The Roman Emperors: A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Imperial Rome, 31 BC-476 by Michael Grant..One of the greatest multiracial states the world has ever known, the Roman Empire stretched from Britain to the Sahara & from the Atlantic to the Euphrates. Vast & powerful, Imperial Rome instituted many conventions that distinguish life today--reason enough for us to wonder about the men who ruled in her name.

 Some early writers painted vivid portraits that, with their sensational details, often overshadowed the events of the time. In this book, classical historian Michael Grant uses these writings, augmenting them with evidence from archeology, inscriptions, coins & medallions to reconstruct the lives of 92 Roman emperors. Here are Augustus & Claudius, Gaius & Nero, Aurelian & Constantine, as colorful & diverse a group of men as any in history, alive again in a magnificent collection of biographical cameos as remarkable for their readability as for their depth.
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
List of Maps, Plans & Genealogical Tables
Foreword
The Julio-Claudian dynasty
The year of the four emperors; & the Flavian dynasty
The adoptive & Antonine emperors
The house of Severus
The age of crisis
Military recovery
The tetrarchy & the house of Constantine
The house of Valentinian
The survival of the East & fall of the West
Key to Latin Terms
Index of Latin & Greek Authors
Index to Maps & Plans