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The Greatest Dynasty In Roman History
Five Good Emperors and One Bad
The greatest strengths and weaknesses of absolute monarchies lie in the strengths and weaknesses of the leaders themselves. This is one of the reasons why monarchies are inherently unstable (along with the fact that succession is always a mess.) If you get a good ruler, your kingdom will thrive. If you get a bad ruler, the whole land suffers. There is little way to tell who is going to be a good ruler and who is going to be a bad ruler. It is a roll of the dice. Some of the greatest emperors in history have been followed up by some of the worst. It is very rare that you get a string of good leaders in succession in any absolute monarchy.
The Roman Empire was known for both. Rome produced some of the greatest leaders in world history and some of the worst. There is no question that poor imperial leadership severely degraded the health of the empire, especially as time wore on. However, there was a stretch in the heart of the Pax Romana in which Rome saw one of the greatest leadership stretches in the history of the world.
The Roman Empire managed to string together not two good emperors, not three good emperors, but five good emperors — in a row! In the up and down world of absolute monarchy this is akin to hitting blackjack in five straight hands.
