The Holy Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the early to middle 13th century during the Hohenstaufen dynasty (1155–1268) superimposed on modern state borders. The Roman army is the military of ancient Rome, the forces used by the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and later Roman Empire.Its infantry for much of its history, was the Roman legion.Rome also had a navy. The size of the army in the late Roman Empire was.

Statue of, c. 30 BC–20 BC; this statue is located in theModern historians conventionally regard as the first Emperor whereas is considered the last of the, a view having its origins in the Roman writers,. However, the majority of Roman writers, including, and, as well as most of the ordinary people of the Empire, thought of Julius Caesar as the first Emperor.At the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power.

Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, like several Roman before him. Instead, by the end of the in which Julius Caesar had led his armies, it became clear that there was certainly no consensus to return to the, but that the period when several officials, bestowed with equal power by the senate, would fight one another had come to an end.Julius Caesar, and then Augustus after him, accumulated offices and titles of the highest importance in the Republic, making the power attached to those offices permanent, and preventing anyone with similar aspirations from accumulating or maintaining power for themselves. However, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senate's vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity ( ) in 45 BC and had been 'pontifex maximus' for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent and just prior to his assassination,was the most powerful man in the Roman world.In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir. On Caesar's death, Octavian inherited his adoptive father's property and lineage, the loyalty of most of his allies and – again through a formal process of senatorial consent – an increasing number of the titles and offices that had accrued to Caesar. A decade after Caesar's death, over his erstwhile ally at put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavian's supremacy.In 27 BC, Octavian appeared before the Senate and offered to retire from active politics and government; the Senate not only requested he remain, but increased his powers and made them lifelong, awarding him the title of (the elevated or divine one, somewhat less than a god but approaching divinity).

Augustus stayed in office until his death; the sheer breadth of his superior powers as princeps and permanent imperator of Rome's armies guaranteed the peaceful continuation of what nominally remained a republic. His 'restoration' of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his and pious respect for tradition.Some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus' death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son to be his successor and pleaded his case to the Senate for inheritance on merit. The Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps. Once in power, Tiberius took considerable pains to observe the forms and day-to-day substance of republican government.Classical period.Rome had no single constitutional office, title or rank exactly equivalent to the English title 'Roman emperor'. Romans of the Imperial era used several titles to denote their emperors, and all were associated with the pre-Imperial, Republican era.The legal authority of the emperor derived from an extraordinary concentration of individual powers and offices that were extant in the Republic rather than from a new political office; emperors were regularly elected to the offices of.

Among their permanent privileges were the traditional Republican title of (leader of the Senate) and the religious office of (chief priest of the ). Every emperor held the latter office and title until surrendered it in AD 382 to; it eventually became an auxiliary honor of the.These titles and offices conferred great personal prestige ( ) but the basis of an emperor's powers derived from his: this assumed his greater powers of command ( ) and tribunician power ( ) as personal qualities, separate from his public office. As a result, he formally outranked provincial governors and ordinary magistrates. He had the right to enact or revoke sentences of capital punishment, was owed the obedience of private citizens ( privati) and by the terms of the ius auxiliandi could save any from any magistrate's decision. He could any act or proposal of any magistrate, including the ( ius intercedendi or ius intercessionis). His person was held to be sacrosanct.Roman magistrates on official business were expected to wear the form of associated with their office; different togas were worn by different ranks; senior magistrates had the right to togas bordered with purple.

A triumphal imperator of the Republic had the right to wear the toga picta (of solid purple, richly embroidered) for the duration of the triumphal rite. During the Late Republic, the most powerful had this right extended.

Pompey and Caesar are both thought to have worn the triumphal toga and other triumphal dress at public functions. Later emperors were distinguished by wearing purpurae, purple togas; hence the phrase 'to don the purple' for the assumption of imperial dignity.The titles customarily associated with the imperial dignity are ('commander'), which emphasizes the emperor's military supremacy and is the source of the English word emperor;, which was originally a name but came to be used for the designated heir (as Nobilissimus Caesar, 'Most Noble Caesar') and was retained upon accession. The ruling emperor's title was the descriptive ('majestic' or 'venerable', which had tinges of the divine), which was adopted upon accession. In Greek, these three titles were rendered as (' Αὐτοκράτωρ'), kaisar (' Καίσαρ'), and augoustos (' Αὔγουστος') or sebastos (' Σεβαστός') respectively. In 's, the traditional seniorities were maintained: 'Augustus' was reserved for the two senior emperors and 'Caesar' for the two junior emperors – each delegated a share of power and responsibility but each an emperor-in-waiting, should anything befall his senior.As (lit., 'first man of the senate'), the emperor could receive foreign embassies to Rome; some emperors (such as Tiberius) are known to have delegated this task to the Senate.

