The 10 most extravagant emperors
A dodgy mortgage claim is feeble stuff set against the spending of history's top kleptocrats. Here is Times Money's list of the 10 most extravagant emperors, in chronological order
Pictured left is Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, see below, the emperor who appeared naked in the arena to slay wild animals
Wu, Emperor of China, 141-87BC
The seventh Han emperor is remembered as one of China's greatest, but also one of its most extravagant. His military campaigns doubled the size of an already vast realm, making it significantly larger than the contemporary Roman empire - but at a tremendous cost to the taxpayer. In his older age, he retreated from court and army life and spent much of his time with concubines. Paranoid that his nobles were trying to kill him using black magic, he had whole clans executed en masse
Caligula, Emperor of Rome, 37-41
The third Roman emperor - whose once-affectionate nickname means "little boot" - had himself declared a god, slept with his sisters and pimped them to other noblemen. He also made his horse Incitatus a consul. Aside from his insanity and perversion, he was a profligate spender and exhausted the treasury, sparking a financial crisis that led to famine. Caligula was murdered by members of the Praetorian Guard under Cassius Chaerea, whom he had criticised for being soft on tax collection
Nero, Emperor of Rome, 54-68
Caligula's nephew Nero was another big spender, lavishing much of his treasury on vulgar public entertainments. Aside from murdering his mother, stepfather, wife and unborn child to preserve his power, the obese "aesthete" is infamous for having fiddled [playing the lute] while Rome burned in 64, later building a splendid "Golden House" in the ruins. He was eventually forced from power and committed suicide with the infamous words Qualis artifex pereo - "What an artist dies in me!"
Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, 117-138
Hadrian is often considered the greatest of the Roman Emperors and presided over the empire at its biggest territorial extent. He put some of the proceeds of an efficient revenue system into a self-designed 250-acre villa complex at Tivoli [dismissed, for its roof domes, as "pumpkins" by the professional architect Apollodorus of Damascus] and had a city founded at great expense in memory of the Greek youth Antinous with whom he had been infatuated
Commodus, Emperor of Rome, 176-180
The son of the humanist philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius, Commodus took more after his predecessor Nero. He taxed the senate and city of Rome heavily to lavish games on the plebs - appearing personally, naked, in the arena to slay exotic animals and lines of wounded soldiers and amputees. He also declared himself a god and had the name of Rome changed to Commodiana. His erratic behaviour made him many enemies and he was strangled in his bath in a coup, aged 31
Elagabalus, Emperor of Rome, 218-222
Assassinated at just 18, Elagabalus crammed plenty of outrage into a four-year reign - abandoning himself, in the words of the historian Edward Gibbon, "to the grossest pleasures and ungoverned fury". Aside from pouring public money into the worship of an obscure Syrian sun god, he married five women (including an off-limits Vestal Virgin) and two men, and prosititued himself in drag in down-at-heel taverns in Rome as well as in a purpose-built chamber within the imperial palace
Justinian, Byzantine Emperor, 527-565
The Thracian peasant-turned-emperor hoped to restore the dwindling Roman empire and succeded in re-taking Italy, North Africa and Southern Spain. His wars put a strain on resources closer to home, exposing Constantinople to the threat of barbarian attack. He spent lavishly on public buildings such as the cathedral of Hagia Sophia and on his wife Theadora, a former prostitute. According to Procopius: "With her now to help spend his money, he plundered the people more than ever"
Yang, Emperor of China, 604-617
Like his predecessor Wu, Yang was a great conqueror and greater spender. The second emperor of the Sui dynasty reportedly committed eight million people to the construction of projects including the Great Wall and Grand Canal. He lived in a splendid 100-room palace, well-stocked with concubines and was ultimately strangled there by mutinous army officers, one of whom is said to have told the dying tyrant: "All of the earth is angry at you. It does not stop at just one man"
Shah Jehan, Mughal Emperor, 1628-1658
The fifth Mughal ruler oversaw what some historians consider to have been a golden age. His legacy includes the city of Delhi - founded as Shahjehanabad - and the Taj Mahal at Agra. He also commissioned a gold peacock throne set with the Koh-i-Noor diamond, among other stones. He had many wives and concubines and spent much time stocking his harem. To that end, he held special fairs at court which only the most beautiful women, regardless of social rank, were permitted to enter
Bokassa I, Emperor of Central Africa, 1976-1979
The former corporal and son of a village chief spent $20 million - a third of his country's annual budget - on his Napoleonic-scale coronation as Emperor. Other money went on a private zoo (where animals were reportedly fed on dissidents), kitsch triumphal arches and the maintenance of 17 wives and more than 50 children. He boosted his Croix de Guerre and Legion d'Honneur (bravely acquired in the French army) with numerous new medals and orders, dazzling even Idi Amin, his rival in notoriety
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That's what happens when Consuls are replaced by Ceasars; when shareholders are overthrown by their their employees (managers) and their representatives (directors) are theives. Let people steal your rights, and they'll soon steal your money too.
Posted by: James Yates | 2 Jul 2009 19:07:41
No mention of Mao and his many palaces, actresses and wasteful consumption of several tens of millions of lives.
Posted by: Tom | 6 Jul 2009 15:27:08