This really shows that the most important thing is actually being a leader from the people, not just to pronounce yourself of the people.
women_und_men on
You’re reading too much Machiavelli. The dynastic impulse was basically a default rule among the Romans. The Nerva-Antonines adopted heirs because they were childless; to the Romans it probably seemed like a *good* thing that they finally had an emperor with a biological son. (Of course they didn’t know how Commodus would turn out…)
Not to mention how the “Five Good Emperors” narrative downplays the mass executions Hadrian committed during his reign.
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had adopted
This really shows that the most important thing is actually being a leader from the people, not just to pronounce yourself of the people.
You’re reading too much Machiavelli. The dynastic impulse was basically a default rule among the Romans. The Nerva-Antonines adopted heirs because they were childless; to the Romans it probably seemed like a *good* thing that they finally had an emperor with a biological son. (Of course they didn’t know how Commodus would turn out…)
Not to mention how the “Five Good Emperors” narrative downplays the mass executions Hadrian committed during his reign.