Year of the Five Emperors

After Commodus was assassinated, Pertinax briefly became emperor before the Praetorian Guard killed him. Didius Julianus then bought the throne, provoking outrage and military intervention.

Provincial armies proclaimed rival claimants, including Septimius Severus on the Danube, Pescennius Niger in the East and Clodius Albinus in Britain and Gaul. Severus reached Rome first and gradually defeated the other contenders.

Storm of War begins as Marcus Aquila and Scaurus navigate this crisis. The period is useful for fiction about army loyalty, bought legitimacy, Praetorian violence and the transformation of imperial succession into civil war.