All the roman emperors and the kings of Italy
Kings of Rome (753 a.C. - 509 a.C.)
No | Name | Origin | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
1 | Romulus | Latin | 753 | 717 | Legendary |
2 | Numa Pompilius | - | 715 | 673 | Legendary |
3 | Tullus Hostilius | - | 672 | 641 | Uncertain |
4 | Ancus Marcius | - | 640 | 617 | Uncertain |
5 | Lucius Tarquinius Priscus | Etruscan | 616 | 579 | Uncertain |
6 | Servius Tullius | Etruscan | 578 | 535 | - |
7 | Tarquin the Proud | Etruscan | 534 | 510 | - |
Consuls and Dictators (509 aC - 29 aC)
Years | Event |
509 BC | Brutus/Collatinus |
260 BC | Caio Duilio |
260 BC (approx) | Attilio Regolo |
250 BC (approx) | Gaio Lutazio Catulo - Quinto Fabio Massimo (dictator) |
216 BC | L. Emilio Paolo and P. Terenzio Varrone |
107 BC | Gaio Mario - Lucio Cornelio Silla |
82-79 BC | Lucio Cornelio Silla (perpetual dictator) |
60 BC | Gaio Giulio Cesare/Gneo Pompeo/Marco Licinio Crasso (First Triumvirate) |
59 BC | Gaio Giulio Cesare |
52 BC | Gneo Pompeo (sole consul) |
49-44 BC | Gaio Giulio Cesare re-elected 4 times |
44-15/03 BC | Gaio Giulio Cesare (dictator for life) |
43-38 BC | Gaio Giulio Cesare Ottaviano/Marco Antonio/Lepido (Second Triumvirate) |
29 BC-14 AD | Gaio Giulio Cesare Ottaviano (Imperator from 29, Prince of the Senatus from 28, Augustus from 27, Tribunician Power from 23, Consul for life, Pontifex Maximus from 12, Father of the country from 2 A.D.) |
Emperors (29 aC - 476 dC)
The following table provides information on the members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (29 BC - 68 AD), including their investiture, start and end of their reigns, and any relevant notes.
No. | Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
1 | Gaio Giulio Cesare Ottaviano | Augusto forza | 29 BC | 14 AD | - |
2 | Tiberius | Designated | 14 AD | 37 AD | - |
3 | Gaius Caesar known as Caligula | - | 37 AD | 41 AD | Murdered |
4 | Claudius I | Praetorian nomination | 41 AD | 54 AD | - |
5 | Nero | Praetorian nomination | 54 AD | 68 AD | Murdered |
Military anarchy (68-69)
No. | Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
6 | Servius Sulpicius Galba | Elected by the military | 68 AD | 69 AD | Murdered |
7 | Salvius Otho | Elected by the military | 69 AD | 69 AD | - |
8 | Aulus Vitellius | Elected by the military | 69 AD | 69 AD | Murdered |
Flavian Dynasty (69-96)
No. | Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
9 | Titus Flavius Vespasianus | Military | 69 AD | 79 AD | Natural death |
10 | Titus (son of Vespasian) | - | 79 AD | 81 AD | Natural death |
11 | Domitian (brother) | - | 81 AD | 96 AD | Murdered |
Adoptive Emperors (96-192) [Antonini 138-192]
No. | Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
12 | Cocceius Nerva | Imposed | 96 AD | 98 AD | - |
13 | Marcus Ulpius Trajanus (Trajan) | Adopted | 98 AD | 117 AD | Natural death |
14 | Hadrian (Adriano) | Adopted | 117 AD | 138 AD | Natural death |
15 | Titus Aurelius Antoninus Pius | Adopted | 138 AD | 161 AD | Natural death |
16 | Marcus Aurelius Antoninus | Adopted | 161 AD | 180 AD | He associated his adoptive brother Lucius Verus to the throne from 161 to 169 and Commodus from 177 to 180 |
17 | Lucius Aurelius Commodus | Son | 180 AD | 192 AD | Murdered |
Military anarchy (192-193)
No. | Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
18 | Helvius Pertinax | Elected by the military | 192 AD | 193 AD | - |
19 | Didius Julianus | Elected by the military | 193 AD | 193 AD | - |
20 | Pescennius Niger | Elected by the military | 193 AD | 193 AD | - |
21 | Clodius Albinus | Elected by the military | 193 AD | 193 AD | - |
Severi (193-235)
No. | Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
22 | Septimius Severus | Chosen by the legionaries | 193 AD | 211 AD | Natural death He associated Caracalla to the throne from 198 to 211 and then Geta from 209 to 211 |
23 | Caracalla (son of Severus) | - | 211 AD | 217 AD | Murdered He associated Geta to the throne from 211 to 212 |
24 | Macrinus | Chosen by the military | 217 AD | 218 AD | Murdered |
25 | Elagabalus (Varius Avitus) | Nephew of Caracalla | 218 AD | 222 AD | Murdered |
26 | Alexander Severus | - | 222 AD | 235 AD | Murdered |
Military Anarchy (235-284) [Illyrian emperors (268-284)]
This continues the list of Roman emperors from No. 27 onwards. In this period we have a total of 28 Emperors (from the 27° to the 54°).
