Early Christianity is closely tied to the history of the Roman Empire. Whether as the victims of persecution or as those rising to positions of power, the church could never ignore the empire and vice versa. So some knowledge of the empire and the emperors is important for Christian history.
A great resource for this is Emperors Don’t Die in Bed by Fik Meijer. This book gives a short description of the life, and even more so of the death, of each emperor. The book goes from Julius Caesar (even though he was not an emperor) to Romulus Augustus (who was the last western emperor, even though the emperors continued in the east).
Despite the title, some emperors did die in bed, especially among the five good emperors. But the point is that most of them did die violent deaths. One of the conclusions for any readers is that being an emperor was a very dangerous job.
I think this is a great resource for people interested in the Roman background. The author does not go into a lot of detail but provides enough information to get the big picture. If you are interested in Christian history, this context is essential.
