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Historical person

Pertinax

126–193

Publius Helvius Pertinax was a Roman soldier, administrator and emperor who ruled for less than three months in 193 CE. Born in 126 into a family of comparatively modest status, he advanced through military and provincial commands under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. His career included service in the Danubian provinces, Britain and Africa, and he eventually became consul and urban prefect of Rome, demonstrating the social mobility possible through imperial service.

After Commodus was assassinated on the final day of 192, Pertinax was proclaimed emperor with senatorial support. He attempted to restore financial discipline, sell off some of Commodus’s extravagances and reassert control over the Praetorian Guard. The guards resented his efforts and the failure to satisfy expectations of a large donative. On 28 March 193 a group of Praetorians entered the palace and killed him. The ensuing sale of imperial support to Didius Julianus deepened the civil war.

In Anthony Riches’ Storm of War, Pertinax is most important through the political vacuum created by his murder. His death at the hands of the Praetorian Guard is followed by the notorious sale of the imperial title to Didius Julianus, convincing powerful provincial commanders that legitimacy can now be decided by armies. The novel begins in the aftermath of that assassination, so Pertinax’s failed attempt to restore order becomes the immediate background to the civil wars of AD 193.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Pertinax (1 series)

Empire in Order

by Anthony Riches 16 books 4.5(20,598)

The Empire series follows Marcus Valerius Aquila, a Roman aristocrat forced into hiding after his family is destroyed under Commodus. Serving under an assumed name with the Tungrian auxiliaries, he moves from Hadrian’s Wall and the Rhine to Rome, Egypt and the eastern civil wars that follow the…

All books in this series