Which "Official" Roman Emperor had the Greatest Influence?

Which "Official" Roman Emperor had the Greatest Influence?

  • Augustus

    Votes: 11 36.7%
  • Vespasian

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Trajan

    Votes: 2 6.7%
  • Constantine

    Votes: 15 50.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 6.7%

  • Total voters
    30
Which of the Roman Emperors do you think had the greatest influence upon western civilization? Please limit your thoughts to those who were officially called emperor. Julius Caesar was technically called "dictator-for-life" even though he had all the power of an emperor.
 
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Which of the Roman Emperors do you think had the greatest influence upon western civilization? Please limit your thoughts to those who were officially called emperor? Julius Caesar was technically called "dictator-for-life" even though he had all the power of an emperor?
Constantine, for his spreading of Christianity.
 
Augustus or Constantine, although I could probably put a word in for Diocletian, Marcus Aurelius, or even Claudius II Gothicus.
 
Augustus - without him, no Roman Empire. Without the Roman Empire, no Western civilisation as we know it.

Constantine comes second, but the changes we associate with him are more the joint result of several emperors' efforts.
 
Augustus - without him, no Roman Empire. Without the Roman Empire, no Western civilisation as we know it.

Constantine comes second, but the changes we associate with him are more the joint result of several emperors' efforts.

Well I think it depends on how we define empire; certainly the Roman Republic was for all intents and purposes, an empire in all but name (just without a monarch).

That being said, Augustus did set up a government that allowed Rome to persist for several centuries longer than it might have without that government.

I would say Constantine had the most profound effect on Western Civilization as a whole; not only did he legalize Christianity, but his sponsorship of the first ecumenical councils did a lot to ensure that the Trinitarian Branch would become the dominant branch (as opposed to the Arian).

--
Bill
 
Constantine, for his legalization of christianity, of course.

However, Diocletian is second, because of all the reforms he set in place. Without the Tetrarchy as a basis, the Roman Empire would never have split in two without a massive civil war, and imagine all the butterflies that would be caused by the failure to split.
 
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