Julius Caesar: The father
This guy is the most famous Roman of them all. He conquered Gaul, he became the subject of a play by William Shakespeare and was famously assassinated by Brutus and his gang of conspirators on 15th March 44BC. Despite this legendary status, the debate still rages over his true nature: was he a military genius, the greatest of all Romans, or was he just a brutal tyrant and a gambler, who was done in for being overambitious?

Augustus: The politician
Augustus was born with the given name Gaius Octavius but he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian) in 44BC after the assassination of his great-uncle Julius. He also has the honour of being Rome's first official emperor and is largely remembered for being a shrewd politician. It was Augustus that famously took on Antony and Cleopatra and won, as well as restoring peace after 100 years of civil war.

Nero: The suicide
Nero is the most infamous of the Caesars and was a power hungry, hedonistic and crazy. He was tutored by the great philosopher Seneca and the first five years of his reign were considered the golden time of the Empire. The trouble with Nero is that he was more passionate about the arts and chariot racing than he was about governing the Empire. His rule soon took a nosedive into corruption, sexual debauchery, fiddling, matricide and the murder of political opponents. Ultimately, several rebellions and mutinies brought about his death by suicide. Such a shame.

Hadrian: The builder
Hadrian, who came to power in AD117 after the death of his cousin Trajan, was a successful general, but shocked the folk back in Rome by ordering a halt to conquering. He wanted to secure the Empire behind border defences such as the famous Scottish wall. He was also a talented architect -- he designed the Pantheon in Rome.

Constantine: The Christian warrior
Although a brutal Caesar who murdered his own wife and son, among countless others, he was the one Caesar who embraced Christianity. His religious conversion is often attributed to a battle with his rival Maxentius, in which, legend has it, he saw the sign of the cross in the sky. It was under his rule that Christianity became the principle religion of the Empire. Constantine's decision to embrace Christianity was instrumental in making it the dominant religion in the Western world.

Justinian: The last Caesar
Justinian was born a Serbian peasant and was in some ways the last Roman Emperor. He was the last to conquer (or in his case, reconquer) territory, and the last to see the Empire produce great literary, artistic and architectural achievements. Perhaps he is most famous for the Justinian Code, a compilation and standardization of the Roman legal tradition that influences Western legal traditions to this day. A fine legacy, but by the time he died, the Roman Empire was already fading.