Commodus and the start of it all
The Emperor Commodus didn't really start the problems of the Roman Empire but he's a good starting point to choose.
Joachim Phoenix is the actor who made the evil twisted Commodus a household name. We know all about him....except we don't really.
History's written by the survivors and Commodus was assassinated, apparently strangled in the bath in the year 192 by his personal trainer, after vomiting up the poison fed to him by his mistress.
The events surrounding the latter years of Commodus make the Borgias' shenanigans look like a set of trainee vicars on a picnic outing. Commodus was killed and written out for the most part. We simply don't know how he managed the empire for most of his 12-plus years in power. But apprently we all 'know' he was 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'.....
Wikipedia has a decent article on Commodus
Joachim Phoenix is the actor who made the evil twisted Commodus a household name. We know all about him....except we don't really.
History's written by the survivors and Commodus was assassinated, apparently strangled in the bath in the year 192 by his personal trainer, after vomiting up the poison fed to him by his mistress.
The events surrounding the latter years of Commodus make the Borgias' shenanigans look like a set of trainee vicars on a picnic outing. Commodus was killed and written out for the most part. We simply don't know how he managed the empire for most of his 12-plus years in power. But apprently we all 'know' he was 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'.....
Wikipedia has a decent article on Commodus
The really important part about the death of Commodus is that for about the next century, the Roman Empire was liberally soaked in the blood of its leading families Coups and assassinations made strategic progress impossible on all fronts. Hyperinflation set in, with money rapidly losing its value as more coins with low bullion content were minted to pay off armies used in takeovers.
'The Year of the Five Emperors' (193) and 'the Year of the Six Emperors' (238) are just two spectacularly awful periods in a century of woe.
'The Year of the Five Emperors' (193) and 'the Year of the Six Emperors' (238) are just two spectacularly awful periods in a century of woe.