List of Roman dynasties

This is a list of the dynasties that ruled the Roman Empire and its two succeeding counterparts, the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Dynasties of states that had claimed legal succession from the Roman Empire are not included in this list.

List of Roman dynasties

Dynasty	Period of rule			Rulers[a]
	Start	End	Term	First to rule	Last to rule	List / Family tree
Dynasties of the Principate
Julio–Claudian dynasty	27 BCE[1]	68 CE[1]	95 years	Augustus	Nero	(list) (tree)
Flavian dynasty	69 CE[1]	96 CE[1]	27 years	Vespasian	Domitian	(list) (tree)
Nerva–Antonine dynasty[b]	96 CE[2]	192 CE[2]	96 years	Nerva	Commodus	(list) (tree)
Severan dynasty	193 CE[3]	235 CE[3]	41 years[c]	Septimius Severus	Severus Alexander	(list) (tree)
Gordian dynasty	238 CE[4]	244 CE[4]	6 years	Gordian I	Gordian III	(list) (tree)
Dynasties of the Dominate
Constantinian dynasty[d]	305 CE[5]	363 CE[5]	58 years	Constantius Chlorus (Western) Constantine I (Eastern)	Julian (Western & Eastern)	(list) (tree)
Valentinianic dynasty	364 CE[6]	392 CE[6][e]	28 years[e]	Valentinian I (Western & Eastern)	Valens (Eastern) Valentinian II[e] (Western)	(list) (tree)
Theodosian dynasty	379 CE[7]	457 CE[7]	78 years	Theodosius I (Western & Eastern)	Valentinian III (Western) Marcian (Eastern)	(list W) / (list E) (tree)
Eastern (Byzantine) dynasties
Leonid dynasty	457 CE[8]	518 CE[8]	61 years	Leo I	Anastasius I	(list) (tree)
Justinian dynasty	518 CE[9]	602 CE[9]	84 years	Justin I	Maurice and Theodosius[f]	(list) (tree)
Heraclian dynasty	610 CE[10]	711 CE[10]	91 years[g]	Heraclius	Justinian II and Tiberius[h]	(list) (tree)
Isaurian dynasty[i]	717 CE[11]	802 CE[11]	85 years	Leo III	Irene of Athens	(list) (tree)
Nikephorian dynasty	802 CE	813 CE	11 years	Nikephoros I	Michael I Rangabe and Theophylact[j]	(list) (tree)
Amorian dynasty[k]	820 CE[12]	867 CE[12]	47 years	Michael II	Michael III	(list) (tree)
Macedonian dynasty	867 CE[12]	1056 CE[12]	189 years	Basil I	Theodora Porphyrogenita	(list) (tree)
Komnenid dynasty[l]	1057 CE[13]	1185 CE[13]	106 years[m]	Isaac I Komnenos	Andronikos I Komnenos and John Komnenos[n]	(list) (tree)
Doukid dynasty	1059 CE[14]	1078 CE[14]	19 years	Constantine X Doukas	Michael VII Doukas	(list) (tree)
Angelid dynasty	1185 CE[15]	1204 CE[15]	19 years	Isaac II Angelos	Alexios IV Angelos	(list) (tree)
Laskarid dynasty[o]	1204 CE	1261 CE	57 years	Theodore I Laskaris	John IV Laskaris	(list) (tree)
Palaiologan dynasty	1259 CE[18]	1453 CE[18]	194 years	Michael VIII Palaiologos	Constantine XI Palaiologos	(list) (tree)

Graphical representation

See also

• History portal
• Monarchy portal

• Dynasty
• History of the Byzantine Empire
• History of the Roman Empire
• List of Byzantine emperors
• List of Byzantine usurpers
• List of condemned Roman emperors
• List of Roman emperors
• List of Roman usurpers
• Pax Romana
• Succession of the Roman Empire
• List of largest empires

Notes

1. As adoption was widely practiced by the upper classes, some Roman monarchs were not directly biologically related to their predecessors despite belonging to the same dynasty. For example, the second emperor of the Julio–Claudian dynasty, Tiberius, was in fact an adopted son of the dynastic founder, Augustus.
2. The Nerva–Antonine dynasty is sometimes subdivided into the Nerva–Trajan dynasty and the Antonine dynasty.
3. The rule of the Severan dynasty was interrupted between 217 CE and 218 CE. Caracalla was the last ruler before the interregnum. Elagabalus was the first ruler after the interregnum.
4. The Constantinian dynasty is also known as the "Neo-Flavian dynasty".
5. Constantius III (through marriage) and Valentinian III (through matrilineal descent) are sometimes considered part of both the Valentinianic and Theodosian dynasties. If included in the Valentinianic dynasty, that dynasty also ruled in 421, and in 425–455. This would bring the dynasty's end date to 455 and its total "term" to 59 years.
6. Maurice and Theodosius reigned as co-rulers.
7. The rule of the Heraclian dynasty was interrupted between 695 CE and 705 CE. Justinian II was both the last ruler before the interregnum and the first ruler after the interregnum.
8. Justinian II and Tiberius reigned as co-rulers.
9. The Isaurian dynasty is also known as the "Syrian dynasty".
10. Michael I Rangabe and Theophylact reigned as co-rulers.
11. The Amorian dynasty is also known as the "Phrygian dynasty".
12. The Komnenid dynasty also ruled the Empire of Trebizond between 1204 and 1461.
13. The rule of the Komnenid dynasty was interrupted between 1059 CE and 1081 CE. Isaac I Komnenos was the last ruler before the interregnum. Alexios I Komnenos was the first ruler after the interregnum.
14. Andronikos I Komnenos and John Komnenos reigned as co-rulers.
15. In the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, the Laskarid dynasty of the Empire of Nicaea is traditionally accepted by historians as the legitimate continuation of the Roman Empire, mostly because in 1261 it recovered Constantinople, New Rome.^[16] During the period between 1204–1261, however, there were four competing dynasties—aside from the Laskarids in Nicaea, these were the Latin emperors of the "Flanders dynasty" in Constantinople,^[17] the Komnenodoukai of Epirus and the Megalokomnenoi of Trebizond—equally claiming the Byzantine emperorship.