Nerva Cocceius

30 – 98 · Generation VI · Roman emperor (r. AD 96–98) · Nerva–Antonine

Nerva (AD 30 – AD 98). Roman emperor (r. AD 96–98). A childless senator raised to the purple after Domitian’s murder; his adoption of Trajan invented the age of the “good emperors.” He spent a lifetime close to power before holding it — helping to uncover the conspiracy of Piso against Nero in 65, then earning consulships as a Flavian loyalist under Vespasian in 71 and Domitian in 90. As emperor he promised to undo the repressions of Domitian's autocracy, but money ran short and he could never make the army obey him. When the Praetorian Guard besieged the palace in October 97 and took him hostage, he saw that he needed an heir the soldiers would accept, and after deliberation adopted Trajan, a well-liked general on the German frontier. He died of natural causes little more than a year into the reign and was deified; ancient historians praised his wisdom and moderation, and he stands first among the Five Good Emperors.

One of 12 people of Nerva–Antonine (30–192) in this archive. The adoptive emperors: for four reigns the purple passed to a chosen heir rather than a born one.

Children

Trajan Optimus (53 – 117)