Emperor The title of Emperor or Empress is the name of a ruler of a specific Empire . It has also been applied to the rulers of the Ysgramor Dynasty , the Reman Dynasty , the Septim Dynasty , and the Mede Dynasty . The Emperor is the Head of State for the entire Empire . The Emperor resides in the Imperial Palace in the Imperial City . With the title inherited through blood by the first - born male child of the current emperor , the title has been bestowed upon daughters and dowagers . Until the reign of Tiber Septim , the title was passed through lineage . With no surviving heirs , Septim was granted the title due to his war prowess . After the death of the last - known Septim heir at the end of the Oblivion Crisis , Martin Septim , the Elder Council struggled to declare an emperor , until Titus Mede I seized the Ruby Throne ; thus began the Mede Dynasty . Since the rule of Slave - Queen Alessia , the Amulet of Kings has traditionally been a symbol of the Emperor ' s power , with the Aedric relic being the means by which the ceremonial Dragonfires were lit within Temple of the One , at the Emperor ' s seat of power , the Imperial City . This tradition has been abandoned since during the Oblivion Crisis the Amulet of Kings was shattered and the Dragonfires were lit permanently . Ascension . Emperors ascend to the throne through bloodlines . The title is usually handed from father to son , upon the death of the former . The title has been handed to dowagers of Emperors , most notably Katariah . In the absence of an heir , the Empires successions were different , during the time of the Second Empire the Akaviri Potentate ruled in the Emperors stead . During the Third Empire the Elder Council elected a Potentate to rule in the Emperor ' s place until a suitable alternative can be crowned . The Amulet of Kings . The Amulet of Kings is the Crown Jewel of the Emperors of Tamriel . When Saint Alessia rallied the slaves against the Ayleid s , Akatosh bestowed upon her the gem that would later be faceted into the Amulet of Kings . The jewel later became crucial in the crowning of Cyrodilic Emperors . During the Septim Dynasty , newly crowned Emperors brought the amulet to the Temple of the One to light the Dragonfires and keep the barrier between Tamriel and Oblivion shut . Martin Septim , an illegitimate heir , broke the tradition when he destroyed the amulet to invoke Akatosh and return Mehrunes Dagon to Oblivion , thus sealing the barrier between Oblivion and Tamriel forever . History . The First Era . The Ysgramor Dynasty . The origins of the first Empire of the Nord s date back to the late Merethic Era when Ysgramor and his sons escaped the slaughter of the first human city of Saarthal by the native elves . He returned to Skyrim with an army known as the Five Hundred Companions and lead a reprisal campaign against the elvish population . The city of Saarthal was retaken and eventually rebuilt . Ysgramor then ordered the construction of Windhelm which would serve as the capital of the Empire . In the following years , Ysgramor and his army hunted the remaining elves to near extinction . Once Skyrim had been purged of Snow Elves , the ancient Nords turned their attention to Solstheim where a great number of skirmishes were said to have taken place . The Alessian Empire . The first Imperial Empire of Tamriel began with Queen Alessia . The Alessian Empire often called the " First Empire , " was founded by Alessia after the overthrow of the Ayleid by the human slaves in Cyrodiil . Outside of historical writings , the term more specifically refers to the Empire as it exists since the unification of Tamriel under Tiber Septim , Emperor of Cyrodiil at the end of the Second Era . The Reman Empire . The birth of the Reman Empire is shrouded in myth . It is believed that in the first Interregnum , many lords and warlords fought for the throne , while others searched and prayed to Saint Alessia for the return of the peace brought with the first empire . Hrol , king of what is now known as Old Hroldan , specifically went searching for the spirit of Alessia . He had a vision of her standing with Akatosh , and was seduced by the spirit of Alessia . According to one of his shieldthanes , he " did love unto a hillock " in the belief it was Alessia . Nine months later , the Hill birthed Reman Cyrodiil , who even as an infant spoke with the voice of an Adult . He marched into The Imperial City and was proclaimed a divine emperor . Reman managed to unite the Empire ' s claims of Skyrim , High Rock , Hammerfell , Nibenay , and Colovia by repelling Akaviri invaders at Pale Pass . Elsweyr and Valenwood were taken militarily in the next decade or so . Morrowind never joined the Empire because , as the war between them was concluding , Reman Cyrodiil III and his son were both assassin ated by the Dark Brotherhood . The Reman Empire fell twice . First it fell at