No. | Name | Start of Reign | End of Reign |
27 | Maximinus Thrax | 235 AD | 238 AD |
28 | Gordian I | 238 AD | 238 AD |
29 | Gordian II | 238 AD | 238 AD |
30 | Pupienus | 238 AD | 238 AD |
31 | Balbinus | 238 AD | 238 AD |
32 | Gordian III | 238 AD | 244 AD |
33 | Philip the Arab (Philip I) | 244 AD | 249 AD |
34 | Decius | 249 AD | 251 AD |
35 | Trebonianus Gallus (Gallus) (with Volusiano) | 251 AD | 253 AD |
36 | Aemilianus | 253 AD | 253 AD |
37 | Valerian | 253 AD | 260 AD |
38 | Gallienus (co-emperor to 253 to 260) | 260 AD | 268 AD |
39 | Claudius II Gothicus | 268 AD | 270 AD |
40 | Quintillus | 270 AD | 270 AD |
41 | Aurelian | 270 AD | 275 AD |
42 | Tacitus | 275 AD | 276 AD |
43 | Florianus | 276 AD | 276 AD |
44 | Probus | 276 AD | 282 AD |
45 | Carus | 282 AD | 283 AD |
46 | Carinus and Numerian | 283 AD | 284 AD |
Emperors (284-363)
No. | Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
55 | Diocletian | - | 284 AD | 305 AD | Abdicated During his reign the empire was divided from 286 to 293 into two parts East (Diocletian) and West (Augustus) and then into four parts (293-305): Asia Minor and North-East Africa (Diocletian) Balkans and Central Europe (Galerius) Italy, north-western Africa (Massimiano) north-western Europe, Iberian Peninsula and Mauritania (Constantius Cloro) |
- | Galerius (East) / Constantius Chlorus (West) | - | 305 AD | 306 AD | - |
- | Galerius - Maximinus II - Severus I | - | 306 AD | 307 AD | - |
- | Galerius - Maximinus II - Constantine I - Licinius - Maxentius | - | 307 AD | 311 AD | Maxentius (East) / Constantine I (West) 306-313 |
- | Maximinus II - Constantine I - Licinius | - | 311 AD | 314 AD | - |
- | Maximinus II - Constantine I - Licinius | - | 314 AD | 314 AD | - |
- | Licinius (East) / Constantine I (West) | - | 314 AD | 324 AD | - |
- | Constantine I (the Great) | - | 324 AD | 337 AD | - |
- | Constantius II - Constans I - Constantine II | - | 337 AD | 340 AD | Fight among the three brothers |
- | Constantius II - Constans I | - | 340 AD | 350 AD | - |
- | Constantius II | - | 350 AD | 361 AD | Ruled alone |
- | Julian the Apostate (cousin) | - | 361 AD | 363 AD | Natural death |
- | Jovian | - | 363 AD | 363 AD | - |
Emperors (363-395)
Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
... | - | 363 AD | 364 AD | - |
Valens | - | 364 AD | 378 AD | - |
... | - | 378 AD | 379 AD | - |
Theodosius | - | 379 AD | 395 AD | - |
Emperors of the West (Imperatori d'occidente) (395-476)
Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
Honorius | - | 395 AD | 423 AD | - |
... | - | 423 AD | ... | - |
Julius Nepos | - | ... | 474 AD | - |
Romulus Augustulus | - | 474 AD | 476 AD | - |
The division of the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was divided into two parts: Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire
Eastern Roman Empire (IMP. D'ORIENTE):
- (284-305) Diocletian
- (305-306) Constantius Chlorus
- (306-311) Galerius
- (311-313) Maximianus Daia
- (313-324) Licinius
- (324-337) Constantine I
- (337-340) Constantine II
- (337-350) Constantius I
- (350-361) Constantius II
- (361-363) Julian
- (363-364) Jovian
- (364-375) Valentinian I
- (375-378) Gratian
- (379-395) Theodosius I
- (395-408) Arcadius
- (408-450) Theodosius II
- (450-457) Marcian
Western Roman Empire (IMP. D'OCCIDENTE):
- (286-305) Maximian
- (306-312) Maxentius
- (306-337) Constantine I
- (337-340) Constantine II
- (340-350) Constans
- (350-354) Magnentius
- (354-363) Constantius II
- (363-364) Julian
- (364-375) Valentinian I
- (375-378) Gratian
- (378-383) Grazianus/Valentinian II
- (383-388) Maximus/Valentinian II
- (395-421) Honorius
- (421-423) Honorius and Constantius
- (423-425) Theodosius II
- (425-455) Valentinian III
- (455) Petronius Maximus
- (457-461) Majorian
- (461-465) Libius Severus
- (467-472) Anthemius
- (472) Olybrius
- (474-491) Zeno
- (475-476) Romulus Augustulus
This period witnessed significant political changes, divisions between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, and the eventual fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.
