Emperors Whose Memory Was Erased by Senate Decree - Damnatio memoriae

Certain emperors were deemed worthy of being stricken from memory. This striking is referred to by the Latin damnatio memoriae. A name that appeared on a monument could be physically crossed out as can be seen in the triumphal arch for Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Geta and Caracalla. Caracalla had his brother's name removed. Statues would be destroyed and names removed from records.

The source for the following chronological list of emperors of Rome whose names were erased by Senate decree is the classic work on inscriptions by Sir John Edwin Sandys -- Latin Epigraphy (1927).

• Caligula
• Nero
• Domitian
• Commodus
• Albinus
• Geta
• Macrinus
• Diadumenianus
• Helopgabalus/Antoninus
• Severus Alexander
• Maximin I
• Maximus I
• Gordian III
• Philip I, II
• Traianus Decius
• Herennius Etruscus
• Hostilianus
• Aemilianus
• Gallienus
• Aurelian
• Probus
• Carus
• Carinus
• Numerianus
• Diocletian
• Maximian I, II (Galerius)
• Flavius Severus
• Maximin Daia
• Maxentius
• Licinus I
• Constantine II
• Constans I
• Magnentius
• Maximus II