In modern terms these early emperors would tend to be identified as chiefs of state. The office of princeps senatus, however, was not a magistracy and did not entail.

At some points in the Empire's history, the emperor's power was nominal; powerful, and on a few occasions, other members of the Imperial household including Imperial mothers and grandmothers were the.Imperator. Main article:The title imperator dates back to the, when a victorious commander could be hailed as imperator in the field by his troops. The Senate could then award or withhold the extraordinary honour of a; the triumphal commander retained the title until the end of his. In Roman tradition, the first triumph was that of Romulus, but the first attested recipient of the title imperator in a triumphal context is in 189 BC. It was a title held with great pride: was hailed imperator more than once, as was, but it was who first used it permanently – according to Dio, this was a singular and excessive form of flattery granted by the Senate, passed to Caesar's adopted heir along with his name and virtually synonymous with it.In 38 BC refused a triumph for his victories under 's command, and this precedent established the rule that the princeps should assume both the salutation and title of imperator. It seems that from then on Octavian (later the first emperor Augustus) used imperator as a first name ( praenomen): Imperator Caesar not Caesar imperator. From this the title came to denote the supreme power and was commonly used in that sense.

Was the first to imitate Augustus, but only with did imperator (emperor) become the official title by which the ruler of the was known.Princeps. The ) of the emperors and, the last emperors of the, although Nepos was a ruler in after theThe final period of co-emperorship began in 395, when Emperor 's sons and succeeded as co-emperors. Eighty-five years later, following Germanic migrations which had reduced the empire's effective control across, and and a series of military which drove Emperor out of Italy, the idea of dividing the position of emperor was formally abolished by Emperor (480).The Roman Empire survived in the east until 1453, but the marginalization of the former heartland of Italy to the empire had a profound cultural impact on the empire and the position of emperor. In 620, the official language was changed from Latin to Greek. The Greek-speaking inhabitants were Romaioi (Ῥωμαῖοι), and were still considered Romans by themselves and the populations of Eastern Europe, the Near East, India, and China. But many in Western Europe began to refer to the political entity as the 'Greek Empire'. The evolution of the church in the no-longer imperial city of Rome and the church in the now supreme Constantinople began to follow divergent paths, culminating in the between the and faiths.

The position of emperor was increasingly influenced by Near Eastern concepts of kingship. Starting with Emperor, Roman emperors styled themselves 'King of Kings' (from the imperial Persian ) from 627 and 'Basileus' (from the title used by ) from 629. The later period of the empire is today called the as a matter of scholarly convention. Titles and positions Although these are the most common offices, titles, and positions, not all Roman emperors used them, nor were all of them used at the same time in history. The consular and censorial offices especially were not an integral part of the Imperial dignity, and were usually held by persons other than the reigning emperor.: (also ' Αὔγουστος' or ' Σεβαστός'), 'Majestic' or 'Venerable'; an honorific exclusive to the emperor.: ( Αὐτοκράτωρ, Autokratōr), (lit. Main article:The nature of the imperial office and the was established under 's heir and posthumously adopted son, and his own heirs, the descendants of his wife from her first marriage to a scion of the distinguished clan. This came to an end when the Emperor – a great-great-grandson of Augustus through his daughter and of Livia through her son – was deposed in 68.Nero was followed by a succession of throughout 69, commonly called the '.

The last of these, established his own., who replaced the last Flavian emperor, Vespasian's son, in 96, was elderly and childless, and chose therefore to an heir, from outside his family. When Trajan acceded to the purple he chose to follow his predecessor's example, adopting as his own heir, and the practice then became the customary manner of imperial succession for the next century, producing the ' and the Empire's period of greatest stability.The last of the Good Emperors, chose his natural son as his successor rather than adopting an heir.

Commodus's misrule led to his murder on 31 December 192, following which a brief period of instability quickly gave way to, who established the which, except for an interruption in 217–218 when was emperor, held the purple until 235.Crisis of the Third Century. Main article:The accession of marks both the close and the opening of an era.

