What Life As A Roman Emperor Was Really Like

April 2024 · 1 minute read

Roman emperors had no term limits so if you became the emperor you may expect to be in office for years and years. However, the truth of the matter is that Roman emperors on average did not live long enough to have a long reign. One article, entitled "Causes of Death Among the Caesars," examines the deaths of 77 emperors over the period from 27 B.C. to A.D. 476. They found that during the early empire, until A.D. 193, emperors ruled an average of 12.7 years as compared to the later empire until A.D. 476, where they ruled for an average of six years. 

Early emperors were more likely to die by suicide when compared to the latter group. On the whole, early emperors were more likely to die of natural causes or illness when compared to their later successors who were more likely to be murdered or executed (over half). In total, 33 emperors were murdered, with the method being by a sword or sharp weapon. The three outliers were strangled, hanged, and stoned.

So if you were to be a Roman emperor, you'd be better off being an emperor during the early empire rather than the latter — your average life expectancy was 53.4 years as opposed to 46.

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