barracks emperor

Noun

barracks emperor (plural barracks emperors)

1. (Ancient-Rome, historical) An emperor who seized power by virtue of his command of the army.
   • 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...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...
   • 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...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...