Domitian

Born 24 October 51, Domitian spent his father Vespasian's and brother Titus's reigns in ceremonial irrelevance. When Titus died in 81, the Praetorian Guard declared him emperor. He revalued the coinage, rebuilt a damaged Rome through massive construction, and tightened the border - his general Agricola pushed into Caledonia while Domitian himself couldn't break King Decebalus in Dacia. He named himself perpetual censor, used propaganda to build a cult around his image, and stripped the Senate of power. The people and army loved him; the Senate called him a tyrant. On 18 September 96, court officials assassinated him, Nerva took the throne that same day, and senatorial writers like Tacitus and Pliny spent the next generation painting him as paranoid and cruel.