List of Roman dynasties

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This is a list of the dynasties that ruled the Roman Empire and its two succeeding counterparts, the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Dynasties of states that had claimed legal succession from the Roman Empire are not included in this list.

Contents

List of Roman dynasties

DynastyPeriod of rule Rulers [lower-alpha 1]
StartEndTermFirst to ruleLast to rule List / Family tree
Dynasties of the Principate
Julio–Claudian dynasty 27 BCE [1] 68 CE [1] 95 years Augustus Nero (list)
(tree)
Flavian dynasty 69 CE [1] 96 CE [1] 27 years Vespasian Domitian (list)
(tree)
Nerva–Antonine dynasty [lower-alpha 2] 96 CE [2] 192 CE [2] 96 years Nerva Commodus (list)
(tree)
Severan dynasty 193 CE [3] 235 CE [3] 41 years [lower-alpha 3] Septimius Severus Severus Alexander (list)
(tree)
Gordian dynasty 238 CE [4] 244 CE [4] 6 years Gordian I Gordian III (list)
(tree)
Decian dynasty 249 CE251 CE2 years Decius Hostilian (list)
Valerian dynasty 253 CE268 CE15 years Valerian Gallienus (list)
Caran dynasty 282 CE285 CE3 years Carus Carinus (list)
Dynasties of the Dominate
Constantinian dynasty [lower-alpha 4] 305 CE [5] 363 CE [5] 58 years Constantius Chlorus
(Western)
Constantine I
(Eastern)		 Julian
(Western & Eastern)		(list)
(tree)
Valentinianic dynasty 364 CE [6] 392 CE [6] 28 years Valentinian I
(Western & Eastern)		 Valens
(Eastern)
Valentinian II
(Western)		(list)
(tree)
Theodosian dynasty 379 CE [7] 457 CE [7] 78 years Theodosius I
(Western & Eastern)		 Valentinian III
(Western)
Marcian
(Eastern)		(list W) / (list E)
(tree)
Eastern (Byzantine) dynasties
Leonid dynasty 457 CE [8] 518 CE [8] 61 years Leo I Anastasius I (list)
(tree)
Justinian dynasty 518 CE [9] 602 CE [9] 84 years Justin I Maurice
and
Theodosius [lower-alpha 5] 		(list)
(tree)
Heraclian dynasty 610 CE [10] 711 CE [10] 91 years [lower-alpha 6] Heraclius Justinian II
and
Tiberius [lower-alpha 7] 		(list)
(tree)
Isaurian dynasty [lower-alpha 8] 717 CE [11] 802 CE [11] 85 years Leo III Irene of Athens (list)
(tree)
Nikephorian dynasty 802 CE813 CE11 years Nikephoros I Michael I Rangabe
and
Theophylact [lower-alpha 9] 		(list)
(tree)
Amorian dynasty [lower-alpha 10] 820 CE [12] 867 CE [12] 47 years Michael II Michael III (list)
(tree)
Macedonian dynasty 867 CE [12] 1056 CE [12] 189 years Basil I Theodora Porphyrogenita (list)
(tree)
Komnenid dynasty [lower-alpha 11] 1057 CE [13] 1185 CE [13] 106 years [lower-alpha 12] Isaac I Komnenos Andronikos I Komnenos
and
John Komnenos [lower-alpha 13] 		(list)
(tree)
Doukid dynasty 1059 CE [14] 1078 CE [14] 19 years Constantine X Doukas Michael VII Doukas (list)
(tree)
Angelid dynasty 1185 CE [15] 1204 CE [15] 19 years Isaac II Angelos Alexios V Doukas (list)
(tree)
Laskarid dynasty [lower-alpha 14] 1204 CE1261 CE57 years Theodore I Laskaris John IV Laskaris (list)
(tree)
Palaiologan dynasty 1259 CE [18] 1453 CE [18] 194 years Michael VIII Palaiologos Constantine XI Palaiologos (list)
(tree)

Graphical representation

Palaiologan dynastyLaskarid dynastyAngelid dynastyKomnenid dynastyDoukid dynastyKomnenid dynastyMacedonian dynastyAmorian dynastyNikephorian dynastyIsaurian dynastyHeraclian dynastyHeraclian dynastyJustinian dynastyLeonid dynastyTheodosian dynastyValentinianic dynastyConstantinian dynastyGordian dynastySeveran dynastyNerva–Antonine dynastyFlavian dynastyJulio-Claudian dynastyList of Roman dynasties

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ As adoption was widely practiced by the upper classes, some Roman monarchs were not directly biologically related to their predecessors despite belonging to the same dynasty. For example, the second emperor of the Julio–Claudian dynasty, Tiberius, was in fact an adopted son of the dynastic founder, Augustus.
  2. ↑ The Nerva–Antonine dynasty is sometimes subdivided into the Nerva–Trajan dynasty and the Antonine dynasty.
  3. ↑ The rule of the Severan dynasty was interrupted between 217 CE and 218 CE. Caracalla was the last ruler before the interregnum. Elagabalus was the first ruler after the interregnum.
  4. ↑ The Constantinian dynasty is also known as the "Neo-Flavian dynasty".
  5. ↑ Maurice and Theodosius reigned as co-rulers.
  6. ↑ The rule of the Heraclian dynasty was interrupted between 695 CE and 705 CE. Justinian II was both the last ruler before the interregnum and the first ruler after the interregnum.
  7. ↑ Justinian II and Tiberius reigned as co-rulers.
  8. ↑ The Isaurian dynasty is also known as the "Syrian dynasty".
  9. ↑ Michael I Rangabe and Theophylact reigned as co-rulers.
  10. ↑ The Amorian dynasty is also known as the "Phrygian dynasty".
  11. ↑ The Komnenid dynasty ruled the Empire of Trebizond between 1204 CE and 1461 CE.
  12. ↑ The rule of the Komnenid dynasty was interrupted between 1059 CE and 1081 CE. Isaac I Komnenos was the last ruler before the interregnum. Alexios I Komnenos was the first ruler after the interregnum.
  13. ↑ Andronikos I Komnenos and John Komnenos reigned as co-rulers.
  14. ↑ In the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, the Laskarid dynasty of the empire of Nicaea is traditionally accepted by historians as the legitimate continuation of the Roman Empire, mostly because in 1261 it recovered Constantinople, New Rome. [16] During the period between 1204–1261, however, there were four competing dynasties—aside from the Laskarids in Nicaea, these were the Latin emperors of the "Flanders dynasty" in Constantinople, [17] the Komnenodoukai of Epirus and the Megalokomnenoi of Trebizond—equally claiming the east Roman emperorship.

