How Do You Get Away With Killing The Most Powerful Man In The World?

This emperor’s death is considered a cold case

It was a big deal when an emperor died in Rome. It was an event that happened a lot, especially as the empire began to degrade over time. There were three common ways that imperial leaders died during this time: naturally, assassination and battle. Emperors ruled until their deaths so anyone fortunate enough to live through their term would die of some sort of infirmary. Assassination was rampant. Emperors who lost major battles would sometimes die with their troops or have their guard kill them before facing capture.

The cause of death that is not common is suicide. There is only one high profile emperor who died from suicide in Rome and that was Emperor Nero.

In 392, the emperor Valentinian II was found hanged in his home and it quickly became one of the ancient world’s most famous cold cases. While the scene pointed to suicide the circumstances did not make sense. Emperors did not kill themselves.

Cold cases from history are not common. The law was applied unevenly and innocent people would routinely be rounded up, tried, and punished for simply being near the scene of a crime or for being convenient scapegoats. A fair and open justice system is not something that would…