192

Events in 192 1

• 180 – 192 Commodus — the gladiator emperor Commodus, Marcus Aurelius's son and biological successor, abandons his father's serious governance for games, vanity and cruelty. He renames Rome "Colonia Commodiana," renames the months after himself, and fights in the arena as a gladiator — a mortal insult to senatorial dignity. He kills hundreds of animals in the Colosseum and bills the treasury for each appearance. He is strangled in his bath on 31 December 192 AD by a palace conspiracy. His death triggers the Year of the Five Emperors (193 AD) and opens the age of military chaos.