Sublime
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When Claudius became emperor in 41 CE, he rewarded with cash payment the members of the Praetorian Guard who had brought him to office, and he was on the lookout against those who might remain hostile to his rule as emperor; in the course of his reign, he suppressed at least six plots against his life, and—shockingly for the Roman elite—executed
... See moreEmily Wilson • The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca
He banished from Rome all the Jews, who were continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus
Suetonius • The Twelve Caesars (Annotated)
Among the excesses of Nero's reign, are to be mentioned the horrible cruelties exercised against the Christians in various parts of the empire, in which inhuman transactions the natural barbarity of the emperor was inflamed by the prejudices and interested policy of the pagan priesthood.
Suetonius • The Twelve Caesars (Annotated)
Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World

A firm persuasion had long prevailed through all the East 735, that it was fated for the empire of the world, at that time, to devolve on some who should go forth from Judaea. This prediction referred to a Roman emperor, as the event shewed; but the Jews, applying it to themselves, broke out into rebellion, and having defeated and slain their
... See moreSuetonius • The Twelve Caesars (Annotated)
The Praetorian Guard, who had a low view of the capabilities of the senate and no desire to return to the Republic, had already picked a new emperor. The story was that, terrified by the violence and commotion, Gaius’ uncle the fifty-year-old Claudius had hidden himself down another dark alley. But he was quickly discovered by the praetorians and,
... See moreMary Beard • SPQR
They dared not take from the plebs the title of citizens, and allowed them to figure in the census.
Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges • The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (Illustrated)
The citizens who sat at the sacred table were clothed, for the time, with a sacerdotal character; they were called parasites.