Quotes About Emperors

The presence of lararia in some bedrooms gives reason to suppose that before going to sleep prayers were again offered to the gods. An idol of Fortuna (SHA, AP, 12, 5; S, 23, 5) watched over the sleep of the emperors. In his bedroom, Augustus also had a portrait of his great-grandson as Cupid, on which he would bestow a kiss each night when he entered (Suet., Cal., 7).

The ambition of Caesar and of Napoleon pales before that which could not rest until it had seized the minds of men and controlled even their unborn thoughts, said Mr. Wilde. You are speaking of the King in Yellow, I groaned, with a shudder. He is a king whom emperors have served. I am content to serve him, I replied.

He is a king whom emperors have served.

Sometimes, Helena continued, I have a terrible dream of the future. Not now, but presently, people may forget their loyalty to their kings and emperors and take power for themselves. Instead of letting one victim bear this frightful curse they will take it all on themselves, each one of them. Think of the misery of a whole world possessed of Power without Grace.

By having himself elected Chief Priest, it was as if Caesar foresaw the future importance of this title, which would be assumed by Augustus in 12 Bc and by all the emperors who succeeded him.

Besides Tiberius, Nero, Otho and Vespasian all had their astrologer. Titus, Domitian and Hadrian were sufficiently expert themselves to draw up a horoscope, and Septimius Severus (who married Julia Domna after making enquiries about marriageable daughters of royal blood) dispensed justice in a hall of the palace where his own astral horoscope was painted on the ceiling (DC, 77, 11, 1).

Do you know what emperors do, Tilla?' That was easy. 'Send soldiers to steal the land and make us pay taxes.' 'They spend half their waking hours listening to people who want things. As, it seems, do gods. Maybe it wasn't as much of a transition as everyone thought.

the last great dynasty of Byzantine emperors, the Palaiologoi, to rule from Constantinople.8

Emperors are vain and useless things.

In Paul's lifetime Roman emperors were deemed divine, and, first and foremost, Augustus was called Son of God, God, and God of God. He was Lord, Redeemer

The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their subjects. The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.

The finest plans have always been spoiled by the littleness of them that should carry them out. Even emperors can't do it all by themselves.

Yes, a great library — a library as magnificent as this one — was a dangerous arsenal, one that kings and emperors feared more than the greatest army or magazine. Not a single volume from the Spanish Rooms would survive, he swore, sniffling into his cup. No, no, not a single scrap would escape this holocaust!

Do you know what emperors do, Tilla?' That was easy. 'Send soldiers to steal the land and make us pay taxes.

the pope was God's representative here on Earth—and there the matter ended. Emperors might enjoy the privilege of protecting and defending the Church; they had no right to interfere in its affairs. The pope's authority was absolute; synods were summoned merely to carry out his orders; bishops, archbishops, and even patriarchs were bound to him in loyalty and obedience.

Of the twelve Caesars of the first century CE, six were bloodily assassinated, or were forced to commit suicide, at least two of them in their own palaces in Rome. A further three were the subject of lurid posthumous rumours as to the manner of their deaths, and of the remaining three, only one ruled for more than two years.

I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring.

But experience shows that in spite of our infinite care in choosing our successors the mediocre emperors will always outnumber the wise, and that at least one fool will be reign per century. In time of crisis these bureaus, if well organized, will go on with what must be done, filling the interim between two good rulers. Some emperors like to parade behind them whole lines of barbarians, bound at the neck, those interminable processions of the conquered.

A man who trembles dreams of making others tremble, a man who lives in terror ends his days in ferocity. Hence the case of the Roman emperors.

After a war of about 40 years, undertaken by the most stupid [Claudius], maintained by the most dissolute [Nero], and terminated by the most timid [Domitian] of all the emperors, the far greater part of the island [of Britain] submitted to the Roman yoke.

It is customary for emperors who listen to bishops to hurl insults at the very civilization that created them.

Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order and increasing by staying in port; but know he finds, I fancy, if Emperors hear the truth, that his fleet suffers more in a night than ours in one year.

Julius Caesar was one of the thirty-four Roman emperors (out of the total of forty-nine that reigned until the division of the empire) who were killed by guards, high officials, or members of their own families.

We want to overthrow the imperial power not because it is Manchurian but because we want republicanism... We republican revolutionaries can never have the notion of becoming emperors after the revolution, like all the peasant rebels did in the past.