its peak , with the assassination of all Reman Cyrodiil ' s heirs . This led to the slow decline of the empire under the Akaviri potentate , Versidue Shaie . In 2E 324 , the potentate was assassinated by the Morag Tong and his son , Savirien Chorak , took power . The new potentate and all his heirs were assassinated in the years to come by the Dark Brotherhood , ending the empire . The Second and Third Era . The Septim Empire . The Potentate Versidue Shaie ruled for 430 year s in prosperity that established some traditions of the empire before the last Potentate was assassinated by Morrowind ' s official assassins guild , the Morag Tong . His successor , also a Tsaesci , was promptly murdered by the Dark Brotherhood , leaving no Akaviri heirs , and officially ending the Second Empire . A series of non - noteworthy Emperors would follow over the next four hundred years , until the rise to prominence of the Imperial General Talos Stormcrown , also known as Tiber Septim . Septim commanded the army and navy of Cyrodiil through a number of victories or stalemates , slowly bringing the independent states of Tamriel under the umbrella of Imperial Provinces . Talos ' own emperor was assassinated in 2E 854 , leaving the Elder Council in charge of the government and , effectively , putting Tiber Septim in charge of the Empire . He continued to press his attacks across Tamriel , until in 2E 896 , he enacts a truce between Cyrodiil and Morrowind to bring the Dunmer province into the Empire as a mostly independent province , in return for the aid of the golem Numidium in defeating the rest of the continent . Talos succeeds , and is named Emperor Tiber Septim I , beginning both the Third Era and the Third Empire , the Septim Empire . During his time as Emperor , Tiber Septim had an affair with a Dunmer i queen named Barenziah . Outraged by the pregnancy , he ordered the child aborted . Barenziah fled the province . The first few in the line of Septim Emperors ruled with relative peace and prosperity , but within 50 years , mismanagement and political infighting become the norm . In more than one case , wars are fought over the throne , including the notable War of the Red Diamond , fought among three surviving heirs . Potential kings or queens frequently attack the sitting Emperor , or have him assassinated , and the Empire begins to lose its grip on several provinces . It would not be until the reign of Uriel Septim V that the lands of Tamriel were reconquered and the Empire returned to its place of power . Unfortunately , Uriel V also chose to launch an ill - planned invasion of Akavir , in which he was defeated soundly and killed . The next generations of Septim rule restored the peace , prosperity , and most importantly , the stability of the Imperial line to Cyrodiil . By the time of Pelagius IV and his son , Uriel VII , the Empire was back almost to the height of its power . Uriel VII ' s reign was overall a stable one , but was dotted with occasional strife and near - catastrophe . His Imperial Battlemage Jagar Tharn , possibly at the urging of Mehrunes Dagon , imprisoned him and ruled in his stead for several years . The Emperor escaped just in time to thwart an attempt by the King of Wayrest to conquer Daggerfall . By the time of the Dagoth Ur crisis in Morrowind , there was talk of the failing health of the Emperor , and concerns over the future of the Empire . As it turned out , the Emperor ' s health was not an issue , but he was assassinated trying to flee the Imperial City after learning of the murder of every known heir to the throne . Their murderers , a cult called the Mythic Dawn , serving Mehrunes Dagon , were preparing Tamriel for an invasion by the Daedric Lord . Septim ' s one remaining illegitimate son Martin eventually led a defense of the Empire by becoming an avatar of Akatosh and defeating Dagon , but died in the process . The Empire was left without an heir once more , but this time , with no one even distantly related to Tiber Septim available to be crowned . The Elder Council , which had essentially ruled during the periods of the weakest emperors , was now officially running the Empire . Many provinces floated rumors of dissolving the Empire ; after the Oblivion Crisis many provinces left the empire like Black Marsh . The Fourth Era . After the death of the last Septim , the Elder Council struggled to maintain peace in Cyrodiil , placing new Emperors on the throne - - none of which were well - taken by the people of the Empire . Eventually a Colovian warlord named Titus Mede conquered the Imperial City with just a thousand men and crowned himself Emperor . Thus began the Mede Dynasty . Following the death of Titus Mede II , the Council could not successfully coronate another emperor . List of Known Emperors . The following is a list of Emperors known to have ruled The Empire of Tamriel and their respective reigns .