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De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families



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Welcome to De Imperatoribus Romanis ("On the Rulers of Rome")!


WHAT IS DIR?

DIR is an on-line encyclopedia on the rulers of the Roman empire from Augustus (27 BC-AD 14) to Constantine XI Palaeologus (1449-1453). The encyclopedia consists of (1) an index of all the emperors who ruled during the empire's 1500 years, (2) a growing number of biographical essays on the individual emperors, (3) family trees ("stemmata") of important imperial dynasties, (4) an index of significant battles in the empire's history, (5) a growing number of capsule descriptions and maps of these battles, and (6) maps of the empire at different times. Wherever possible, these materials are cross-referenced by live links.

These contents are supplemented by an ancient and medieval atlas, a link to a virtual catalog of Roman coins, and other recommended links to related sites. The contents of DIR have been prepared by scholars but are meant to be accessible to non-specialists as well. They have been peer- reviewed for quality and accuracy before publication on this site.

WAYS TO USE DIR


 
A coin with the image of the Emperor Theodosius I (c)1998 Princeton Economic Institute Go to the Imperial Index There, the emperors are listed in a chronological table in order of their dates of rule. The name of each emperor for whom a biographical essay is complete offers a live link to the essay.  A coin with the image of the Emperor Theodosius I (c)1998 Princeton Economic Institute Go to the Alphabetical Imperial Index There, the emperors are listed in the alphabetical order of their names, with dates of rule appended. The name of each emperor for whom a biographical essay is complete offers a live link to the essay. 
map Go to the Index of Imperial Stemmata. There, live links lead to the family trees of important imperial dynasties. Live links from the family trees will take you to individual biographies.  map Go to the Imperial Battle Index. There, live links lead to the indexes of Battle Descriptions and Battle Maps. Individual descriptions and maps are also cross- linked. 
map Go to the DIR and ORB Ancient and Medieval Atlas There, view maps of the Roman Empire and follow live links to selected maps elsewhere.  Roma Coin Go to the Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins (created and maintained by Prof. Robert W. Cape, Jr. of Austin College). 

Note: Because the Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins has been reprogramed in a way that makes all its old links invalid, the DIR can only offer access to this wonderful site via the link here on the DIR home page. The various links to the VCRC from the individual imperial essays are no longer functional!!!! We have not removed them because the manual removal of them would take too long to accomplish.
on the page of each
 

Computer links Go to the DIR Historical Source Index for other on-line primary sources relating to the Roman Empire and its rulers.


HOW YOU CAN BECOME INVOLVED WITH DIR

Currently the text of the DIR is frozen. DIR is collaborative; the members of the DIR Collegium Editorum are happy to receive suggestions for additions and changes,especially if we decide to reopen the site at a later date.  If you have a special interest, please email  Richard D. Weigel with your email address and topics of interest to you.

 Facilities are provided by Academic Computer Services of Loyola University Chicago.
Direct all queries and suggestions to Richard D. Weigel with a subject line of:
attention: DIR


Note: All line drawings of Roman coins for emperors before the fall of Rome in 476 A.D. are reprinted from H. Cohen,
Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire romain, Paris, 1880-1892.

Note: All photographs of Roman coins and statuary of emperors before the fall of Rome in 476 A.D., unless otherwise noted,
are reproduced from
Justin Paola's Collection of Roman Emperors.