Curated playlist
4th-century Roman consuls
- Constantine II (emperor)Roman emperor Constantine II was erased from official records after his death.
- LiciniusLicinius, a peasant's son, co-wrote the Edict of Milan with Constantine. Later Constantine erased his laws.
- Constantius ChlorusThe Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus never heard the name Chlorus. Byzantine-era historians coined it after he died.
- Theodosius ITheodosius I was the last Roman emperor to rule the whole empire alone.
- Constantine the GreatConstantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, was baptized only on his deathbed.
- StilichoRome's top general, Stilicho, was executed in 408, and Rome fell to invaders within two years.
- GaleriusGalerius, a cattle-herder's son, became a Roman emperor. In 311 he ended the persecution of Christians he had pushed.
- DiocletianRetired emperor Diocletian answered a plea to return in 308 by talking about his cabbages.
- MaximianRoman emperor Maximian retired when ordered to, then came back twice. His last try in 310 began with a false claim.
- ArcadiusRoman emperor Arcadius was named co-ruler by his father before he turned five. Others steered his reign.
- HonoriusTen-year-old Honorius inherited the western Roman Empire and lived to see Rome sacked.
- MaxentiusEmperor Maxentius ended the persecution of Christians in his lands at least five years before the Edict of Milan.
- AusoniusEdward Gibbon, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, declared that "the poetical fame of Ausonius condemns the taste of his age." The target of that jab was Decimus Magnus Ausonius, a Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric from…
- ValensRoman emperor Valens died in 378 and his body was never found.
- Julian (emperor)Emperor Julian was raised Christian, yet became Rome's last pagan emperor. He was a nephew of Constantine the Great.