It was one of the last attempts by the increasingly impotent to influence the succession. Yet it was the second time that a man had achieved the purple while owing his advancement purely to his career; both and had come from noble or middle-class families, while Thrax was born a commoner. He never visited the city of during his, which marks the beginning of a series of ' who came from the army. Between 235 and 285 over a dozen emperors achieved the purple, but only and managed to secure their own sons' succession to the throne; both dynasties died out within two generations.Dominate. Main article:The accession on 20 November 284, of, the lower-class, Greek-speaking commander of Carus' and Numerian's household cavalry ( protectores ), marked major innovations in Rome's government and constitutional theory. Diocletian, a traditionalist and religious conservative, attempted to secure efficient, stable government and a peaceful succession with the establishment of the. The empire was divided into East and West, each ruled by an assisted by a as emperor-in-waiting.

These divisions were further subdivided into new or reformed provinces, administered by a complex, hierarchic bureaucracy of unprecedented size and scope. Diocletian's own court was based at.

His co-Augustus, was based at (modern ). Their courts were peripatetic, and Imperial progressions through the provinces made much use of the impressive, theatrical, or 'Imperial arrival' ceremony, which employed an elaborate choreography of etiquette to emphasise the emperor's elevation above other mortals. Hyperinflation of imperial honours and titles served to distinguish the Augusti from their Caesares, and Diocletian, as senior Augustus, from his colleague. The senior Augustus in particular was made a separate and unique being, accessible only through those closest to him.

Race 07 expansions. The overall unity of the Empire still required the highest investiture of power and status in one man.The Tetrarchy ultimately degenerated into civil war, but the eventual victor, restored Diocletian's division of Empire into East and West. He kept the East for himself and founded his city of as its new capital. Constantine's own dynasty was also soon swallowed up in civil war and court intrigue until it was replaced, briefly, by 's general and then, more permanently, by and the dynasty he founded in 364. Though a soldier from a low middle-class background, Valentinian was made emperor by a conclave of senior generals and civil officials.Late empire.

Main article:acceded to the purple in the East in 379 and in the West in 394. He outlawed and made the Empire's official religion. He was the last emperor to rule over a united Roman Empire; the distribution of the East to his son and the West to his son after his death in 395 represented a permanent division.In the West, the office of emperor soon degenerated into being little more than a puppet of a succession of tribal, until finally the simply overthrew the child-emperor in 476, shipped the imperial regalia to the Emperor in Constantinople and became King of Italy.

Though during his own lifetime Odoacer maintained the that he was actually ruling Italy as the of Zeno, historians mark 476 as the traditional date of the in the West. Large parts of Italy (, the south part of the peninsula, etc.), however, remained under actual imperial rule from Constantinople for centuries, with imperial control slipping or becoming nominal only as late as the 11th century. In the East, the Empire continued until the fall of to the Turks in 1453. Although known as the by contemporary historians, the Empire was simply known as the to its citizens and neighboring countries.Post-classical assertions to the title Survival of the Roman Empire in the East. Imaginary portrait of, the last Roman emperor of the Eastern Roman empire (until ).The line of Roman emperors in the Eastern Roman Empire continued unbroken at until the in 1204 by the. In the wake of this action, four lines of Emperors emerged, each claiming to be the legal successor: the, evolving from the, which was reduced to impotence when its founder was by the Bulgarian Emperor; the, which came to an end when the Empire of Nicaea recovered Constantinople in 1261; the, whose importance declined over the 13th century, and whose claims were simply ignored; and the, whose claims based on kinship with the previous emperors, control of the, and possession of Constantinople through military prowess, prevailed.

The successors of the emperors of Nicaea continued until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 under.These emperors eventually normalized the imperial dignity into the modern conception of an emperor, incorporated it into the constitutions of the state, and adopted the aforementioned title Basileus kai Rhomaiōn ('Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans'). They had also ceased to use Latin as the language of state after Emperor (d. Historians have customarily treated the state of these later Eastern emperors under the name '. It is important to note, however, that the adjective Byzantine, although historically used by Eastern Roman authors in a metonymic sense, was never an official term.Last Roman emperor. Further information:Constantine XI Palaiologos was the last reigning Roman emperor.

A member of the, he ruled the remnant of the from 1449 until his death in 1453 defending its capital Constantinople.He was born in as the eighth of ten children of and, the daughter of the prince of. He spent most of his childhood in Constantinople under the supervision of his parents.

During the absence of his in, Constantine was regent in Constantinople from 1437–40.Before the beginning of the, made an offer to Constantine XI. In exchange for the surrender of Constantinople, the emperor's life would be spared and he would continue to rule in Mystra.

Constantine refused this offer. Instead he led the defense of the city and took an active part in the fighting along the. At the same time, he used his diplomatic skills to maintain the necessary unity between the Genovese, Venetian, and Byzantine troops. As on May 29, 1453, Constantine is said to have remarked: 'The city is fallen but I am alive.'

