1 | Gaius Valerius Catullus
Although rarely mentioned in anthologies, readers mourned the absence of Latin poet Catullus, whose “explicit” writing style has shocked readers since the late Roman republic. Not only did he inspire Ovid, he is also considered one of the finest lyric poets of ancient Rome. The survival of his work has been as uncertain as his biography: it passed out of circulation almost entirely between the second and 12th centuries. What little is known about him is derived from his existing 116 poems. Nevertheless, Catullus remains a prominent figure on the neoteric poetry scene. According to vastariner: “When it comes to poets, Catullus is the man.”
2 | Marcus Aurelius
Scholar, emperor, military leader – some say Marcus Aurelius symbolises the golden age of the Roman empire. As Joe Hughes puts it: “His legacy is ignored at your peril!” During his reign, he defeated the Parthians, sacked Ctesiphon, vanquished the Marcomanni, Quadi and Sarmatians and suppressed a revolt by Avidius Cassius. On top of all that, Aurelius wrote Meditations while on campaign, which records his quest to find calm in the midst of conflict by using nature as inspiration. This posited Aurelius as one of the most prominent Stoic philosophers of his time. As Skelter said: “Marcus Aurelius. Enough said.”
3 | Augustus
“I’ll add my three-pennorth: where’s Augustus?” FrankZ submits. Augustus was the founder of the Roman empire, its first emperor (though he never claimed the title himself) and “one of the greatest administrators in history, bar none.” Reader sammy89 weighs in with: “Obviously Augustus is the best, without whom many of this list would not have had the chance to be great.” It’s a hard case to argue with: he succeeded his great uncle Julius Caesar, replaced the Roman republic with a monarchy, instigated peace and stability across the empire and gave his name to a political and literary era.
4 | Scipio Africanus
“Wot, no Scipio Africanus?” says Gareth McKnight of one of the greatest generals in history who, as savernake1 puts it, “believed wars should only be fought if, after they were finished, you could reach a longstanding and just peace.” Scipio Africanus, best known for defeating Hannibal, never lost a battle. Legends began to manifest around him: many people believed he had talked to Neptune in a dream before battle, that he had a close relationship with Jupiter, and that he was the son of a god who just appeared one night in his mother’s bed in the form of a snake.
5 | Hadrian
Hadrian is probably one of the most well-known Roman emperors among Brits – renowned for rebuilding the Pantheon, constructing the Temple of Venus and Roma and, of course, building Hadrian’s Wall – although he is often neglected by scholars. “Antinous instead of Hadrian?” beseeches sacco. Antinous, arguably only on the list thanks to his debauched ties with Hadrian, was thought to be Hadrian’s Greek lover. After Hadrian’s death, his adopted son had him deified by the senate and dedicated a temple to him.
6 | The Gracchi
Tiberius and Gaius, known as the Gracchus brothers, were Roman political reformers whose attempts to reorient Roman politics ended in the collapse of the republic. Sons of twice consul and censor Tiberius Gracchus and Cornelia Scipionis Africana, the brothers belonged to one of the most distinguished families in Rome. But their libertarianism and pursuit to exact revenge on the Senate angered the conservative senators who ultimately assassinated them. LaCucaracha, who always liked the Gracchi, said: “When I first learnt of their fate as a teenager, it was the first time I realised people have always been assholes.”
7 | Marcus Licinius Crassus
Crassus, thought to be the richest man in Roman history, was suggested by vastariner for “defeating an opposing king mano a mano. No general hiding behind the lines he.” Throughout his career, Crassus enjoyed the kind of influence afforded only to a true heavyweight of Roman politics, but his military competition with rival Pompey brought about his downfall and triggered civil war with Caesar. Legend has it that to make a point about Crassus’s greed, the king of Parthia executed him by pouring molten gold down his throat. Remind you of a certain Games of Thrones character?
8 | Petronius
Petronius, the “urbane, cultured (if perhaps debauched) Epicurean associate of the emperor Nero”, as described by tomguard, preferred to write satirical novels about his peers than play with politics. He is thought to have written the Satyricon, which mocked the lives of former slaves who became rich “without gaining taste or class”. He also served as a fashion advisor to Nero, which made other courtiers jealous, and he was arrested. Rather than face execution, Petronius wrote a suicide note to Nero, cut his wrists, bandaged them to prolong his life, and held a lavish banquet, slowly bleeding to death.
9 | Lucretius
“Lucretius, surely. Nobody’s fool,” says marcolo. Lucretius was a Roman poet and author of philosophical epic De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), one of the most influential philosophical texts and still referred to today. Although he thought worms spontaneously appeared in wet soil, earthquakes were caused by winds in underground caverns and the sun circled the Earth, he’s still considered a contemporary. His philosophical tome seemed to lay out a strikingly modern understanding of the world and his literary influence has been long-lasting and widespread, especially among poets such as Virgil, Milton, Whitman and Wordsworth.
10 | Marcus Valerius Martialis
“No Martial? No Catullus?” laments dewrad. “For shame! As smut-mongers they make Ovid look like an amateur.” Marcus Valerius Martialis, known as Martial, was a Roman poet from Hispania known for his 12 books of Epigrams, in which he satirises city life and the scandalous gossip of Rome’s elite. As such, he is considered to be the creator of the modern epigram. Taxed2Death asks: “How could you miss Martial, whose Epigrams tell us how Rome actually was, not how we imagine Rome to have been.” He was the ideal spectator, although you hoped you weren’t named in his scurrilous abuse.