After the enlightened government of the Antonines, that rested on the consensus of the upper class of the whole Roman world, at the same time reinforcing the base made up of the lower classes, the empire underwent a harsh political change which was without precedent. This was caused by the appointment of Commodus as heir to the throne by his father's wish, the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Bringing his son (who was born on the day that he ascended the imperial throne) to participate in power at the age of 5 years with the title of Caesar (successor designate), at the age of 15 as emperor with the tribunicia potestas, and then finally at 16 with the consulate and the title of Augustus, Marcus Aurelius put an end to Senatorial hegemony. Choosing his successor from his own family rather than from within the Empire, he swept away in one fell swoop the secular Roman tradition. With a Senate anything but favourable towards the new emperor, the nineteen year old prince found himself, on the death of his father in 180 A.D., commanding a grand army against the Guadi and the Marcommani, a war which had commenced during his father's reign. With these enemies he concluded a precipitious and useless peace influenced by powerful courtiers who exaggerated the dangers and difficulties of the campaign beyond the Danube, and contrasted them with the peace and refined pleasures of Rome. For the rest of his reign, the frontiers of the empire were on the defensive with fortification and defence works maintaining, for 12 years, a strategy of immobility towards the outside world. Commodus, politically too weak to face up to the danger of demands from fortunate and able generals on the external front, preferred therefore to exclude all warlike initiatives, and thus characterised his reign by peace and moderation.
In the first three years of his reign, he nurtured the spirit of paternal government, induced by a reluctant fear he had of his wise counsellors left to him by his father, while the Senate gave him the honours due to the flowering principate connecting him in divinis with Jupiter in a new theological concept, Iuppiter summus exuperantissimus.
His indecisive character was soon given a shock by an attempt on his life in which he was wounded. 'The Senate sends you this,' was the cry of the assassin who was held and arrested by the Praetorian Guard before he could deal a fatal blow. Even if in reality the true organiser of the plot was his sister Lucilla, widow of Lucius Verus, the coup released the tyrannic rage of Commodus and the rest of his reign was characterised by a long bloodbath.
The Senate, considered the supreme council of the nation until the time of Marcus Aurelius, came to be seen as a 'nest of traitors.' Among the many innocent victims of the reprisal were the notable brothers Massimo and Condiano of the family of Quintilia who were but two of the many who suffered in the senatorial class. The declared hostility against the Senate was essentially based on the support of the military classes of the provincial legions, but the strong point of Commodo's tyranny was the Praetorian Guard. Various officers of the provincial legions were elevated to the rank of 'Knight' and put in command of legions with the creation of a new rank, praefectus legionis, until then bestowed exclusively by senatorial order for the highest military command. The Concordia et Fides exercitum was stamped on coins minted from 185 A.D., exhorting the army to discipline and loyalty.
For the Praetorian Guard, there was a rapid succession of commandants, quickly given high command of the Imperial Guard, then sacked and often assassinated having fallen victim to the suspicious nature of the emperor. Paternus, Perenne, Cleander, Julianus, Regillus and Letus were the most notable among the many commandants of the Praetorian Guard, raised and then crushed by the tyranny of Commodus (only Letus survived him, forestalling him). At the same time repeated congiaria (gifts of money), were offered to the people and most of all to the army and to individual Praetorian guards, to ensure their goodwill.
Soon the reign of Commodus arrived at its height of vice and infamy. Within his palace, surrounded by three hundred beautiful maidens and a similar number of youths, he lived in the most unrestrained vice while beyond his doors raged plagues that killed up to two thousand people per day. The hunger and misery were made worse by the homicidal fury of the Praetorian Cavalry directed by Cleander. The patience of the people of Rome, by now exhausted, exploded in the Circus and flowed out onto the streets right up to the imperial palace. The charge of the terrible Praetorian Cavalry was countered by the crowd. (The streets were were darkened by a rain of darts and stones thrown by the people barricaded in the houses and supported by the urban militias who were also tired of the Praetorian privileges and abuses). The mob was only placated when it saw Cleander's head rolling on the ground. With the killing of Cleander, the emperor once again had the chance to regain the trust of the people but instead dissolution and massacres continued to be his daily pastimes.
