Nerva Biography

Nerva was a first century Roman emperor, who ascended the throne at an advanced age and without any royal lineage. During his short reign of fifteen months, he ushered in the era of the five most glorious emperors of the Roman empire. He brought stability to an erstwhile unstable monarchy. Born into nobility, he rose to the fore when he helped expose a conspiracy against Emperor Nero. A succession of failed rulers followed, and when Vespasian became the emperor, he rewarded Nerva with a consulship for his loyalty to the ‘Flavian’ dynasty. Nerva continued to hold the position under Vespasian’s son, Domitian’s, reign as well. After Domitian’s assassination, he was appointed as the emperor and implemented several significant social, cultural and financial reforms. But his lack of assertiveness, poor health and general unrest among the senate led to a revolt by the royal guards, where he was imprisoned for some time. In the aftermath of the revolt, he adopted a popular military leader as his heir, who eventually became the next emperor after his death. Statues have been erected in Nerva’s honour and films have been made on him too.