OLIVIER HEKSTER is Professor of Ancient History at the Radboud Institute for Culture and History, Radboud University Nijmegen. He is chair of the international network 'Impact of Empire', and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Academia Europaea. His publications include Emperors and Ancestors. Roman Power and the Constraints of Tradition (2015).

'Hekster's magisterial survey of Roman emperorship puts the subject on a new footing. Drawing on a wide range of literary, documentary, and visual evidence, it provides a rich and three-dimensional account of emperors in action and in the imagination. It will be of interest not only to Roman historians, but to all students of premodern rulership.' Carlos Noreña, Associate Professor of Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology, University of California, Berkeley

• Introduction: Emperors and expectations; 1. Portraying the Roman Emperor; 2. Playing imperial roles; 3. Being around the emperor; 4. The emperor in capital and provinces; Conclusions: Emperors in a changing world.

OLIVIER HEKSTER is Professor of Ancient History at the Radboud Institute for Culture and History, Radboud University Nijmegen. He is chair of the international network 'Impact of Empire', and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Academia Europaea. His publications include Emperors and Ancestors. Roman Power and the Constraints of Tradition (2015).

'Hekster's magisterial survey of Roman emperorship puts the subject on a new footing. Drawing on a wide range of literary, documentary, and visual evidence, it provides a rich and three-dimensional account of emperors in action and in the imagination. It will be of interest not only to Roman historians, but to all students of premodern rulership.' Carlos Noreña, Associate Professor of Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology, University of California, Berkeley

• Introduction: Emperors and expectations; 1. Portraying the Roman Emperor; 2. Playing imperial roles; 3. Being around the emperor; 4. The emperor in capital and provinces; Conclusions: Emperors in a changing world.

OLIVIER HEKSTER is Professor of Ancient History at the Radboud Institute for Culture and History, Radboud University Nijmegen. He is chair of the international network 'Impact of Empire', and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Academia Europaea. His publications include Emperors and Ancestors. Roman Power and the Constraints of Tradition (2015).

'Hekster's magisterial survey of Roman emperorship puts the subject on a new footing. Drawing on a wide range of literary, documentary, and visual evidence, it provides a rich and three-dimensional account of emperors in action and in the imagination. It will be of interest not only to Roman historians, but to all students of premodern rulership.' Carlos Noreña, Associate Professor of Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology, University of California, Berkeley

• Introduction: Emperors and expectations; 1. Portraying the Roman Emperor; 2. Playing imperial roles; 3. Being around the emperor; 4. The emperor in capital and provinces; Conclusions: Emperors in a changing world.