At the height of power, his tyranny and his life ended silently and miserably in a family conspiracy organised by Marcia his favourite concubine, together with Eclettus, major-domo and Letus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Having been drugged by the conspirators, he was strangled by a young wrestler. Commodus hence became a victim of the terror that he had created in his colleagues, which could not be halted but by bloody action.
As with the first attempt on Commodo's life, the second which was successful, was a sign of the wish to bring the present principate back into the sphere of traditional political functions, ignoring the religious exaltation of the princely power over that of the 'earthly' organs of the State. The figurehead of this ideological return to previous values was Publius Pertinax, the only survivor of the friends and counsellors of Marcus Aurelius; prefect of the city and senior senator with the rank of consul, he had, to his misfortune, the task of reviving the tradition of the Roman world.
At dawn on the 1st January 193 A.D. he was awakened in his house by the prefect of the Praetorian Guard who informed him of the death of the emperor and who escorted him to the Praetorian barracks. They were forced to recognise him immediately, having to repress their regret and bitterness over the strange death of Commodus who had always been more than generous to them, having involved them in his boundless orgies and in hating the provincial troops who had been by this time abandoned to their fate. The old Pertinax was brought before the Senate, opportunely in session at the Temple of Concord. As soon as the senators were sure that the tyrant was dead the scene erupted spontaneously in expressions of great joy, confirming Pertinace by popular consent in his election and giving him all the titles due to the imperial dignity of his post, while the memory of Commodus was condemned to eternal infamy (Damnatiio Memoriae).
Pertinace who was an expert commander of large structures, immediately started the work of reorganising the social and military structures of the empire. Extremely exacting in discipline, inflexible in his decisions, he tried to bring the Praetorian militias back into line with the ancient obedience and respect for senatorial power. Knowing that he did not have great support within the Praetorian cohorts, he promised a generous gift of 3,000 denari, a move necessaray to calm the greed of the Pretorians but extremely hazardous for the treasury which had been completely exhausted by the excesses of Commodus. The gifts were consecrated in a minting of coin Liberatis civibus, while the privileges of the courtiers were abolished and the courtiers themselves sent away.
Some taxes were reduced and important food measures were taken including the re-implementation of a law aiding owners of uncultivated land who wanted to put it back into production. The Senate started to regain its proper function, participating in the political life of Rome, while the people recognised Pertinax as pater patriae, liberator of the people from the tyrannical fury of Commodus towards a future of new prosperity. The arrogance of the barbarians on the borders, used to the numerous tributes assigned to them during the 12 years of the pax romana by Commodus, dissolved rapidly when they saw the moves aimed at withdrawing the money backed up by a firm and categoric refusal by the Roman emperor to treat with them. However, the court intrigues by other aspirants to the imperial office, seriously threatened the elderly emperor. The firmness and authority of Pertinax, quashing as it did the arrogance of the Praetorians, made them ever more discontented with his rule. The very same Letus, who had supported his election, ended up by seeking the support of about three hundred Praetorians to kill him. At midday on the 28th March 193 A.D., they infiltrated the imperial palace and killed the emperor. The head of the deceased, placed on a pole, was carried around as a trophy to the Praetorian camp, in front of the sorrowing populace who smothered their worry over the unmerited end of an excellent ruler in grief and anger.
Immediately after the death of Pertinace, Rome was engulfed by a wave of confusion, dismay and terror. The people closed themselves in their houses fearing a bloody reaction on the part of the police and the urban militias. The same Praetorians, conscious of the grave and unpopular outrage committed by what was a minority of their number, barricaded themselves in their camp, barring the doors and keeping watch on the walls. From these same walls the soldiers took to shouting arrogantly, offering the post of emperor to the highest bidder. Immediately various parties formed, each claiming the imperial throne and each ready to gratify the arrogance of the Praetorian Guard with generous gifts. The throne was in the end disputed between Flavius Sulpicianus, father in law of Pertinax and prefect of the city, and Didius Julianus, a rich sixty year old general of consular rank and who had been commander of the legion XXII Primigenia and consul in various provinces of the Empire.
