Emperors of Rome | Marcus in the North and Commodus (Lecture 24)

Lecture 24: Following Lucius’s premature death 169, Marcus was forced to confront the growing Germanic threat on the Rhine-Danube frontier, where his life ended in the camp and at war. In a break with Antonine tradition, Marcus reverted to the old dynastic principle last employed by the Flavians and chose his natural son, the 19-year-old Commodus, to be the next emperor. Commodus proved a disaster. Like Caligula and Nero, he devoted himself to private pursuits, and Praetorian prefects and even chamberlains held sway in the emperor’s absence. His extreme megalomania is well documented. He was assassinated on the last day of 192.

Essential Reading:
Cassius Dio, Roman History, book 73.
HA, Marcus Aurelius, Avidius Cassius, Commodus.
Herodian, History of the Empire, book 1.

Supplementary Reading:
DIR, “Marcus Aurelius,” “Avidius Cassius,” “Commodus.”
Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180−395, especially pp. 83−124.