After the five good emperorsRomans in the Decadence of the Empire, Thomas Couture With t
After the five good emperorsRomans in the Decadence of the Empire, Thomas Couture With the death of Marcus Aurelius in AD 180, rule of the empire passed to his 20 year old son Lucius Aurelius Commodus. Much like the reign of Gaius Caesar (Caligula) a century and a half earlier, the accession of Commodus was initially met with general approval. Continuing the parallel, initial acceptance was eventually met with dismay and hostility as the young emperor engaged in various forms of debauchery and ego-maniacal behavior.The concept of imperial decline beginning with the reign of Commodus is largely adapted from Edward Gibbon’s rather arbitrary work, “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” and may have been a bit premature considering that the western empire endured for another three centuries. However, Gibbon’s assessment is astute in pointing out several elements that clearly identify a change from previous eras. The accession of Commodus as the son of Marcus Aurelius marked the re-establishment of dynasty that was originally developed under the Julio-Claudians. Never again would Rome benefit from rulers who had the foresight to understand the stability provided by selective succession and rather allowed personal and dynastic ambitions to play its role in the empire’s eventual collapse. Over the course of the next 50 years following Commodus, the empire would have no less than 26 different rulers and usurpers, in comparison to 18 confirmed Princeps over the empire’s first 2 centuries. -- source link
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