Dictionary

barracks emperor en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɛ-/ (General-American)
• (Australia) audio
• (General-American) audio
• /ˈbæɹəks ˈɛmpəɹə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈbæɹəks ˈɛmpəɹɚ/ (General-American)

Meanings

1. (Ancient-Rome, historical) An emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army.
   • While Iran and Mesopotamia therefore enjoyed relative security in the third century a.d., the internal cohesion of the Roman state showed signs of serious disrepair. The civil war between 193 and 197 a.d., which brought the first "barracks emperor" to power, was a mere prelude to the distresses of the years 235 to 285 a.d., when recurrent struggles between rival candidates for the imperial throne opened the gates to barbarian invasion accompanied by pestilential disease of unusual severity. 1963, William H[ardy] McNeill, “Barbarian Onslaught and Civilized Response, 200–600 a.d.”, in The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →OCLC, part II (Eurasian Cultural Balance 500 B.C.–1500 A.D.), page 387:
   • Who was the first "barracks emperor" of Rome? […] The "barracks emperors" were Roman military leaders of this era who seized supreme power in the field or were elevated to the throne by the army against their will. They were often uncultured or semieducated, or natives of backward provinces, like Maximinus Thrax ("the Thracian"), the first common soldier who rose through the ranks to become Roman emperor. 2010 March, Peter D’Epiro, “Third Century”, in The Book of Firsts: 150 World-changing People and Events from Caesar Augustus to the Internet, New York, N.Y.: Anchor Books, Random House, →ISBN, question 18, pages 56–57:
   • The next twenty-nine emperors, who ruled Rome for ninety-two years, or until a.d. 284, were known as the Barracks Emperors, because most of them owed their elevation to the purchase of favors from the soldiers. A few of these men were of unblemished character, but most of them encouraged the progress of corruption and aided the downfall of Rome. 1924, Charles H[erbert] Sylvester, “The History of Rome”, in The Writings of Mankind: […] Twenty Volumes, volume V (Greece·Latin), Kansas City, Mo.: The Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority, National Headquarters, →OCLC, page 2481:
   • Abraham Lincoln had only one thing in common with a Roman barracks-emperor: that he had risen, as had Diocletian and others, from a poverty-stricken rural background. 1974, Russell Kirk, The Roots of American Order, Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine University Press, →ISBN; republished Newburyport, Mass.: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2014, →ISBN:

Forms

Translations (13)

da soldaterkejser (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · ja 軍人皇帝 (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · fy soldatekeizer (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · sv soldatkejsare (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · ru солда́тский импера́тор (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · fi sotilaskeisari (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · sh војнички цареви (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · vi hoàng đế quân nhân (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · bg войнишки императори (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · nl soldatenkeizer (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · de Soldatenkaiser (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · az əsgər imperatorları (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army) · no soldatkeiser (emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army)

wikipedia: Roman emperor · wikipedia: Maximinus Thrax · wikipedia: Praetorian Guard · wikipedia: Capitoline Museums · wikipedia: Legio IV Italica · wikipedia: Imperial Roman army