One Man Was Not Enough
On 1st April 286, Diocletian appointed Maximian as co-Augustus, establishing Rome's first diarchy. The empire covered 5 million square kilometres. The logic was straightforward.
Ancient Rome
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Optimus
On 27 January 98 AD, Nerva died and Trajan became Roman emperor. For centuries after, the Senate greeted every new emperor with the same ritual wish: may you be better than Trajan. He was not without flaws, but the bar he set outlasted the empire itself.
The Man Behind the Curtain
On 24 January AD 41, the Praetorian Guard assassinated Caligula and proclaimed Claudius emperor. Rome expected a joke. It got thirteen years of competent government instead.
After Theodosius
On 17 January 395, Theodosius I died in Milan - the last man ever to govern a united Roman Empire. He left it to two sons, aged seventeen and ten. They never put it back together.