o, the beastly Vitellius, and the
timid, inhuman Domitian; but order was maintained, and it was not until
Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the philosopher,
succeeded to the authority that his father had exercised for the benefit
of the Roman Empire that the army fully realised, and did not fail to
exercise, the power it had always possessed.

During the first three years of his reign the vices of Commodus affected
the emperor rather than the state. While the young prince revelled in
licentious pleasures, the management of affairs remained in the hands of
his father's faithful councillors; but, in the year 183, the attempt of
his sister Lucilla to assassinate him produced fatal results. The
assassin, in attempting the deed, exclaimed, "The senate sends you
this!" and though the blow never reached the body of the emperor, the
words sank deep into his heart.

He turned upon the senate with relentless cruelty. The possession of
either wealth or virtue excited the tyrant's fury. Suspicion was
equivalent to proof; trial to condemnation, and the noblest blood of the
senate was poured out like water.

He has shed with impunity the noblest blood of Rome; he perished as soon
as he was dreaded by his own domestics. A cup of drugged wine, delivered
by his favourite concubine, plunged him in a deep sleep. At the
instigation of Laetus, his Praetorian prefect, a robust youth was admitted
into his chamber, and strangled him without resistance. With secrecy and
celerity the conspirators sought out Pertinax, the prefect of the city,
an ancient senator of consular rank, and persuaded him to accept the
purple. A large donative secured them the support of the Praetorian
guard, and the joyous senate eagerly bestowed upon the new Augustus all
the titles of imperial power.

For eighty-six days Pertinax ruled the empire with firmness and
moderation, but the strictness of the ancient discipline that he
attempted to restore in the army excited the hatred of the Praetorian
guards, and the new emperor was struck down on March 28, 193.

_III.--An Empire at Auction_

The Praetorians had violated the sanctity of the throne by the atrocious
murder of Pertinax; they dishonored the majesty of it with their
subsequent conduct. They ran out upon the ramparts of the city, and with
a loud voice proclaimed that the Roman world was to be disposed of to
the best bidder by public auction. Sulpicianus, father-in-law of
Pertinax, and Didi