Italy is conquered by the Eruli
Here are listed the rulers of the Eruli and Ostrogothic Kingdom from Odoacer's rule in 476 until the end of Teia's rule in 553.
Eruli and Ostrogothic Kingdom (476-553) | Ostrogothic Rulers |
(476-493) Odoacer | Eruli Leader |
(493-526) Theodoric the Great | Ostrogothic King |
(526-534) Athalaric | Ostrogothic King |
(534-536) Theodahad | Ostrogothic King |
(536-539) Vitiges | Ostrogothic King |
(540-541) Ildibad | Ostrogothic King |
(541) Eraric | Ostrogothic King |
(541-552) Totila | Ostrogothic King |
(552-553) Teia | Ostrogothic King |
Italy is then governed by the the Longobards, Germans (holy roman empire)
This table outlines the rulers of the Lombard Kingdom from Alboin's rule in 568 until the end of Desiderius's reign in 774.
Lombard Kingdom (568-774) | Lombard Rulers |
(568-573) Alboin | Lombard King |
(573-575) Cleph | Lombard King |
(575-584) Interregnum | Anarchy |
(584-590) Authari | Lombard King |
(591-615) Agilulf | Lombard King |
(615-625) Adaloald and others | Lombard Kings |
(625-636) Arioald | Lombard King |
(636-652) Rothari | Lombard King |
(652-653) Rodoald | Lombard King |
(653-661) Aripert I | Lombard King |
(661-662) Godepert/Bertarid | Lombard Kings |
(671-688) Grimoald | Lombard King |
(671) Garibald | Lombard King (briefly) |
(671-688) Bertarid | Lombard King (restored) |
(688-700) Cunipert | Lombard King |
(700) Liutpert | Lombard King |
(700-701) Raginpert | Lombard King |
(701-712) Aripert II | Lombard King |
(712) Ansprand | Lombard King |
(712-744) Liutprand | Lombard King |
(744) Hildeprand | Lombard King (briefly) |
(744-749) Ratchis | Lombard King |
(749-756) Astulf | Lombard King |
(756-774) Desiderius | Lombard King |
Kings of Northern Italy (774-962)
The next table outlines the Frankish rulers from the reign of Charlemagne in 774 to the end of Charles the Fat's reign in 888.
