Imperial Women and Travels. A case study after the journeys of four imperial women in the first and second century AD.

Abstract

Emperor Augustus was the one who inaugurated the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which lasted from 27BC until 68AD. After Augustus, five emperors followed him in the line of succession. These emperors were: Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. The Nerva-Antonine dynasty on the other hand, was a dynasty of seven Roman emperors who ruled from AD96 to 192. This was a period during which, according to Edward Gibbon, ‘the vast extent of the Roman Empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom’. The most important characteristic of this dynasty, is that the reigning emperor used to adopt the candidate of his choice to be his successor, with the exception of Commodus, the biological son of Marcus Aurelius. But what do we know though, about the women of these dynasties? It is well known, that these women had a really important role to play, as they stood behind their husbands and helped them create their ‘myth’