The old consul took himself off to the barracks of the Praetorian Guard and under the walls, began to bargain in competition with Sulpicianus. The Praetorians were immediately convinced on the choice of Julianus, in that not only did he promise them a greater cash gift (6,250 drachme instead of the 5,000 of Sulpiciano), but he also reassured them better against possible reprisals over the murder of Pertinax. The undignified haggling was rapidly concluded and the doors thrown open to the winning bidder. The Praetorians invested Julianus in office, sealed by an oath of loyalty. The same evening of the proclamation, crossing the deserted city, Julianus presented himself to the Senate escorted by a large following of armed Praetorians in battle order. Immediately after the recognition by the Senate, the military cortege accompanied him to take possession of the imperial palace where the decapitated corpse of Pertinax was still lying.
The emperor Didius Julianus was immediately overcome by a feeling of instability coupled with fear. The consciousness of having taken possession of such a high position, not by merit but by money, made him feel at the pinnacle of worldly power, but without the real consensus of the people. The Praetorian Guard, conscious of the outrage comitted against the Roman world, remained secretly terrified by the cries of disapproval and dissent that rose from every corner of the city. During the sacrifice to Giano, held by Julianus opposite the Curia, the people rose up noisily to the extent of coming into conflict with the Praetorian Guards; barricading themselves in the circus for a day and a night they appealed to Pescennius Niger, the governor of Syria and a noble general, to come with his frontier legions and put down the usurper.
This discontent rapidly spread throughout the empire. The armies of Britain, Syria and Illyria who had gladly agreed to serve under Pertinax, with whom they had won numerous battles, rejected with disdain the outrageous sale of the imperial throne brought about by the hated Praetorian Guard. Already under Commodus there was a latent rebellion towards the emperor, who favoured the Praetorians alone. The jealousy between the veteran frontier troops and the urban guards had by this point reached its climax. Didius Julianus never managed to get full control of the empire during his very short period of power; events themselves seemed to foretell his fall. During the sacrifices at the Forum three stars appeared that symbolised the three opponents of Julianus's rule and to the superstitious people of Rome augured imminent disaster. The three opponents soon manifested themselves: Gaius Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus, Lucius Septimius Severus; each proclaimed emperor by their own troops in their various provinces. This put an end to the pax romana initiating a period of fratricidal civil war that culminated in the victory of Septimius Severus over Albinus in 197 A.D.
There can be no doubt that Niger was the most poular claimant to the throne, acclaimed not only by his own troops and the Roman East, but also by the people of Rome and in certain areas of Italy. The usurping of the throne ignited a struggle for political power without precedent; each army wanted to bring its own commander to power, thus guaranteeing its own aspirations and rights. Although not demonstrating any separatist tendencies, the three armies had different characters presaging the phenomenon that later would see the division of imperial power into Celto-Germanico, Slavic and Eastern areas.
