Livia (r. 27 BC – AD 14), as wife of Augustus, was the first and longest-reigning empress.
The Roman empresses were the consorts of the Roman emperors, the rulers of the Roman Empire. The duties, power and influence of empresses varied over time depending on the time period, contemporary politics and the personalities of their husband and themselves. Empresses were typically highly regarded and respected, and many wielded great influence over imperial affairs. Several empresses at times served as regents on behalf of their husbands or sons and a handful ruled as empresses regnant, governing the empire in their own right without a husband.
There was no single official term for the position of empress in Ancient Rome. Typical Latin titles included augusta (Greek: αὐγούστα, augoústa), the female form of the male imperial title augustus, and caesaraea (Greek: καισᾰ́ρειᾰ, kaisáreia), the female form of the male imperial title caesar. In Greek, empresses could be referred to as βᾰσῐ́λῐσσᾰ (basílissa), the female form of the male title basileus (denoting a monarch) and αὐτοκράτειρα (autokráteira), the Greek version of the Latin autocratix, the female form of the male title autokrator (denoting a sole ruler). In the third century, empresses could also receive various honorific titles, such as māter castrōrum "mother of the castra" and māter patriae "mother of the fatherland". Titles such as augusta were not used by all empresses, and since such titles could also be granted to other imperial women, such as mothers, sisters and mistresses of emperors, not all women who bore the title were empresses either.
Given that there were sometimes more than one concurrent Roman emperor, there were also sometimes two or more concurrent Roman empresses. For most of the period from 286 to 480, the Roman Empire, though remaining a single polity, was administratively divided into the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Through most of this period, the separated imperial courts had their own lines of succession, and as a result their own sequences of concurrent Roman empresses. The western empire fell in the late 5th century, its final empress being the wife of Emperor Julius Nepos. The eastern empire, often referred to as the 'Byzantine Empire' by modern historians, endured for almost another millennium until its fall through the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The final empress of the east, and final Roman empress overall, was Maria of Trebizond, wife of Emperor John VIII Palaiologos. In addition to basílissa and autokráteira, many later eastern empresses bore the title δέσποινα (déspoina), the female form of the male title despotes, a common title in the later empire.
Though the constitutional power of empresses was never defined, it was generally accepted that their coronation, performed after that of their husbands, granted them some imperial power. Often, their primary duties were to oversee the organization of ceremonies at the imperial court as well as to partake in imperial and religious affairs. Although governmental power was most often vested only in the emperor, empresses could gain significant authority as regents for young children or when their husbands were absent. Though they were bound by the wishes and temperaments of their husbands, empress consorts could at times also effectively become influential co-regents. In some cases, emperors reinforced their legitimacy through marrying the daughter of a previous emperor. In such cases, empresses sometimes stressed their dynastic legitimacy, greater than that of their husbands, to achieve great influence. Several influential consorts, such as Theodora, wife of Justinian I, and Euphrosyne, wife of Alexios III, held their own courts. Empresses who ruled in their own right, such as Irene and Zoë Porphyrogenita, sometimes adopted male titles such as basileus and autokrator to illustrate their power.[1]
Principate (27 BC – AD 284)
Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BC – AD 68)
Year of the Four Emperors (69)
Flavian dynasty (81–96)
Nerva–Antonine dynasty (98–192)
All empresses of this period received the title augusta.
Year of the Five Emperors (193)
Both empresses of this period received the title augusta.
Severan dynasty (193–227)
All empresses of this period were named augusta on or shortly after their marriage.
Crisis of the Third Century (235–285)
All empresses during this period received the title augusta.
Dominate (284–476)
Tetrarchy (284–324)
Constantinian dynasty (306–363)
Valentinianic dynasty (364–383)
Theodosian dynasty (379–457)
All empress, with the exceptions of Galla, Elen, and Thermantia, received the title augusta.
Puppet emperors (west, 467–475)
Later eastern empresses (457–1439)
During the later 'Byzantine' period, virtually all empresses (unless noted) received the title augusta; whether it was still considered a formal title or just a courtesy title synonym to "empress" is not known.
