Hi Virgil H,
Thanks for your kind words. The idea of producing this book came to fruition after a long and futile
search for such a
work. There are several historical works on the market that deal with the lives of
Roman emperors, but only a few of them are consistent in their analysis. Throughout the course of my research, I noted with some astonishment how often works considered as dictionaries or lexicons (some of which are expensive and voluminous), will discuss
history’s main emperors with great detail, to the detriment of other, lesser-known ones. This was especially the case for the emperors that ruled during the
military anarchy period, between 238 and 284 CE, and those that ruled during the last century of the Empire's existence in the
West, between 378 and 476 CE. Of course, the
abundance of sources on the better-known emperors, as well as their significant roles in
history, largely explains this predisposition. However, this is of little use for the researcher who wishes to veer off the beaten path and learn more about the lesser-known emperors of
Roman imperial
history. For example, in a consulted
work, which held the above particularities, twelve pages were devoted to Emperor
Augustus, eight were devoted to
Nero, and
Constantine the Great got nine. In stark contrast of the well-commented reigns of these three emperors who were remembered for their exploits (or their sinister reputation), the
work presented only nine pages of commentary for the twenty-five emperors who succeeded
Constantine the Great. This period represents 139 years of
history! Moreover, the
work ignored the five emperors who ruled the eastern
part of the Empire between 395 CE, when the Empire was divided into two spheres of authority, and 476 CE, when the Empire disappeared in the
West. As in most other typical works, the
military anarchy period (238–284 CE), where about fifty emperors succeeded one another with relative swiftness, is also neglected. The comparative study I carried out revealed that no other writings presented all the
Roman emperors as consistently as they are in the manuscript I am proposing. The main particularities of this
work, compared to other writings available on the market, are the completeness and uniformity of the examination of all the emperors. All this at an more affordable
price that of a encyclopedia...