Roman and Byzantine Emperors

The English word emperor derives from Latin imperator meaning "commander".

Augustus was the first Roman Emperor, emerging from the civil wars that followed the death of his adoptive father Julius Caesar in 44 BC to become the ruler of a realm that stretched from Spain to Syria, Northern Africa to France. The two centuries that followed saw the expansion and cultural flowering of the Roman Empire and also the beginnings of its slow demise. By the end of the 4th century the empire was split into eastern and western halves, the capital of the west being Ravenna and the capital of the east being Constantinople. The Western Empire lasted for another century before being overrun by Germanic peoples and the Huns. The Eastern Empire however survived for over 1000 years.

The Byzantine Empire, as the Eastern Roman Empire was known, was one of the important cultural centers of the Middle Ages. The language spoken was Greek and most of the names of the emperors were Greek, or else Greek forms of Christian biblical names, and the title Basileus (meaning "king" in Greek) was used for the emperor. The Byzantine Empire was finally destroyed by the Turks in 1453.

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NameHistorical NameYears
AlexanderAlexander912-913
Alexius ComnenusAlexius I Comnenus1081-1118
Alexius ComnenusAlexius II Comnenus1180-1183
Alexius AngelusAlexius III Angelus1195-1203
Alexius AngelusAlexius IV Angelus1203-1204
Alexius Ducas MurtzuphiusAlexius V Ducas1204
Andronicus ComnenusAndronicus I Comnenus1183-1185
Andronicus PalaeologusAndronicus II Palaeologus1282-1328
Andronicus PalaeologusAndronicus III Palaeologus1328-1341
Andronicus PalaeologusAndronicus IV Palaeologus1376-1379
Anicius OlybriusOlybrius472
Artemius AnastasiusAnastasius II713-716
Aulus Vitellius GermanicusVitellius69
BasilBasil I the Macedonian867-886
BasilBasil II976-1025
ConstantinusConstantine IV668-685
Constantinus MonomachusConstantine IX Monomachus1042-1055
ConstantinusConstantine V741-775
ConstantinusConstantine VI780-797
Constantinus PorphyrogenitusConstantine VII913-959
ConstantinusConstantine VIII1025-1028
Constantinus DucasConstantine X Ducas1059-1067
Constantinus Palaeologus DragasesConstantine XI Palaeologus1449-1453
Constantinus HeracliusHeraclonas641
Decimus Caelius Calvinus BalbinusBalbinus238
Eparchius AvitusAvitus455-456
Flavius AnastasiusAnastasius I491-518
Flavius ArcadiusArcadius395-408
Flavius BasiliscusBasiliscus475-476
Flavius Julius ConstansConstans337-350
Flavius Claudius ConstantinusConstantine II337-340
Flavius Valerius Aurelius ConstantinusConstantine the Great306-337
Flavius Julius ConstantiusConstantius II337-361
Flavius ConstantiusConstantius III421
Flavius Flavius GratianusGratian375-383
Flavius HeracliusHeraclius610-641
Flavius HonoriusHonorius395-423
Flavius JovianusJovian363-364
Flavius Claudius JulianusJulian the Apostate360-363
Flavius JustinusJustin I518-527
Flavius Justinus JuniorJustin II565-578
Flavius Petrus Sabbatius JustinianusJustinian the Great527-565
Flavius Valerius LeoLeo I457-474
Flavius Leo JuniorLeo II474
Flavius Libius Severus SerpentiusLibius Severus461-465
Flavius MarcianusMarcian450-457
Flavius Mauricius TiberiusMaurice582-602
Flavius Petronius MaximusPetronius Maximus455
Flavius PhocasPhocas602-610
Flavius Valerius SeverusSeverus II306-307
Flavius TheodosiusTheodosius II408-450
Flavius TheodosiusTheodosius the Great379-395
Flavius Tiberius ConstantinusTiberius II Constantine574-582
Flavius Julius ValensValens364-378
Flavius ValentinianusValentinian I364-375
Flavius ValentinianusValentinian II375-392
Flavius Placidius ValentinianusValentinian III425-455
Flavius ZenoZeno474-475; 476-491
Gaius Messius Quintus DeciusDecius249-251
Gaius Aurelius Valerius DiocletianusDiocletian284-305
Gaius Galerius Valerius MaximianusGalerius305-311
Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius QuintusHostilian251
Gaius Valerius Galerius MaximinusMaximinus II Daia311-313
Gaius Julius Verus MaximinusMaximinus Thrax235-238
Gaius Vibius Trebonianus GallusTrebonianus Gallus251-253
Gaius Julius CaesarAugustus27 BC-14
Gaius Julius Caesar GermanicusCaligula37-41