Leonid dynasty (457–515)
Justinian dynasty (east, 518–602)
Heraclian dynasty (610–695)
Twenty Years' Anarchy (695–717)
Isaurian dynasty (717–802)
Nikephorian dynasty (802–813)
Amorian dynasty (820–867)
Macedonian dynasty (867–1056)
Doukas dynasty (1059–1081)
Komnenos dynasty (1081–1185)
Angelos dynasty (1185–1204)
Laskaris dynasty (1205–1258; Nicaea)
Note: Roman rule in Constantinople was interrupted with the capture of the city by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Though the crusaders created a new line of Latin emperors in the city, modern historians recognize the line of emperors of the Laskaris dynasty, reigning in Empire of Nicaea, as the legitimate Roman emperors during this period as the Nicene Empire eventually retook Constantinople. For the other lines of empresses, see List of empresses of the Byzantine successor states.
Irene Laskarina is called augusta on her seal, but it is not known if the honorific was used by other empresses too.
Palaiologos dynasty (1259–1439)
The honorific augusta appears on the seals of Theodora, Yolande-Irene, Rita-Maria and Anna of Savoy,[170] as well as on a miniature depicting Helena Dragaš. Given that no seals or documents of other empresses have survived, it is not known if all of them used the title, although it's most likely they did.
^Her full name is disputed; Suetonius calls her "Livia Orestilla", but Cassius Dio and later historians call her "Cornelia Orestina". See Kajava 1984.
^Divorced "within a few days" according to Suetonius, but "before two months had elapsed" according to Dio. The latter figure may actually refer to the period between the divorce and her exile, which was two years according to Suetonius.[3]
^Suetonius states that Caligula divorced Paulina "in a short time". Dio explains that Caesonia was Caligulas' mistress and that she got pregnant during this time. Suetonius writes that Caesonia married on the same day she gave birth, while Dio states that she married one month before giving birth.[4][5]
^Commodus was named co-emperor in 177, at the age of 16.
^Caracalla was named co-emperor in 198, still less than 10 years old.
^Empresses during the Tetrarchy often adopted their husband's nomen after their marriage. Diocletian's daughter Valeria thus became "Galeria Valeria" upon her marriage to Galerius.
^Kienast, Eck & Heil, p. 317, give her name as "Albia (?) Dominica", but does not elaborate. This name is not mentioned by the PLRE or other sources.
^Empress after Aelia Flaccilla adopted "Aelia" as a title, which was then shown in their coinage.[65]
^Flaccilla is called "Flavia" in a few inscriptions. She probably adopted the name following the accession of her husband, who also used "Flavius" as part of his nomenclature. Emperors after the Constantinian dynasty were often addressed as "Flavius", but it was used as an honorific rather than a personal name.[66]
^Julius Nepos continued to claim the imperial title in exile until May 480. He was apparently recognized by Emperor Zeno, but held no real power.
^She acted as de facto empress-regnant during almost all of Constantine VI's reign. She was banished in December 791, but was recalled and proclaimed empress (and in practice co-ruler) a month later, on 15 January 792.[114]
^The name and background of Nikephoros I's wife is not given in any primary source.[117] Some modern historians mistakenly call her Prokopia, out of confusion with her daughter (and later also empress) Prokopia.[118]
^She stopped being empress for a few months in 1183.
^Theodore II was proclaimed co-emperor in 1235, but was never crowned.
^Some Palaiologan empresses displayed over-complicated surnames, probably as an imitation of their husband's (although theirs were justified by their long ancestry, see Family tree of Byzantine emperors). The full surname of the Palaiologan emperors was "Doukas Angelos Komnenos Palaiologos".
^Andronikos II was crowned co-emperor on 8 November 1272.
^Andronikos III was proclaimed co-emperor around 1310, but not crowned until 1325.
^A total reign of 39 years a few weeks; just some months behind Empress Ariadne.
^John VII was proclaimed co-emperor in 1377. He deposed his father in 1390, but was quickly defeated. He was released and ruled as regent during Manuel's absence (1399–1403), although it's not clear whether he ruled as "emperor". He was expelled from Constantinople as soon as Manuel returned, but was appointed "Emperor of Thessalonica" soon after.
^John VIII was proclaimed co-emperor in or shortly before 1407, but was not crowned until 1421.
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