The outcome of this civil war demonstrated the decisive weakness of Italy with respect to the rest of the empire. Septimius Severus was the first to move towards Rome, proclaimed emperor at Carnuntum by his troops from the region of the Danube, with the name of Augustus and Pertinax. He reached Rome in just one month with the legions I Adiutrix and the Gemina, benefitting from his relative proximity to the capital. Crossing the Julian Alps, he occupied Venice and Ravenna where the imperial fleet was stationed and which immediately adhered to his cause. On the other hand, Julianus attempted to organise resistance, but every attempt was quickly shown to be in vain due to inability and a lack of personal authority. The Praetorian Guard had neither the will nor the ability to fight for their candidate. The soldiers stationed at Rome disdained the idea of leaving the baths and the theatre to take up arms, in whose use, they were by now unskilled. Ditches and earth embankments were constructed; elephants were brought into use to terrorise the enemy, with the only result being that their clumsy and inexpert keepers were swept away, to the laughter of the plebs that sneered at the soldiers and the sailors of the Misenan fleet, who were incapable of forming disciplined defensive formations. Even religious means were utilised, through processions and rites of vestal virgins, who proceeded towards the invaders in full cerimonial costume with the intent to stop them. Severus wasn't to be intimidated either by religious rites or by the defenses made ready by his enemies. His emissaries infiltrated the Praetorian ranks reassuring them about Severo's intent. This was to the effect that he would pardon the Praetorian cohorts if they would hand over those responsible for the death of Pertinax. The Praetorians responded immediately to this offer with the arrest of about three hundred of their number, the leaders of the conspiracy against Pertinax, sending them to Severus who had halted with his army at Interamnia, some seventy kilometres outside Rome. As soon as it was clear that the Praetorians no longer supported Julianus the Senate called a meeting and declared Severus the legitimate Emperor, calling for the arrest of Julianus and the raising of Pertinax to the status of divinity. After only sixty-six days, this pathetic sovreign who ruled over an unstable kingdom based on the payment of immense sums of money, was taken to the imperial baths where he was beheaded without mercy by the very same people who had sworn loyalty to him.
Terrified by the arrival of Severus, the Praetorian Guards adopted an attitude of disciplined obedience, trusting in the pardon of the emperor to whom they had delivered the conspirators in the murder of Pertinace. Before entering Rome Septimius Severus ordered the Praetorian cohorts to gather at a locality on the edge of the capital where they would observe the traditional meeting between the ruler and his elite bodyguard. This solemn act represented the beginning of every new accession to the throne. There were orders to leave their arms in their camp and then to parade in front of him in their most sumptious uniforms which were used to solemnise imperial cerimonies and then they had to proceed to the swearing of loyalty as the emperor's own guard. Enticed by the possibility of regaining their lost honour, they made their way to meet the emperor brandishing branches of laurel in place of their swords. The emperor immediately allowed them to enter the preselected site to give them the deserved greeting. Hardly had the units formed up, when on a sign from Severus, the Praetorians were surrounded by armed Illyrian legionaries; the meeting was transformed into a tribunal in which their supreme commander, after having reproved them for their disgraceful conduct, ordered his troops to strip the Praetorians of their clothes and fine ornaments. They were then ordered out of Rome with a compulsory discharge, without 'honesta missio', each one free to choose his own place of residence beyond a range of a hundred miles from Rome; 'all those who are found within a hundred miles will be killed without mercy!,' was the emperor's cry of dismissal. The punishment had not been extreme. The Praetorians escaped with their lives, and although deprived of the generous bounty normally provided to these troops on discharge, they were able to retire to a comfortable private life, thanks to the huge gifts extorted from the emperors that they had just recently assassinated.
Septimius Severus who was recognised by the Senate as emperor, only held effective sway over Italy and the western part of the empire. The reaction of the armed forces in Britain in favour of Albinus and in Syria in favour of Niger, was diplomatically contained by Severus who adopted a very calm and open attitude towards his adversaries. During the month of his stay in Rome, Severus used the precious time that was permitted him to prepare his strategy. He treated his two opponents as friends and common opponents of the killers of Pertinax, usurpers of the throne.
The promises of the emperor to his rivals, of wanting to divide power with each one, unbeknown to the other, (designating Albinus Caesar and consul in 194 A.D.) were the first intelligent though underhand moves by the emperor, to divide the other two from the possible intent of marching together against him. It was the speed of his action however, that was his main weapon and which in the end was to give him the final victory. Declaring to the Senate that he wanted to put the eastern provinces in order, Septimius Severus departed with powerful army to face Niger who was his most feared enemy both politically and militarily. Instead of declaring war on him he wrote appreciative letters to his rival, calling him his best friend and successor to the throne. Sending a large part of his army across the Adriatic and another part by the Via Egnatia towards the Bosphorus, he reached Carunto and then Viminalcium by land. He proceeded rapidly to enlist all loyal troops, with which he reassembled his army on a large scale. (Legions I and II Adiutrix, XIV Gemina, I, II & III Italica, IV Flavia, VII and XI Claudia along with numerous auxiliary militias.