The accession of the 19 year old Commodus upon the death of his father Marcus Aurelius on March 17, AD 180 is often considered a catalyst that sparked the initial decline of the Roman Empire. Whether or not the assertion is true and Commodus acted as a catalyst, or if he was simply a piece of an evolving and dynamic Roman puzzle is a matter of perspective and interpretation. It's interesting that the death of Marcus Aurelius is considered the end of the "Pax Romana" (The Roman Peace) but the reign of Commodus was largely as peaceful as that of Antoninus Pius a half century earlier. While he was immensely popular with the common people and legions, his reputation as a contributor to the decline of the empire was largely dependent upon a poor relationship with the Senate. Megalomaniacal behavior, irreverence for the institution of the Senate and a Sulla like affinity for proscription earned the lasting enmity of that social order that produced the historians.
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