The Great Age of Pannonia [antikvár]

The emperor Commodus was killed during the last night of A.D. 192. The dawn of the new year thus saw the beginning of a new era. After two unsuccessful attempts against the emperor, who had been losing touch with reality to an increasingly dangerous extent, a conspiracy had been ripening within his immediate circle. However, the fatal dagger was plunged into the heart of the last Antoninus before the appointed date. The conspirators panicked and under cover of night enthroned thzpraefectus urbi, governor of Romé, the grey-haired Pertinax, legendary generál of the Marcomannic wars, who happened to be at hand. The new emperor's name and fame made the emperor's bodyguard and the armies at the frontiers yield. Pertinax, however, was unprepared for the diadém and it soon became clear that he had no political support. On 28 March he feli victim to the dissatisfied guard. It was they who proclaimed his successor, Didius Iulianus, the competitor for the throne who had promised them the largest sum of money. On hearing the news from Romé, Septimius Severus donned the purple in Carnuntum (Deutsch-Altenburg, Austria), as did Pescennius Niger in Antioch. The empire divided into parts and a long and bloody civil war began. Of the three emperors, Pescennius Niger was far off in the east, while only the troops of the city of Romé were marching under Didius Iulianus' command. No one could dispute that Severus had an overwhelming advantage in the first round. He was the emperor designate of the conspirators against Commodus, and on the day of his proclamation three legions (an army of about 18,000 soldiers) were standing by him at the gateway to the defences of Italy. For years this vigorous African had been preparing for the take-over with ceaseless energy. By 193 almost all the key mili-