Five Roman Empires
...t he had his mother put to death for criticizing his mistress (Encarta Encyclopedia, “Nero”). Nero’s incompetent ruling led to rebellion among his people and his death. Nero was perhaps the most “unpopular” of the five empires, but still deserves respect. I draw this conclusion because he was heavily rebelled against during his last years as empire. Vespasian was the ruler who prevailed after Nero. He was a commander of the eastern armies and also in AD 70, restored order to Rome after the rebellion of the Roman people during Nero’s campaign. Restoring the empire was his first concern. Diocletian developed policies that restored stable government and prosperity to the empire from 50 years of civil disobediance. He understood that the chaos before him had “… came from the inability of one person to inspire the loyalty of armies across the empire and to coordinate imperial defense.”, (“The Roman Empire”, Internet website). Diocletian named a coemperor, w...