who was the worst roman emperor the empire ever had? Nero or Caligula?

Question

who was the worst roman emperor the empire ever had? Nero or Caligula?

Answer 1

Nero was not (quite) as bad as painted. Both he and Caligula had horrendous childhoods. Claudius, painted as something of a doddery intellectual was actually a sadist. Diocletian? Not a very nice man. Augustus? A misanthropic monster and (not-unnaturally megalomaniac). In fact the whole system encouraged severely damaged individuals to hold power in an Empire which, lacking an efficient Civil Service, actually had to run on corruption. Titus and Vespasian? Violent if successful soldiers but not Emperor material. Marcus Aurelius? As a Roman considered a philosopher but by philosophers considered just as a Roman. Hadrian? At least he wrote that whimsical poem about his soul: 'anima vagula mea'. 46 or so. Difficult to decide which was the worst of a bad lot.

Answer 2

No one has mentioned Commodus as a candidate for the worst, he has my vote. Remember that "winners" write the history books - Nero was unpopular with the upper class who had the time to write history books. Additionally, he was identified as a persecutor of Christians by the early church which lead to some bad press. Trajan, considered a great emperor, in his letters to Pliny dictated the forced conversion or punishment of troublesome Christians and while Nero's policies where much more intentional, he was not the first or last to scapegoat the weird christian cult. Nero cut taxes, supported the rights of freedman, funded public projects, and established a 50 year peace with Parthia. He was vain and ineffective but doesn't seem to be a lunatic. Caligula spent a major portion of his reign enjoying overwhelming popular support, his father was an extremely popular figure in Rome and he was seen as a new hope following the death of his uncle Tiberius. However, being held captive by his uncle and witnessing sexual depravity and indiscriminate murder seemed to have had an understandable effect on his mental health. Once again, I'd say it was more his disrespect to the senate which left him labeled as a terrible tyrant, though he does seem to have been unhinged from reality. Commodus on the other hand inherited a thriving empire and wrecked it. His father was chosen at a young age as heir to Hadrian (Antoninus was supposed to be a stop gap) but managed to remain sane and effective. Marcus Aurelius had no prior military experience but led the armies effectively- but he was guilty of genocide and perhaps worst of all he passed power onto Commodus. Anything bad that caligula and nero did, Commodus turned up to 11. In the end, he put the empire on course for its near collapse in the 3rd century.

Answer 3

The ancient Romans thought Nero was worse than Caligula. They based their view on Nero's personal life not his policies. Nero liked to participate in musical contests which the Romans thought to be very un - Roman.

Answer 4

Caligula humiliated the Roman senate and invited one to dinner and not only excused himself from the table to have sex with the senator's wife but bragged about the exploit and praised the senator's wife for her sexual prowess in the senator's presence when they returned to the table. Caligula slept with his sister. And she had a husband.



Caligula seated himself on the Throne of Jupiter, which had never been done before. Rome didn't like it and there was a lot to be said for it, too. Not only did Caligula demand to be worshipped as a deity but he asked his closest friend, "Who is the one true god, me or Jupiter?" A dangerous and impossible question. A Roman did not dare to insult Caligula or Jupiter. The friend hesitated. For that, Caligula had the man severely beaten. Caligula, in his position of unlimited power, often had people tortured or imprisoned when they were totally innocent. He had members of his own family killed. He threw his 16 year old nephew in prison and ordered the youth to kill himself. The guards showed him how to use a sword on himself in the least painful way possible. And it was done. Both were evil men, but I say Caligula. I think he was a megalomaniac drunk on power and lust.

Answer 5

Nero was primarily bad for the Christians. Of course he was painted from a negative perspective by the late christian Romans and the medieval historians (who often happend to be monks). He burned christains and he let them fight on the sands of of the arenas but he wasn't bad for the Romans who still believed in Jupiter and his gang.



Caligula was a monster but still the average Roman didn't notice his regime. He was especially bad for the senators so I woulf say that Caligula was worse.

Answer 6

Who was the worst roman emperor the empire ever had? Nero or Caligula? It's a sin to judge the dead.

Answer 7

I think Elagabulus was the worst--"not only a fool but an absurdity" as one writer put it. But if the choice is limited to Caligula or Nero, I pick Caligula. He was a lunatic who wasted Tiberius's surplus in a year on wild entertainment, killed to acquire property and made his horse a consul. "After four mad years" he was finally killed.

Nero wasn't as bad as that. He did not actually burn Rome.

Answer 8

Probably neither of those two. In her recent book "SPQR" Mary Beard argues that a lot of the sensational stories told about Nero and Caligula may have been complete fabrications, and gives some convincing reasons why they shouldn't necessarily be believed in their entirety.

Answer 9

Nero was represented as worse than he probably was, certainly he didn't start the Roman fire. Caligula was bonkers off the scale and thought he was actually a God.

Answer 10

Personally I think Nero. He was an insane psychopath that burned people simply for participating in a minor religion at the time

Answer 11

Caligula was the worst for Rome, of the two.

Answer 12

Caligula was perverted and insane. He tops the list.

Answer 13

Elagabalus has them beat... C'mon, he went around Rome and handed out cash to prostitutes and told them keep up the good work. He is also supposed to have sought a sex change operation. Then he had the people collect all the cobwebs in Rome and put it in a big ball.

Answer 14

I think Caracalla, but between those two I go with Caligula.

Answer 15

well it's like your elections they were all as corrupt as sin itself the greatest Caesar Julius was assassinated because he had gone mad humans cannot cope with it the power Henry V111 of England was batty made himself god of England Charles 1st Louis XV1 way past reality Trump has bats in the belfry too Hitler Stalin Moa you can see Hadrian was the best he was never at home he never ruled in other words they were all the worst murdered each other their mothers siblings children

Answer 16

Domitian

Answer 17

Nero was also perverted and insane.