Five Good Emperors
Marcus Aurelius
Lucius Verus
(Click here for more on why the Parthians and the Romans are always fighting)
But to the north, the Germanic people living in what is now Germany and Austria and Switzerland noticed that some of the Roman troops were gone, and there was a plague, and now THEY thought this would be a good time to attack. Marcus Aurelius spent most of the rest of his life fighting them or trying to make treaties with them. But just as he was finally winning, he died. He was 59 years old, and it was March of 180 AD. The Empire was much poorer than before, from the plague, and from having to pay so many soldiers.
To find out more about the five good emperors, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
Classical Rome, by John Clare (1993). For kids, the whole political history from beginning to end.
The Romans: From Village to Empire, by Mary Boatwright, Daniel Gargola, and Richard Talbert (2004). Okay, it's a little dry, but it is up to date and has all the facts you could want.
The Roman Empire, by Colin Wells (1984). More readable. Alternates chapters on political and social history. Unfortunately, he stops at the third century crisis.
The Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96-99 and the Reign of Nerva, by John Grainger (2002).
Trajan: Optimus Princeps, by Julian Bennett (2001).
Memoirs of Hadrian, by Marguerite Yourcenar (1963). A famous historical novel, written through the eyes of Hadrian.
The Severans
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