Roman Emperors from 26 BC to 395 AD

Data verification is in progress.

Data Notes

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_emperors, cross-checked with all linked pages.

The column headers are described as below:

• index - A serial numbering ID for each emperor
• name - The common name of each emperor
• name.full - The full name of each emperor
• birth - The best estimate or actual date of birth. See Year Issues for more information.
• death - The best estimate or actual date of death. See Year Issues for more information.
• birth.cty - Location of birth by city.
• birth.prv - Location of birth by province.
• rise - Rise to power. See Rise for more information.
• reign.start - The best estimate or actual date of the emperor's start of reign. See Year Issues for more information.
• reign.end - The best estimate or actual date of the emperor's end of reign. See Year Issues for more information.
• cause - Cause of death by mode. See Cause of Death Definitions for more information.
• killer - Who or what caused the death of the emperor. See Killer Definitions for more information.
• dynasty - Which historical dynasty the emperor belonged to.
• era - Which era the emperor belonged to.
• notes - Notes regarding additional information, discrepancies, or potential issues regarding the data.
• verif.who - Information was compiled then vetted to one or more parties for independent checking. This column contains contact information for the person who verified this row of data.

Note: Information that is completely missing from historical sources is left blank.

Year Issues

Since these sources are from ancient texts, there are a certain number of unknown dates. Below are some notes on how birth, death, reign.start, and reign.end. were calculated:

• If the date was BCE, the following actions were performed:
  • The year was made positive
  • The year had 1 year subtracted from its absolute value, to make it consistent with ISO 8601 (e.g. 1AD = 0001, 1BC = 0000, 2BC = 0001, 3BC = 0002, ...).
  • The "notes" column will state BCE date.
  • The code in emperors.R was modified to invert the sign of that specific value (e.g. 1AD = 0001, 1BC = 0000, 2BC = -001, 3BC = -002, ...) to complete the process of ISO 8601 compatibility.
• If the year of the date was known, but not the day or month, the start of the year was taken.
• If the year and month of the date was known, but not the day, the middle of the month was taken (14 for February, 15 for other months).
• If two dates were given, due to inconsistencies with ancient sources, then:
  • In the case it was birth or reign.start, the earlier date was chosen.
  • In the case it was death or reign.end, the later date was chosen.
• If the year and one of two possible months of the date was known, but not the day, the first date of the second month was chosen (middle of the two options).
• If two adjacent years of the date was known, but not the month or day, January 1 of the second year was chosen (middle of the two options).

Discrepancies will be listed in the notes column.

Cause of Death Definitions

In the cause column, an emperor's mode of death probably needs clarifying in some instances:

• Suicide in antiquity was generally a political move, and was often committed in instances where there was strong political pressure. This could either be Voluntary or Forced but won't be noted as such. [Further Reading]
• Assassination occurred when a homicide was committed against an emperor outside due process law.
• Execution occurred when a homicide was committed against an emperor within due process of law.
• Died in Battle occurred when a homicide was committed against an emperor during battle or as a result of battle.
• Natural Causes occurred when an emperor died due to disease, plague, or something internal.

Discrepancies will be listed in the notes column.

Killer Definitions

In the killer column, we are concerned with who (generally) killed the emperor or the root cause, not mode of as with cause. Some definitions that might need clarification:

• Other Emperor The person who committed homicide against an emperor was another emperor, or was a successor.
• If it was Natural Causes, usually the disease that killed the emperor will be listed, usually Plague, Fever or Heart Failure. In rare cases, this will be Lightning or Fire. If the cause is unknown, Disease will simply be listed.
• The Praetorian Guard was notorious for assassinating emperors, despite their function.

Discrepancies will be listed in the notes column.

Rise Definitions

In the rise column, an emporor's rise to power occurred in one of the following situations:

• Birthright - Cases in which an emperor's lineage was the determining factor in their control of the Empire, with little conflict.
• Seized Power - Cases in which an emporor used violent force, self-proclamation, or clever opportunism to seize the Empire without birthright or appointment.
• Appointment by X - Cases in which an emperor was appointed by an Army, the Senate, an Emperor, or Praetorian Guard.
• Other rare occurrences include Election.

Discrepancies will be listed in the notes column.