who was the first emperor of rome?
History >> Ancient Rome. For the first 500 years of Ancient Rome, the Roman government was a republic where no single person held ultimate power. However, for the next 500 years, Rome became an empire ruled by an emperor. Although many of the republican government offices were still around (i.e. the senators) to help run the government, the emperor was the supreme leader and was even sometimes thought of as a god. Who was the first Roman Emperor? The first Emperor of Rome was Caesar Augustus.