Two Roman Revolutions: The Senate, the Emperors and Power, from Commodus to Gallienus (AD 180-260)

The disastrous reign of the Emperor Commodus, which saw a great expansion of the power of the emperor, eventually resulted in his asassination, but also in a civil war, which was as revolutionary ...

The disastrous reign of the Emperor Commodus, which saw a great expansion of the power of the emperor, eventually resulted in his asassination, but also in a civil war, which was as revolutionary as that of 69. Though the original assassination had been in the name of a restoration of the authority of the Senate - the programme of Pertinax and his supporters - the victory of Septimius Severus established a murderous autocracy, which degenerated into incompetence under his successors. It also set up a continuous tension within the government between imperial and senatorial powers and authority.