Favorite Roman emperor? (I would ask for your empress, but most people say Theodora)
It’s a very close call between Hadrian and Julian. I’m not sure which one I can pick, so I’ll list a few of my favorite aspects/facts about each (+), as well as some acknowledgements that they are problematic faves (-).
Favorite Empress
Honorable mention to Livia, but yeah, my favorite is probably Theodora. However, I think there are some cool ladies whom I don’t really know much about but they are coming up soon in the History of Byzantium podcast, so I am going to reserve final judgement until then.
Least Favorite Empress: Irene of Athens. I can’t believe she blinded her own son. WTF.
Okay, now on to my top two favorite emperors…
Hadrian
+ wisely chose to focus on defense and development of the existing provinces rather than trying to conquer new ones
+ one of the things on my bucket list is to visit the UK and hike the length of Hadrian’s wall (it’s estimated to be a 6-day walk)
+ spent more than half his reign touring the provinces to inspect their administration personally (compared to most emperors who spent 99% of their time either in Rome or on campaign)
+ deified his bf (now if that isn’t love i don’t know what is)
+ philhellene
+ good choices of successors (he didn’t just pick Antoninus Pius, but also Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as AP’s successors)
+usually wore military attire and sometimes even dined and slept among the soldiers like a true imperator
- shortly after his ascension, he executed without due process of law four senators who were close with Trajan because he suspected they might be rivals to the throne or conspirators
- his policy toward the Jews, particularly the building of a Roman colony on top of the ruins of Jerusalem (ruined after the 1st Jewish revolt) and a temple of Jupiter on the Temple Mount. This (and other less clear factors) provoked the Bar Kokhba revolt.
Julian
+ as junior Caesar in Gaul, did a good job defending the Rhine
+ as junior Caesar in Gaul, he improved tax collection by eliminating the practice of periodically excusing back-taxes owed (something that primarily benefited the rich, who bribed collectors to delay payment) and rejected the prefect Florentius’s proposal to impose a supplementary tax on those who had already paid. By expanding the tax base, Julian was able to reduce the tax rates “by more than two-thirds” (source: The Last Pagan by Adrian Murdoch)(I’ll post a review of this book at some point in the future)
+ eager student and philosopher; sought to emulate Marcus Aurelius (my fave has his own fave! i love it)
+ in his Edict of Toleration, among other policies, he recalled “heretical” Christian preachers back from exile which is just the most devious undermining (without outright suppression) of Christianity one can possibly conceive (i think anyone who has followed me for a while knows where my cultural/religious sympathies lie, but like, I also think this is the objectively correct form of religious toleration. no one should be exiled for being a heretic or a heathen.)
+ wore a beard, as a conscious emulation of Greek philosophers, at a time when being clean-shaven was in vogue
+ “over 700 pages” of Julian’s writings survive, including “letters, both public and private, speeches, philosophical and religious thoughts, even a satire” (source: ibidem)
+ sought to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem as a Jewish temple (but according to his friend, the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, fire balls appeared out of nowhere and stopped the construction??? which… mmmm… okay)
- the satire he wrote, which criticized how the people of Antioch received him during his time there, “shows Julian at his worst, petulant and bitter” (source: ibidem)
- got himself killed in battle with the Persians, partly because he was in too much haste to put his armor on and partly because was galloping around every where trying to get a handle on the situation. there was a Persian raid on the army as it was marching back from besieging Ctesiphon. it was kind of a mess and doesn’t reflect well on his command and marching order discipline.
Conclusion
I honestly can’t pick. Hadrian is my favorite among the Principate and Julian my favorite among the Dominate, for sure. But Julian faced a lot more struggles than Hadrian did, so it’s hard to compare. Also, Hadrian had a lot longer reign, so the sample size is bigger. If Julian had reigned longer, he might have accomplished (or f’ed up) a lot more and then the evaluation would be clearer.
I see the "Change my mind" meme going around. Have you watched any of the change my mind videos? I may be off and on when it comes to Crowder, but I regularly tune in to his Change my Mind videos.
I saw *one* Crowder video. He radiated such a toxic aura of arrogance and snideness that I never touched another one.
