Vespasian, Titus was a member of the Flavian dynasty, the first Roman emperor to succeed his own biological father. Titus, like his father, had earned much renown as a military commander, especially during the First Jewish-Roman war.<br/><br/> When his father left to claim the imperial throne after Nero's death, Titus was left behind to end the Jewish rebellion, which occurred in 70 CE with the siege and sacking of Jerusalem. The Arch of Titus was built in honour of his destruction of the city. He was also known for his controversial relationship with the Jewish queen Berenice.<br/><br/> Under his father, her served as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, and he was known as a good emperor after his accession. As emperor, he is most endearingly known for his completion of the Colosseum, started by his father, and his efforts in relieving the destruction caused by eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE and a fire in Rome in 80 CE. Titus only served for two years before dying of a fever in 81 CE, and was deified by the Roman Senate before being succeeded by his younger brother, Domitian.
Born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero was the only son of Agrippina the Younger, who would later marry his great-uncle Emperor Claudius. Claudius adopted Nero and was made heir and successor alongside Claudius' own son Brittanicus. Nero acceded to the throne after Claudius' death in 54 CE, possibly poisoned at the hands of Nero's mother.<br/><br/> Nero's reign is infamous for his corruption, tyranny and extravagance, as well as his many executions, including that of his mother and the poisoning of his stepbrother Britannicus soon after the start of his rule. His most infamous mark on history however, is his presumed starting of the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE, which caused widespread destruction and was intentionally done to clear space for Nero's planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea.<br/><br/> In 68 CE, Nero was driven from the throne by rebellion, and he committed suicide that same year. With his death came the the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, leading to the tumultuous period known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
Caesar Augustus (63 BCE– 14 CE), also known as Octavian, was the first and among the most important of the Roman Emperors.<br/><br/> Augustus' most visible impact on everyday culture is the eighth month of the year, which was renamed in Augustus' honor in 8 BCE because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, occurred during this month.
Geta (189-211 CE) was the younger son of Emperor Septimius Severus, born in Rome during the reign of Emperor Commodus. Geta fought often with his older brother Caracalla, and would require the mediation of their mother Julia Domna. Septimius Severus named Geta 'Augustus' in 209, making him a co-emperor alongside Caracalla, who had been named co-emperor over 10 years ago, in 198 CE.<br/><br/> Septimius Severus died in early 211 CE, with Geta and Caracalla declared joint emperors and ordered back to Rome. Their hatred and rivalry of one another did not abate though, and there were even talks about splitting the empire in two halves so that they could rule peacefully, before their mother talked them out of it. The situation became so hostile that Carcalla tried to unsuccessfully murder Geta once, before finally succeeding a second time when he had his mother arrange a peace meeting and having his centurions murder Geta in his mother's arms.<br/><br/> After Geta's death, Caracalla had him declared 'damnatio memoriae', with every statue, portrait or painting of him destroyed, and his very name was banned from being spoken or written. Over 20,000 people were killed on Caracalla's orders after he attempted to remove any political enemies and those he considered allies of Geta.