Franks (774-888) | Frankish Rulers |
Carlo Magno (Charlemagne) | King of the Franks and Lombards; from 800, King of the Carolingian Empire |
Ludovico il Pio (Louis the Pious) | King of the Carolingian Empire (814 - 843) |
Lotario I (Lothair I) | King of the Central Kingdom of the Carolingian Empire (843 - 855) |
Ludovico II (Louis II) | King of Italy and Emperor of the Carolingian Empire (855 - 875) |
Carlo il Calvo (Charles the Bald) | King of Italy and Emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875 - 877) |
Ludovico il Balbo (Louis the Stammerer) | 877 - 879 |
Dissolution of the Kingdom | 879 - 881 |
Carlo III il Grosso (Charles the Fat) | 881 - 888 |
Kings of Italy (888-962)
Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
Berengar (March of Friuli) | Emperor from 915 | 888 | 924 | Title contested from 891 to 898 and from 900 to 915 |
(Guido of Spoleto) | Also Emperor (891, 894) | - | - | Contended the reign against Berengar |
(Lambert of Spoleto) | Also Emperor (892, 898) | - | - | Contended the reign against Berengar |
(Arnulf of Carinthia) | Emperor (896, 898) | - | - | Contended the reign against Berengar |
(Louis of Provence) | - | 900 | 915 | Contended the reign against Berengar |
Rudolph of Burgundy | - | 924 | 926 | - |
Hugh of Provence | - | 926 | 947 | - |
Lothair | - | 946 | 950 | - |
Berengar II (Margrave of Ivrea) | - | 950 | 962 | Declared vassal to Otto I, who proclaimed himself king of the Franks and Lombards in 952 |
Since 962 there have been various foreign dominations in Italy (Byzantines, Franco-Germans)
- King of Southern Italy (1072-1861)
- Norman kings (1072-1196)
- Rainulfo Drengot, Duke of Aversa from 1027 - first Norman presence in Italy
The next table outlines the rulers in Southern Italy from the reign of Roberto il Guiscardo in 1043 to the period after Guglielmo I di Sicilia until 1196.
Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
Roberto il Guiscardo | Duke of Melfi (1043-1053) Duke of Puglia (from 1059) Calabria, and Capua (1059-1085) | 1072 | 1085 | - |
Ruggero | - | 1085 | 1101 | Conquest of Arab Sicily |
Ruggero II | King of Sicily, Duke of Calabria and Puglia | 1101 (1105?) | 1154 | Unification of Southern Italy |
Guglielmo I di Sicilia | - | 1154 | 1166 | - |
... | - | 1166 | 1196 | - |
King of Sicily (Svevi) (1196-1268)
Name | Investiture | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
Enrico VI | Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Italy | 1196 | 1197 | - |
Federico II di Svevia | Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Italy | 1197 | 1250 | - |
Corrado IV di Svevia | Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Italy | 1250 | 1254 | - |
Manfredi | Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Italy | 1254 | 1266 | Regent for Corradino |
Corradino | - | 1266 | 1268 | - |
Starting from 1300
The struggle that had taken place between the municipalities in previous years for territorial, commercial and political supremacy brought military leaders to power, who in the 13th and 14th centuries ended up establishing their own lordships and principalities in their respective municipalities, taking advantage of the decline of the empire and the absence of the popes in the period 1309-1378 who moved to Avignon.
In 1378, Pope Gregory XI died after having just returned to Rome. At the conclave to choose the new pontiff, the papacy was shocked by the crisis of the Western Schism (conflict between French and Italian cardinals; each wanted their own pope. Thus began a series of popes and anti-popes).
In this period of decadence of the ecclesiastical institution, seriously divided and upset, heretical movements spread (Wycliff in England, Hus in Germany), true precursors of that movement of religious renewal whose history marked the entire 15th and 16th centuries, and led to an irreversible break in Roman Catholicism.
But if the "reform" and "counter-reformation" of the Church will have to wait until 1563 (the end of the Council of Trent, by which time Protestantism had spread and had in fact already created the schism), in Italy the civil as well as political reform, begun precisely in 1378, despite much anarchy and individualism, well in advance of the religious solution: it began to take its first steps, even if still very uncertain and problematic.
The extraordinary economic prosperity, the technical productive development, the many commercial exchanges with the whole world (we can already speak of a pre-capitalist economy) and the availability of free time to dedicate to culture, created in Italy the flourishing of studies and arts that led to a truly new civilization: THE RENAISSANCE. But at the same time as this cultural primacy, a political decadence was created in Italy (divided into Regional States - intolerant of each other) which was not centralized by a single sovereign authority. which soon brought it under the domination of foreign states that were much less civilized but more advanced in state structure and dimension (European National States).
The internal conflicts in Italy throughout this period were always generated by the ambitious expansionist aims of the various local political forces present (Maritime Republics (Venice) and others), Savoy, Visconti, Sforza, Scaligeri, Montefeltrini, Estensi, Gonzaga, Malatestiani, Medici etc.. But none of these forces had the possibility of establishing itself as the sole Italian power. They were always committed and often allies or enemies depending on the circumstances, to achieve a territorial supremacy "of small courtyards". To the point (including the Popes) of often asking foreigners for help. Thus, starting from 1494, by Charles VIII, king of France, in Italy in disarray, the "foreigners" (Spanish, French, German, English, Austrians) will begin to take several "WALKS" and set up "HOME" in the peninsula until 1861.
