Hadrian's ashes were placed in mausoleum following his death in 138, and his successor, Antoninus, managed to get the Senate to bestow upon Hadrian divine honors, himself earning the title of pius (pious) in the process.  A temple was dedicated to Hadrian in the Campus Martius.  Following this, building in Rome continued at a far slower rate.  He constructed a temple to his wife, Faustina, in the forum after her untimely death in 141, which was rededicated to the two of them after he perished in 161.

His successor, Marcus Aurelius, saw Roman peace and stability of the past century end.  While he enjoyed philosophy more than warefare, he was forced to defend the Rhine and Danube frontiers from Germanic tribes like the Marcomanni and the Quadi.  His campaigns were commemerated by the erection of the column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, which still stands in the Piazza Colonna today.  It has a shaft 30 meters high.  Aurelius' son and successor, Commodus, lived a degenerate and debauched lifesytle by all accounts.  His megalomania prompted him to change the name of Rome to the "Colonia Commodiana."   He also spent lavish amounts of money on games, often participating in the arena himself.

After Commodus was assassinated in 192 and a brief period of civil war ended, Septimus Severus, a native of Lepcis Magna in North Africa, became emperor.  He restored aqueducts and embankments of the river and temples.  A triumphal arch was dedicated by the Senate in the forum to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his acension.  Servus added a whole new wing on the south side of the Palatine Palace.  His successors made additions to the city, such as the baths of Caracalla, but the 3rd century was politically unstable at best, seeing no less than 25 emperors rule from AD 235 - 284, most of which never even visited Rome due to fighting Rome's enemies on the frontiers. 

This chaos ended with the emperor Diocletian, who introduced a system of tetrarchyto the empire, or a system of ruling with four people, two "Caesares" and two "Augusti."   Diocletian also attempted many economic reforms.  As one of the last builders, he restored and reorganized the forum Romanum, which ad become cluttered with honorary monuments.  He rebuilt the temples of Saturn and Vesta, as well as the Curia, recently damaged in fires.  He also built the third massive bathing complex on the Quirinal.

After the abdication of Diocletian in 306, unrest followed not ended until Constantine overcame his rival, Marentius, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312.  Constantine soon made his mark, with imperial baths and a huge triumphal arch next to the Colesseum.

In AD 313, the Edict of Milan recognized Christianity as an official Roman religion, freeing it from the periodic persecution it had undergone under previous rulers.  construction began on the Basillica of St. John the Lateran, the cathedral church of Rome, at the east end of the Caelian.  Across the River began construction of St. Peter's Basillica on the Vatican.

After the foundation of Constantinople by Constantine in 324 as a "new Rome," imperial prestige left the city.  Many late Roman emperors didn't even visit Rome, which became gradually more frequented by barbarian attacks.  In 410, the Goths, under Alaric, sacked Rome, practically ending Roman administration in the western Mediterranean.  The western empire officially ceased to exist as of 476, and Rome became a city of Christiandom, and no longer imperial politics.

For a complete listing of Roman emperors, please click here.

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