The presidents of today definitely have their quirks, but they can't really compare the antics of the Roman emperors. Somehow they always found a way to choose the worst person possible for the job, or some of the time. There were definitely good emperors too.
Tiberius, the second emperor and stepson of Augustus, was extremely paranoid, and his family relationships were destroyed because of it. He once had his neice banished and his great-nephews murdered because he was suspicious that they planned to usurp his power. If a citizen informed the emperor that someone spoke against him, and the accused was convicted successfully of treason, he would receive 25% of the convict's wealth. This encouraged people to fib about anyone, the richer the better, because they knew Tiberius was so paranoid that he would find almost anyone guilty.
Caligula can claim a few nut cases to his name. He declared himself a god while serving as emperor (Caesar and Augustus both received this honor posthumous in a way of acknowledging their achievements). He had decided early he already was a god.
Caligula (or so a tale is told) was obsessed with the circus (not with clowns, but the older kind with horses and chariot races). He once had the city silenced so that his favorite horse, Incitatus, wouldn't be bothered before the race began. Caligula also deliberated on actually making Incitatus a consul (a top seat in the hierarchy with the power of veto) of Rome, though it's unknown if that actually happened.
Ptolemy was a client king (a sort of vassal who ran a province) of Caligula in Egypt. Ptolemy once showed up in Rome wearing a purple cloak, a color usually symbolizing imperial power. Caligula had him murdered for showing up that way.
Nero is often remembered for playing the fiddle as Rome burned, but you might've read in a different entry that fiddles weren't even around during that time period. The Great Fire of Rome was a great opportunity for Nero to get public support as he helped rebuild some of the lost structures. However, he took a huge chunk of the lost land (120 acres to be exact) to build himself a nice, new palace, complete with an artificial lake, parks, and forests. Although some of it was later destroyed, most of it survived, but was buried for Trajan's new bathing complex.
Commodus is not forgotten mostly for ending the Age of the Five Good Emperors. It all went wrong when he handed the imperial powers over to a bunch of corrupt officials. His death heralded a period of civil war and a succession of soldier emperors. His name can boast hitting one of the lowest points that the Roman Empire ever endured.
Julianus (ha, ha... his first name was Didius, how cool is that?) was only out for the ambitions of himself and his family. He didn't even have an army of supporters. He just offered soldiers some money if they'd make him emperor. Not surprisingly, everyone got ticked and called for revenge. He was murdered after two months of civil war. He never even paid the soldiers anyway!
The short reign of Caracalla was one the oddest and most extreme. Septimius Severus made he and his brother Geta joint emperors wanting to establish a new imperial dynasty. Well once Severus died, Caracalla murdered his wife, brother, and all his brother's supporters. He soon became obsessed that he was a reincarnation of Alexander the Great. No wonder he was murdered.
Augustus probably wouldn't have bothered establishing the empire if he'd known that 200 years later an idiot like Elagabalus would rule. A huge sexual pervert, he went as far as to marry a Vestal Virgin (GASP)! He tried to recreate the Sun-God cult, which only served to horrify the people. Elagabalus had no idea of the sense of honor that went with the job and was completely indifferent to the dignity of the position. The people of Rome made sure he suffered a violent death.
Great Fire of Rome -
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