The Roman Empire Roman empire in the first century AD, was filled with stories of love, murder and revenge, fear and greed, envy and pride (Garnesey 45). Their history is an episde that lurches from peace and prosperity to terror and tyranny. The first century was turbulent attributed to the hereditary rule. Most of the period was filled with emperors who were not chosen on the basis of their ability or honesty but the mere fact that they were born on the right families. However, great leaders such as Augustus were however present, so were tyrants like Caligula, and as Humphrey and Olsen puts it for every Claudius there was a Nero, for every Vespasian, a Domitian. At the end of the period however, Rome took its succession into its own hands and put into power someone who was reasonably sane, smart and honest. The essay critically analyses the rule of two Roman Emperors in addition to Empress Valeria Messalina