To free itself from the foreign invasions, to become a state and a united nation, Italy will have to wait, starting from this 1378, another 493 years. It will arrive last compared to all the other large states.
The Holy Roman Empire
Now there was little left of the Sacred, nothing of the Roman, and the empire was if anything Germanic.
The next table provides an overview of the Holy Roman Emperors from Ruperto Palatin in 1400 to the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 with Francesco II d'Asburgo
Name | Reign Years | Notes |
Ruperto Palatin | 1400-1410 | |
Sigismondo di Luxembourg | 1410-1437 | |
Alberto II d'Asburgo | 1438-1439 | |
Federico III d'Asburgo | 1440-1493 | |
Massimiliano I d'Asburgo | 1493-1519 | |
Carlo V d'Asburgo | 1519-1556 | |
Massimiliano II d'Asburgo | 1556-1564 | |
Rodolfo II d'Asburgo | 1576-1612 | |
Mattia d'Asburgo | 1612-1619 | |
Ferdinando II d'Asburgo | 1619-1637 | |
Ferdinando III d'Asburgo | 1637-1657 | |
Leopoldo I d'Asburgo | 1658-1705 | |
Giuseppe I d'Asburgo | 1705-1711 | |
Carlo VI d'Asburgo | 1711-1740 | |
Maria Teresa d'Asburgo | 1740-1765 | |
Giuseppe II d'Asburgo-Leopoldo | 1765-1790 | Also Leopold II d'Asburgo |
Leopoldo II d'Asburgo | 1790-1792 | |
Francesco II d'Asburgo | 1792-1806 | Last Holy Roman Emperor |
Kings of Naples (1268-1861)
- Angiò (French) : 1268-1442;
- Aragonesi (Spanish) 1442-1707;
- Asburgo (Austrian) 1707-1734;
- Borboni (Spanish) 1734-1861 (not in the frame 1806-1814)
Kingdom of Sicily from 1268 to 1302 when, separated from Naples, Sicily passed to the Aragonese.
The next table summarizing the rulers of the Kingdom of Naples and later the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from the House of Anjou to the House of Bourbon from 1268 to 1861:
Name | House | Start of Reign | End of Reign | Notes |
Carlo d'Angiò | Anjou | 1268 | - | |
Carlo II d'Angiò | Anjou | 1285 | 1309 | Loses Sicily to the Aragonese |
Roberto d'Angiò | Anjou | 1309 | 1343 | |
Giovanna I d'Anjou | Anjou | 1343 | 1381 | |
Luigi d'Angiò | Anjou | 1381 | ... | |
- | | ... | ... | |
Giovanna II la Pazza | Anjou | 1414 | 1435 | |
Alfonso I d'Aragona | Aragon | 1442 | 1458 | Unites Sicily with the Kingdom of Naples |
Ferrante I d'Aragona (Ferdinand I) | Aragon | 1458 | 1494 | Naples and Sicily separate under Aragonese rule, Sicily to John II of Aragon |
Dominio diretto spagnolo | Spanish Habsburg | 1505 | 1707-1713 | Naples to the Austrians in 1707; Sicily to the Savoy in 1713 |
Dominio austriaco | Habsburg | 1707 | 1734 | Naples to the Bourbons in 1734; Sicily to the Savoy in 1720 |
Carlo VII (Charles III of Spain) | Bourbon | 1734 | 1759 | |
Ferdinando IV (Ferdinand I) | Bourbon | 1759 | 1825 | Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816 |
Francesco I | Bourbon | 1825 | 1830 | |
Ferdinando II | Bourbon | 1830 | 1859 | |
Francesco II (Franceschiello) | Bourbon | 1859 | 1861 | Last King of the Two Sicilies; abdicated after Italian unification in 1861 |
We started from 27 BC when Rome was a capital; it will become one again on 2 July 1871.
The kings of Italy
- 1st Vittorio Emanuele II - 17/03/1861 - 09/01/1878 (natural death)
- 2nd Umberto I - 01/09/1878 - 07/29/1900 (murdered)
- 3rd Vittorio Emanuele III - 07/29/1900 - 05/09/1946 abdicates
- 4th Umberto II 05/06/1944 Lieutenant of the Kingdom 09/05/1946 - 11/06/1946 Italy became a Republic