Greatest Emperor

Blaming Constantine and his subsequent adoption of Christianity as the state religion doesn't take into consideration that the 50 years following the murder of Alexander Severus were one of the lowest points in the history of the Roman Empire.   Severus was murdered only 70 years or so before Constantine.

The troubled times led to a succession of short reigned emperors who far more often than not met a violent death usually at the hands of their own troops.  The empire was basically fighting for its life and was being threatened on almost every front - a resurgent Persia in the east and the Alemanni and Goths of the Rhine and the Danube.  Its during this time we see the first emperor to fall at the hands of the enemy and the only emperor to be captured and die in captivity abroad.

This was a time when the empire temporarily split into two parts - The Gallic Empire and the Roman......and it wasn't the congenial split of East and West.   There are emperors that we have little or no information on because there's little more than a name in the historical records.  Of one emperor - Aemilius Aemilianus - Eutropius wrote "Aemlianus came from an extremely insignificant family, his reign was even more insignificant, and he was slain in the third month."

The seed for the fall were sown long before Christianity rose.

Something should also be taken in consideration too on the decline of the Roman military. It didn't simply bang happen. Over the years of excessive taxation, decline in value of money (therefore reducing trade), and the tremendous effect of the plagues sweeping the Roman Empire, affording the military became impossible. So we also need to search deeper into what caused the decline of the military before we simply assume that it was the cause of the military's decline. Everything that caused the collapse also linked to another thing. For example, the military decline resulted in mass invasions by both the barbarians, and also by the Sassanian Persians.

My vote goes to Hadrian because he simply was an astonishing leader...and after i have read his biography i find him the greatest emperor of all times...or maybe Theodosius or Augustus was greater...

And i think Nerva should be in the list also?

All I can say is COOL!  

I as referring to Imperator Caesar Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius Pius Felix Invictus Augustus, while Ihsan was referring to Imperator Caesar Divi Nervae Filius Nerva Traianus.

I would rather say that Pater Patriae means Father of the Fatherland"