Vespasian (71-79)   
A sign of the new men, from Italy and the provinces, who would fill imperial administration, especially via army. 

As Censor appointed new men of ability to Senate, which became representative of empire. Made extensive grants of citizenship. 
Used senators as his administrators, and consulted Senate as a courtesy. The administrators of the departments created by Claudius gave stability as emperors came and went, but V. made these administrators equestrians (knights) rather than freedmen.
Concerned with rebuilding treasury, raised money by various ingenious methods.
Seriously cut down on corruption and lavish gifts to supporters. Put down various provincial revolts, as well as the so-called ‘Stoic opposition’ - exiled stoic philosophers. 
Made sure that his sons would be emperors, and made Titus virtually co-ruler. 
  New wide-scale building program, such as the Colosseum, a new imperial palace and new festivals.
  A plain man with a good sense of humor. Made a god when he died. 

Titus (79-81)
   Much loved. 
Was more lavish than his father in gifts and promises, but died before doing damage. Gave lavish aid after various natural disasters and a fire at Rome. Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed during his reign. 
Under his command the final phase of the first Jewish war occurred. The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed and not rebuilt - the end of Temple based Judaism. 
Titus was also made a god

Domitian (81-96)
Another Bad Emperor Somewhat like Tiberius; ill-tempered, his wait for power embittered him, made him demand extravagant honors (call me Master and God!), and punished harshly any insults. Treated Senate as his servant. 
  Made important advances in Britain and in the Rhine; there the great defensive line, the limes, was begun. Camps become more permanent -- often grow into small towns. Under Flavians there was more reorganization of army. D. raised military pay by 30%, causing financial problems.
When a serious conspiracy was uncovered (89), he became more despotic; the informers, trials and confiscation’s increased, leading to his assassination. When he was killed, his very memory was damned by Senate. Damnatio Memoriae. 
 
 

The Five Good Emperors: The Zenith of the Cosmopolitan Empire

Nerva (96-98)
Part of conspiracy against Domitian, picked by Senate, avoided mistake of Galba, adopted the great general Trajan for safety. The adoption of an able heir was a good way to ensure a better emperor, and it worked -- until Marcus Aurelius. 

Trajan (98-117) 
A Spaniard (not in the modern sense, but he did come from Spain), the first princeps from the provinces, one of the greatest emperors. 
A great conqueror -- got as far as Babylon. Added Dacia, Arabia and Armenia to Empire.
Gave more authority to Senate, but appointed men to Senate from provinces.

Like Vespasian he wanted efficiency. Sent caretakers (curatores) to cities and provinces whose finances were in trouble. 
Trajan and especially Hadrian made additions to imperial bureaucracy, but excluded freedmen.
Vast building program - Forum of Trajan, enlarged port at Ostia. Increased welfare programs began by Nerva. Lavish games, public donations.
Adopted Hadrian, became a god 

Hadrian (117-138)
Restless, curious artist. Initially he executed various senators, and various points of his career were marred by executions of rivals and enemies. 
While he withdrew from many of Vespasian’s gains, he worked hard to maintain military discipline, created vast defensive line - Hadrian’s Wall in Britian. 
A clear distinction now appears between civil service and the military careers, (widening gap between soldier and civilian), and the ranks of knights now have various grades: vir egregius, vir perfectissimus, vir eminentissimus, vir clarissimus.
Because of his desire to make all parts of empire important, Italy was more and more treated like another province.
Spent much of his career visiting the provinces, out of curiosity as well as to settle problems. A confirmed lover of all things Greek, he did major rebuilding in Athens and created a federation of Greek cities. 

Due to his attempt to make the Jews like Greeks and Romans (he forbade circumcision) there occurred the Bar Kokhba revolt (131-4) which ended in mass extermination (over a million died), with Jews forbidden to live in Jerusalem. The beginning of the Diaspora. 
Had great interest in art, poetry, and architecture; responsible for buildings like the Pantheon, temple of Rome and Venus and his vast villa at Tivoli (more about that later) 
  Made his lover Antinoos, who drowned in Egypt, a god with a widespread cult. CLICK HERE FOR PICTURE OF STATUE OF ANTINOOS.

Antoninus Pius (138-161)
Placeholder for Marcus Aurelius, but ruled longer than Hadrian had expected. Multiethnic, he traveled little, the empire was at peace, his relations with Senate cordial. He did advance the Roman borders some. But raids on the borders suggest the coming crises. 

Marcus Aurelius. (161-180)
Philosopher by temperament, fortified by his Stoic beliefs, detailed in his Greek Meditations. And he needed them. For a while he was co-emperor under Lucius Verus, his less able adoptive brother, and under him the Empire suffered various terrible troubles. 
In 161 Parthians attacked the eastern frontiers. Roman armies under Lucius Verus and Avidius Cassius eventually defeated them and gained land in Western Mesopotamia -- but soldiers brought back with them a plague that decimated the empire. 
Under Marcus came first major barbarian invasions, the Marcomanni and Quadi along the Danube, who penetrated as far as Aquileia in N. Italy. To pay for expenses M. sold off imperial property and devalued the currency. He commanded the army in person and gained victory in 175, then was distracted by revolt of Avidius Cassius in Egypt; By 178 he was on the attack, and would have added new lands, but he died. 
By now that the Roman army, both its regular legions and its auxiliary units, were largely composed of non-Italians, who would have different views about the importance of Rome and Italy. With the hardening of the defensive line, legions tended to be stationed in one fortified place, and most military duties were more like those of police and guard duty. The increasing pressure of the barbarian nations on the borders of empire will eventually lead Emperors to recruit near-barbarians and then whole barbarian tribes to help them fight other barbarians. "Romanized" culture will likewise diminish. 
Further, under him the class stucture of Roman life hardens, with a clear legal distinction being made between honestiores (the better people) and the humiliores (the lower classes), who get harsher punishments.
Marcus’ huge mistake was to allow his degenerate son Commodus, to become emperor -- another very bad emperor (he liked to think of himself as Hercules), whose assasination will get off another round of civil wars. More to come!