Grainger John D. Nerva and the Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96-99

Routledge, 2002. — 191 p.The imperial succession at Rome was notoriously uncertain, and hereditary succession was preferred. But when the infamous emperor Domitian was assassinated in AD 6, he had no sons and had executed several family members who might have succeeded him; the situation provoked a dangerous crisis. John Grainger's detailed study looks at this period of intrigue and conspiracy and explores Domitian's murder, the rule of his successor Nerva, and finally Nerva's own choice of successor, Trajan, who became a strong and respected emperor against the odds. Grainger also investigates the effects of this dynastic uncertainty both inside and outside the ruling group in Rome, asking why civil war did not occur in this time of political upheaval. By the third century civil war was institutionalized, and was one of the main reasons for the eventual downfall of the entire imperial structure. Though the period of this study stands out as the civil war that didn't happen, it was perilously close.