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| 145 |
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| Marcus Aurelius, who had married Faustina, daughter of Antoninus, received the imperial powers. | 1 |
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| 155 |
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| A brief war with Vologesus of Parthia ended in an inconclusive peace. | 2 |
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| 161–180 |
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| MARCUS AURELIUS Antoninus (b. 121) became emperor on the death of Antoninus (Mar. 7). Loyal to the wishes of Hadrian, he shared the imperial powers in full equality with Lucius Aurelius Verus (b. 130). | 3 |
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| 162–166 |
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| Verus was sent by Marcus to command in the east against Parthia. Though Verus dissipated at Antioch, his generals sacked Artaxata, Seleucia, and Ctesiphon and put a Roman puppet on the throne of Armenia. | 4 |
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| 166–167 |
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| The troops of Verus brought from the east a plague, which seriously weakened the frontier armies. The claims that the plague depopulated the entire Empire are later Christian exaggerations. | 5 |
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| 167–174 |
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| The Marcomannic War was a major revolt of the client peoples (the Chatti, Marcomanni, Quadi, Hermunduri, Iazyges, and Roxolani) along the upper Rhine and Danube. Marcus and Lucius raised two Italian legions and proceeded to the north. In 169, Lucius died of an illness, and Marcus suffered a major defeat. Pannonia was overrun; Raetia, Noricum, and Moesia were invaded; and, in Italy, Aquileia was besieged. Not until 172 did the tide turn, and the enemy began to be brought to terms, one by one. | 6 |
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| 175 |
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| C. Avidius Cassius, a distinguished general and legate of Syria, revolted but was quickly suppressed. | 7 |
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| 177 |
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| Marcus's fifteen-year-old son, Commodus, became Augustus, co-ruler with his father. | 8 |
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| 178–180 |
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| Planning to create two new provinces, Marcomannia and Sarmatia, Marcus, accompanied by Commodus, went north and resumed the Marcommanic War. Marcus died at Vindobona (Vienna) on Mar. 17, 180. | 9 |
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| 180–192 |
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| Marcus Aurelius COMMODUS Antoninus (b. 161) inherited his father's war and the economic problems it was causing. He quickly made peace with the Marcomanni and Quadi and returned to Rome. A foreign policy of diplomacy and containment, instituted by the praetorian prefect Tigidius Perennis (182–185), brought fifteen years of peace to the northern frontier. It did not sit well with Marcus's old advisers, however. In 182 a conspiracy involving Commodus's sister and many senators was uncovered. Trials, executions, and confiscations followed. Consumed by other interests, the young emperor spent lavishly and left governing to his ministers. In 186 Rome's grain supply was secured by the creation of a fleet, the classis Africana. But Commodus consistently failed to support his praetorian prefects. When attacked by his enemies, Perennis was abandoned by Commodus and executed. The same fate befell his corrupt successor, M. Aurelius Cleander (186–189). During the last years of his reign, Commodus became increasingly despotic. He identified himself with Hercules and spent time and money on games and the hunt, in which he participated. A palace conspiracy engineered Commodus's death. On Dec. 31, 192, he was strangled by his wrestling companion. | 10 |
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