Arve, and welcome to Emperor of Rome, a Roman history podcast from Latrobe University.

I'm your host Matt Smith and with me today is Dr. Kalin Davenport, lecturer in

Roman history at Macquarie University. This is episode L-X-X-X-I-I-Pertinax. Many saw Pertenax as a safe pair of hands to hold the empire.

An old general and close advisor of Marcus Aurelius, he represented a regime change from the days of lavish

excess of Commodus.

But was it too much too soon?

While they don't call 193 CE, the year of the Five Emperors for nothing. He is Kalin Davenport.

193 is a massive year of change for the Roman Empire because you have the end of

the Antonine dynasty with Commodus which has really ruled since the time of Nerva.

And here you have a succession of emperors, Pertanax, Didius Julianus, and then three other

claimants to the throne who are all powerful military commanders,

so Timmy Severus, Clodius albinus,

Piskinius niger, and they're all coming from different parts of the empire,

Britain, the Danube, and Syria, all trying to lay claim to Rome. So all trying to really

fill that power vacuum. So in that one year we called the year of the five

emperors and there were five claimants but I can't see there being more than three recognized

emperors. Is that true?

Yeah, certainly within Rome itself recognized by the Senate. So you have Pertanax who's then murdered and then Didius Julianus

buys the Empire at auction which is one of the most fascinating episodes in all of

Roman history.

And then when he's declared a public enemy

by the Senate, Septimius Serros is recognized.

...