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This is an alphabetical index of people, places, things, and concepts related to or originating from the Byzantine Empire. Feel free to add more, and create missing pages. You can track changes to the articles included in this list from here.

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The Empire of Trebizond, or Trapezuntine Empire, was a monarchy and one of three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire that flourished during the 13th through to the 15th century alongside the Despotate of the Morea and the Principality of Theodoro. It consisted of the Pontus, or far northeastern corner of Anatolia, and portions of southern Crimea.

The House of Komnenos, Latinized as Comnenus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first reigning member, Isaac I Komnenos, ruled from 1057 to 1059. The family returned to power under Alexios I Komnenos in 1081 who established their rule for the following 104 years until it ended with Andronikos I Komnenos in 1185. In the 13th century, they founded and ruled the Empire of Trebizond, a Byzantine rump state from 1204 to 1461. At that time, they were commonly referred to as Grand Komnenoi, a style that was officially adopted and used by George Komnenos and his successors. Through intermarriages with other noble families, notably the Doukas, Angelos, and Palaiologos, the Komnenos name appears among most of the major noble houses of the late Byzantine world.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">John II of Trebizond</span> Emperor and Autocrat of all the East, of the Iberians and of Perateia

John II Megas Komnenos was Emperor of Trebizond from June 1280 to his death in 1297. He was the youngest son of Emperor Manuel I and his third wife, Irene Syrikaina, a Trapezuntine noblewoman. John succeeded to the throne after his full-brother George was betrayed by his archons on the mountain of Taurezion. It was during his reign that the style of the rulers of Trebizond changed; until then, they claimed the traditional title of the Byzantine emperors, "Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans", but from John II on they changed it to "Emperor and Autocrat of all the East, the Iberians, and the Transmarine Provinces", although Iberia had been lost in the reign of Andronikos I Gidos.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laskaris</span> Byzantine Greek noble family; ruling dynasty of the Empire of Nicaea (1204-61)

The House of Laskaris or Lascaris was a Byzantine Greek noble family which rose to prominance during the Late Byzantine period. The members of the family formed the ruling dynasty of the Empire of Nicaea, a Byzantine rump state that existed from the 1204 sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade until the restoration of the Empire under the Palaeologan dynasty in 1261.

The House of Angelos, Latinised as Angelus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family that produced several Emperors and other prominent nobles during the middle and late Byzantine Empire. The family rose to prominence through the marriage of its founder, Constantine Angelos, with Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. As imperial relatives, the Angeloi held various high titles and military commands under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. In 1185, following a revolt against Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac II Angelos rose to the throne establishing the Angeloi as the new imperial family that ruled until 1204. The period was marked by the decline and fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire, culminating in its dissolution by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 under Alexios IV Angelos.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine mints</span>

The East Roman or Byzantine Empire established and operated several mints throughout its history (330–1453). Aside from the main metropolitan mint in the capital, Constantinople, a varying number of provincial mints were also established in other urban centres, especially during the 6th century. Most provincial mints except for Syracuse were closed or lost to invasions by the mid-7th century. After the loss of Syracuse in 878, Constantinople became the sole mint for gold and silver coinage until the late 11th century, when major provincial mints began to re-appear. Many mints, both imperial and, as the Byzantine world fragmented, belonging to autonomous local rulers, were operated in the 12th to 14th centuries. Constantinople and Trebizond, the seat of the independent Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461), survived until their conquest by the Ottoman Turks in the mid-15th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire of Thessalonica</span> Byzantine successor state under warlord Theodore Komnenos

The Empire of Thessalonica is a historiographic term used by some modern scholars to refer to the short-lived Byzantine Greek state centred on the city of Thessalonica between 1224 and 1246 and ruled by the Komnenodoukas dynasty of Epirus. At the time of its establishment, the Empire of Thessalonica, under the capable Theodore Komnenos Doukas, rivaled the Empire of Nicaea and the Second Bulgarian Empire as the strongest state in the region, and aspired to capturing Constantinople, putting an end to the Latin Empire, and restoring the Byzantine Empire that had been extinguished in 1204.

The Treaty of 1282 was an agreement between Empire of Trebizond and the Byzantine Empire. It was signed by emperors John II of Trebizond and Michael VIII Palaiologos.

Since its fall, the issue of succession to the Byzantine Empire has been a major point of contention both geopolitically, with different states laying claim to its legacy and inheritance, and among the surviving members of the Byzantine nobility and their descendants. Historically, the most prominent claims have been those of the Ottoman Empire, which conquered Byzantium in 1453 and ruled from its former capital, Constantinople; the Russian Empire, as the most powerful state practising Eastern Orthodox Christianity; and various nobles and figures in Western Europe of increasingly spurious and questionable imperial descent.

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