GlyceriusGlycerius473-474
Heraclius ConstantinusConstans II641-668
Heraclius Novus ConstantinusConstantine III641
Irene SarantapechainaIrene797-802
Isaac ComnenusIsaac I Comnenus1057-1059
Isaac Angelus; Isaac II AngelusIsaac II Angelus1185-1195; 1203-1204
Johannes TzimiscesJohn I Tzimisces969-976
Johannes ComnenusJohn II Comnenus1118-1143
Johannes Ducas LascarisJohn IV Lascaris1258-1261
Johannes CantacuzenusJohn VI Cantacuzenus1341-1354
Johannes PalaeologusJohn VII Palaeologus1390
Johannes PalaeologusJohn VIII Palaeologus1425-1448
Johannes Ducas VatatzesJohn III Ducas Vatatzes1221-1254
Johannes Palaeologus; John V PalaeologusJohn V Palaeologus1341-1376; 1379-1390; 1390-1391
Julius NeposJulius Nepos474-480
Julius Valerius MajorianusMajorian457-461
Justinianus; Justinian IIJustinian II685-695; 705-711
LeoLeo III the Isaurian717-741
LeoLeo IV the Khazar775-780
LeoLeo V the Armenian813-820
LeoLeo VI the Wise886-912
LeoLeontius695-698
Lucius Domitius AurelianusAurelian270-275
Lucius Septimius BassianusCaracalla198-217
Lucius Aurelius Commodus AntoninusCommodus177-192
Lucius Aurelius VerusLucius Verus161-169
Lucius Septimius SeverusSeptimius Severus193-211
Manuel ComnenusManuel I Comnenus1143-1180
Manuel PalaeologusManuel II Palaeologus1391-1425
Marcus Aemilius AemilianusAemilian253
Marcus Aurelius Severus AlexanderAlexander Severus222-235
Marcus Aurelius CarinusCarinus283-285
Marcus Aurelius CarusCarus282-283
Marcus Aurelius ClaudiusClaudius II Gothicus268-270
Marcus Flavius Valerius ConstantiusConstantius I Chlorus305-306
Marcus Didius Severus JulianusDidius Julianus193
Marcus Annius FlorianusFlorian276
Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus AfricanusGordian I238
Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus AfricanusGordian II238
Marcus Antonius Gordianus PiusGordian III238-244
Marcus Opellius MacrinusMacrinus217-218
Marcus Marcus Aurelius AntoninusMarcus Aurelius161-180
Marcus Aurelius Valerius MaxentiusMaxentius306-312
Marcus Aurelius Valerius MaximianusMaximian286-305
Marcus Cocceius NervaNerva96-98
Marcus Aurelius Numerius NumerianusNumerian283-284
Marcus Salvius OthoOtho69
Marcus Julius PhilippusPhilip the Arab244-249
Marcus Aurelius ProbusProbus276-282
Marcus Clodius Pupienus MaximusPupienus238
Marcus Aurelius Claudius QuintillusQuintillus270
Marcus Claudius TacitusTacitus275-276
Marcus Ulpius Nerva TrajanusTrajan98-117
Michael RangabeMichael I811-813
MichaelMichael II the Stammerer820-829
MichaelMichael III842-867
MichaelMichael IV the Paphlagonian1034-1041
Michael PalaeologusMichael IX Palaeologus1293-1320
Michael KalaphatesMichael V1041-1042
Michael BringasMichael VI Stratioticus1056-1057
Michael DucasMichael VII Ducas1071-1078
Michael PalaeologusMichael VIII Palaeologus1259-1282
Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus GermanicusNero54-68
Nicephorus LogothetesNicephorus I802-811
Nicephorus PhocasNicephorus II Phocas963-969
Nicephorus BotaniatesNicephorus III Botaniates1078-1081
Philippicus BardanesPhilippikos711-713
Procopius AnthemiusAnthemius467-472
Publius Licinius Egnatius GallienusGallienus253-268
Publius Septimius GetaGeta209-211
Publius Aelius HadrianusHadrian117-138
Publius Helvius PertinaxPertinax193
Publius Licinius ValerianusValerian the Elder253-260
Romanus LecapenusRomanus I920-944
RomanusRomanus II959-963
Romanus ArgyrusRomanus III Argyrus1028-1034
Romanus DiogenesRomanus IV Diogenes1067-1071
Romulus AugustusRomulus Augustus475-476
Servius Sulpicius GalbaGalba68-69
Sextus Varius Avitus BassianusElagabalus218-222
StauraciusStauracius811
TheodoraTheodora1055-1056
Theodorus Comnenus LascarisTheodore I Lascaris1205-1222
Theodorus Ducas LascarisTheodore II Lascaris1254-1258
TheodosiusTheodosius III716-717
TheophilusTheophilus829-842
Tiberius Claudius Caesar GermanicusClaudius41-54
TiberiusTiberius III698-705
Tiberius Julius CaesarTiberius14-37
Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius AntoninusAntoninus Pius138-161
Titus Flavius DomitianusDomitian81-96
Titus Flavius VespasianusTitus79-81
Titus Flavius VespasianusVespasian69-79
Valerius Licinianus LiciniusLicinius311-324
VetranioVetranio350
VolusianVolusian251-253
Zoe PorphyrogenitaZoe1042