On December 31, 192 CE,
Emperor Commodus (r. 180-192) was strangled to death while he was bathing. The
assassination freed the Roman Empire from Commodus’ incompetent and negligent
rule. Yet, the Roman glory days were over, and the empire would never fully
return to its former harmony. Instead, the reign of Commodus was succeeded by another
type of chaos—instability and civil war.
By the first day of January
193, the senate had already chosen who would be the next emperor. The man they
put on the throne was Publius Helvius Pertinax, and, at least on paper,
Pertinax seemed to be a perfectly adequate candidate.
Emperor Pertinax was born
around 126, the son of a freed slave. Despite his humble beginnings, Publius
Helvius Pertinax would rise to the top of Roman society. Pertinax managed to obtain
a thorough education, and rose in the academic world high enough to become a
teacher.
At some point in his life, Pertinax
quit his job as an educator and decided to devote himself to the symbiotic
spheres of Roman military and politics. Recognized as a man who served with
distinction, Pertinax built up his prestige by leading troops in Syria, Britain
and Germany. Due to his military achievements, Pertinax was granted a seat in
the Roman Senate, and was even elected to the office of consul. With the
respect and support from Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180), Pertinax was
eventually tasked with defending much of the eastern empire, from the Danube River
to Syria. Yet, upon the death of Marcus Aurelius, Pertinax lost a great deal of
his former influence. Nevertheless, by 192, the year of Emperor Commodus’ death,
Pertinax had been able to climb back to prominence by becoming a Prefect of
Rome, as well as the senior marshal of the Roman Empire.
When Emperor Commodus was
killed, most of the key players (the assassins, the Praetorian Guard and the
Senate) backed Pertinax as the next emperor. After all, the man was a former
teacher, a distinguished soldier and a senior member of the Roman Senate. Also,
in staunch contrast to Commodus, Pertinax had a reputation for living a moral
and virtuous lifestyle. Yet, it was this side of the emperor that would lead to
his downfall.
When he became emperor,
Pertinax quickly scanned through the messy finances of the Roman Empire, and
was dismayed by the wasteful spending and corruption that was present
everywhere. In an attempt to remove all of the luxurious excesses that were
expensively imposed on the empire by his predecessor, Commodus, Pertinax instituted
major spending cuts in both the civilian and military spheres. Most
significantly, he did away with many of the lavish benefits that Commodus had
given to the emperor’s personal protection, the Praetorian Guard.
Naturally, the praetorians
were not at all pleased that their elite brotherhood was being cleaned of its
corruption. Therefore, after only around three months of Pertinax’s rule, a mob
of disgruntled praetorians (sometimes estimated at 300 in number) pressed their
way forcefully into the palace where the emperor was staying. Pertinax, a
former teacher, general and senator, felt that he could disarm the mob with his
words, and fatefully decided to remain in the palace and try to negotiate with
the angry soldiers. The praetorians, however, either were unimpressed by the
emperor’s speech, or ignored his words altogether. In March 193, Emperor
Pertinax was stabbed to death by his own praetorian guardsmen. He was not
allowed to die gracefully; Pertinax’s killers reportedly cut off the emperor’s
head and paraded it on a stake for all of the Romans to see.
The death of Pertinax ignited
one of the most persistent problems that plagued Roman society—civil war. After
killing Pertinax, the Praetorian Guard held an auction, offering the imperial
throne to the highest bidder. The man with the biggest coin purse, named Didius
Julianus, was escorted by the Guard to the Roman Senate, where the man was made
emperor. Yet, by buying the throne, Didius Julianus had little support among
the people or the senators, and his protection by the Praetorian Guard would
only last as long as he could pay their wages. Sensing weakness, three other
powerful military commanders launched rebellions, each claiming to be the
rightful heir to the slain Pertinax.
In 193, the so-called “Year
of the Five Emperors,” the most powerful warlord to rise up was Septimus
Severus, who launched a rebellion with around sixteen legions stationed in the
regions of the empire that were adjacent to the Rhine and Danube Rivers. When
news reached Rome that Severus was marching to Italy, Didius Julianus lost all
of his support. Mere weeks after he had bought the throne, Emperor Didius
Julianus was killed by an assassin sent by either the Roman Senate or Septimus
Severus. Regardless of who sent the assassin, the Roman Senate quickly proclaimed
Severus as the new emperor. Emperor Severus (r. 193-211) spent the next several
years defeating his military rivals and began the Severan Dynasty, which would
produce four more emperors.
Written by C. Keith Hansley.
Top picture attribution: (Depiction of Emperor Pertinax, [Public Domain] via
Creative Commons).
- The Roman History by Cassius Dio, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin Classics, 1987.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Publius-Helvius-Pertinax
- https://www.ancient.eu/Pertinax/
- https://www.roman-emperors.org/pertinax.htm
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Septimius-Severus
- https://www.ancient.eu/Didius_Julianus/
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