31 December AD 192
Commodus murdered

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The murder of the hated emperor Commodus at the end of AD 192 plunges Rome into turmoil as different contenders fight for the succession. Pertinax, who takes over from Commodus, faces a rival threat, backed by the Praetorian Guard, within a couple of days of becoming emperor; he is assassinated just three months after taking power. There is then an auction conducted by the soldiers, during which two would-be emperors bid against each other to see who would offer the bigger bribe. Didius Julianus had the deeper pockets, but his reign was even shorter than that of Pertinax before he, too, was killed.

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