Take a look below for our list of 10 of the most popular people from ancient Rome.
1. Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar, known by his cognomen Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician and military general who played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.
2. Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus, often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was retained as his legal name.
3. Caligula
Caligula, properly Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was Roman emperor in AD 37–41. Born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
4. Commodus
Commodus was a Roman emperor who ruled from 176 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until his father’s death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination.
5. Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire.
6. Nero
Nero was the last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius and became Claudius’ heir and successor. Like Claudius, Nero became emperor with the consent of the Praetorian Guard.
7. Tiberius
Tiberius Caesar Augustus was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC.
8. Augustus
Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor, reigning from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated a legacy as one of the greatest leaders in human history.
9. Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BCE to 180 CE.
10. Spartacus
Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator who, along with the Gauls Crixus, Oenomaus, Castus and Gannicus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