Realizing that the end had come, he reportedly discarded his purple cloak and led his remaining soldiers into a, in which he was killed. With his death, Roman imperial succession came to an end, almost 1500 years after.After the fall of Constantinople, brother of Constantine XI, was elected emperor and tried to organize the remaining forces. His rule came to an end after the fall of the last major Byzantine city,. He then moved in Italy and continued to be recognized as Eastern emperor by the Christian powers.His son continued claims on the Byzantine throne until he sold the title to Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, the grandparents of. Was the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire to receive a papal coronation (until abdication in ).The concept of the Roman Empire was renewed in the West with the coronation of the king of the Franks, (Charles the Great), as Roman emperor by the on, 800. This coronation had its roots in the decline of influence of the Pope in the affairs of the Byzantine Empire at the same time the Byzantine Empire declined in influence over politics in the West. The Pope saw no advantage to be derived from working with the Byzantine Empire, but as points out, 'an alliance with the famous conqueror of the Lombards, on the other hand.

Promised much'.The immediate response of the Eastern Roman emperor was not welcoming. 'At that time it was axiomatic that there could be only one Empire as there could be only one church', writes Ostrogorsky. 'The coronation of Charles the Great violated all traditional ideas and struck a hard blow at Byzantine interests, for hitherto Byzantium, the new Rome, had unquestionably been regarded as the sole Empire which had taken over the inheritance of the old Roman imperium. Conscious of its imperial rights, Byzantium could only consider the elevation of Charles the Great to be an act of usurpation.' Chose to ignore Charlemagne's claim to the imperial title, clearly recognizing the implications of this act.

According to Ostrogorsky, 'he even went so far as to refuse the Patriarch Nicephorus permission to dispatch the customary synodica to the Pope.' Meanwhile, Charlemagne's power steadily increased: he subdued Istria and several Dalmatian cities during the reign of, and his son brought under Western hegemony, despite a successful counter-attack by the Byzantine fleet. Unable to counter this encroachment on Byzantine territory, Nikephoros' successor capitulated; in return for the restoration of the captured territories, Michael sent Byzantine delegates to in 812 who recognized Charlemagne as Basileus. Michael did not recognize him as Basileus of the Romans, however, which was a title that he reserved for himself.This line of Roman emperors was actually generally rather than Roman, but maintained their Roman-ness as a matter of principle. These emperors used a variety of titles (most frequently ' Imperator Augustus') before finally settling on Imperator Romanus Electus ('Elected Roman Emperor').

Historians customarily assign them the title 'Holy Roman Emperor', which has a basis in actual historical usage, and treat their ' as a separate institution. To Latin Catholics of the time, the Pope was the temporal authority as well as spiritual authority, and as Bishop of Rome he was recognized as having the power to anoint or crown a new Roman emperor. The last man to be crowned by the (although in, not Rome) was. All his successors bore only a title of 'Elected Roman Emperor'.This line of Emperors lasted until 1806 when dissolved the Empire during the.

Shining force neo walkthrough maps. Despite the existence of later potentates styling themselves 'emperor', such as the Napoleons, the, and the, this marked the end of the Western Empire. Although there is a living heir, to the Habsburg dynasty, as well as a Pope and pretenders to the positions of the electors, and although all the medieval coronation regalia are still preserved in Austria, the legal abolition of all aristocratic prerogatives of the former electors and the imposition of republican constitutions in Germany and Austria render quite remote any potential for a revival of the Holy Roman Empire.For rulers of Italy after Romulus 'Augustulus' and Julius Nepos, see list of. For the Roman emperors who ruled in the East after The Fall in the West, see.

For emperors of the Holy Roman Empire in the West, see. See also. (whole empire). (East) and (West). (East) and (West) with (East) and (West) as Caesares. (East) and (West) with (West) and (East) as Caesares.

(East) and (West) with (West) and (East) as Caesares. (East) and (West) with (West) and (East) as Caesares. (East) and (West) with (West) and (East) as Caesares. (alone). (West) and (East) with (Self-proclaimed Augustus) and. (East) and (West) with, and as Caesares. ( ).

(whole empire) with son as. with as. with. with.

( )395–480. (first reign). with son as co-emperor. (second reign).

with son as co-emperor. with brothers and and then as co-emperors. (first reign). (second reign) with son as co-emperor. with son as co-emperor.

with as junior emperor. with sons, and as junior co-emperors. (first reign) and. (first reign) and. (second reign) with. (second reign) and.

(sole emperor). with brothers and and son. with as co-emperor. with as co-emperor.

(chosen by the ).1204–1261.