Editing List of Roman emperors (section)

== Other claims to the Roman imperial title ==
{{See also|Succession of the Roman Empire|Succession to the Byzantine Empire}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Other claims to the Roman imperial title
! Subject
! Description

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| Roman usurpers ([[List of Roman usurpers|list]])
| rowspan=2 | [[Roman usurper|Roman usurpers]] were individuals or groups of individuals who obtained or tried to obtain power by force and without [[Legitimacy (political)|legitimate]] legal authority. [[Usurpation]] was endemic during the [[Roman Empire|Roman imperial]] era, especially from the [[crisis of the third century]] onwards, when political instability became the rule.
A number of individuals proclaimed themselves emperor (or were proclaimed or appointed as emperor), but are not considered as legitimate emperors because they did not oust the ruling emperor, or did not establish control of the whole empire, or were not accepted by the senate or other imperial colleagues.

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| Byzantine usurpers ([[List of Byzantine usurpers|list]])

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| Holy Roman Emperors ([[Holy Roman Emperor#List of emperors|list]])
| The [[Holy Roman Emperor]] was the ruler and [[head of state]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].
[[Charlemagne]] was crowned ''imperator romanorum'' ("Emperor of the Romans") by [[Pope Leo III]] in AD 800. In so doing, the Pope rejected the legitimacy of [[Empress Irene]].{{Sfn|ODB|p=413}} The Byzantines never recognized the Holy Roman emperors as "Roman emperors" and called them the 'emperor (or king) of the Franks', to them only the [[Byzantine Senate]] (successor to the [[Roman Senate]]) and/or the [[Byzantine military]] (successor to the [[Roman military]]) had the right to appoint a new Roman Emperor. Likewise, Western Europeans didn't recognize the legitimacy of the Byzantine emperors and called them the 'emperor of the Greeks' or the 'emperor of Constantinople'. See also: [[Problem of two emperors]]

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| Latin Emperors ([[Latin Emperor|list]])
| The [[Latin Emperor]] was the ruler of the [[Latin Empire]], the historiographical convention for the [[Crusades|Crusader]] realm, established in [[Constantinople]] after the [[Fourth Crusade]] (1204) and lasting until the city was recovered by the [[Byzantine Greeks]] in 1261. Its name derives from its [[Catholic]] and Western European ("[[Latins (Middle Ages)|Latin]]") nature. The empire, whose official name was ''Imperium Romaniae'' ([[Latin]]: "Empire of [[Roman Empire|Romania]]"), claimed the direct heritage of the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]], which had most of its lands taken and partitioned by the crusaders. This claim however was disputed by the Byzantine Greek successor states, the [[Empire of Nicaea]], the [[Empire of Trebizond]] and the [[Despotate of Epirus]]. Out of these three, the Nicaeans succeeded in displacing the Latin emperors in 1261 and restored the [[Byzantine Empire]].

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| Trapezuntine emperors ([[List of Trapezuntine emperors|list]])
| The [[Trapezuntine emperors]] were the rulers of the [[Empire of Trebizond]], one of the successor states of the [[Byzantine Empire]] founded after the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204, until [[Siege of Trebizond (1461)|its fall]] to the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1461. The rulers of Trebizond called themselves ''[[Grand Komnenos|Megas Komnenos]]'' and – like their counterparts in the other two Byzantine successor states, the [[Empire of Nicaea]] and the [[Despotate of Epirus]] – initially claimed supremacy as "Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans". However, after [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]] of Nicaea recaptured Constantinople in 1261, the Komnenian use of the style "Emperor" became a sore point. In September 1282, at Constantinople, [[John II of Trebizond]] relinquished his claim and accepted the title [[Despot (court title)|despot]]. His successors used a variant of the imperial title, "Emperor and Autocrat of all the East, [[Caucasian Iberia|the Iberians]], and the [[Perateia|Transmarine Provinces]]" until the Empire's end in 1461.<ref>{{Harvnb|ODB|p=1047}}; {{Harvnb|PLP|p=2326 (#12106)}}.</ref>

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| Emperors of Thessalonica ([[Empire of Thessalonica#Rulers|list]])
| The emperors of Thessalonica were the rulers of the [[Empire of Thessalonica]], a [[historiographic]] term to refer to the short-lived state centred on the city of [[Thessalonica]] between 1224 and 1246 (''[[sensu stricto]]'' until 1242) and ruled by the [[Komnenodoukas]] of [[Despotate of Epirus|Epirus]].

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| Despots of Epirus ([[Despot of Epirus#List of despots of Epirus, 1205–1479|list]])
| The [[despot of Epirus]] was the ruler of the [[Despotate of Epirus]], one of the successor states of the [[Byzantine Empire]] in the aftermath of the [[Fourth Crusade]]. The name "Despotate of Epirus" is a modern historiographical name and was not used at the time.
Some rulers used the version "[[despotes|despot]] of Romania" (Romania essentially referring to the territories of the [[Roman Empire]], i.e. Byzantium) or "despot of the [[Rhomaioi|Romans]]" (claiming rulership over the Romans, i.e. the Byzantines/Greeks).

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| Ottoman sultans ([[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|list]])
| Based on the concept of [[right of conquest]], the sultans of the [[Ottoman Empire]] claimed to be the legitimate Roman Emperors, in succession to the Byzantine emperors who had previously ruled from Constantinople. This claim was recognized by the [[Islamic world]], but was never recognized by the Western Europeans. See [[Ottoman claim to Roman succession]]

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