Following the assassination of Commodus on December 31, AD 192, Publius Helvius Pertinax, as both a revered elder member of the Senate and a chief lieutenant of the former emperor, was chosen to replace him. The reign of Pertinax is intriguing for its short length and related tragic turn of events which led to the further erosion of the Roman political state. It is also notable for his personal humble origins marking a distinct difference from all of the Princeps/Emperors who ruled before him.
Pertinax was born August 1, AD 126 as the son of a freedman, Helvius Successus (according to the Historia Augusta, but Dio Cassius simply offers that he was not of noble birth). He worked as a teacher of grammar in his earlier career, but through a fortuitous use of patron/client connections was able to secure a more lucrative career as a legionary officer. The notion that the son of a freedman could rise to the highest authority in the empire is at least one indication of the breakdown of more traditional political customs. However, Roman political tradition always did allow for upward mobility and this may also be just another indication as to the growing power and importance of freedmen as imperial advisors and confidants. It was as a soldier, first under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus that Pertinax began his rise up the political ladder. He served in Syria where his exemplary service in the Parthian war earned him several promotions and regular advancement. From Syria he served as a military tribune in Britannia, earned commands in Moesia and Germania and then ultimately was promoted to Procurator of Dacia. There, he unfortunately earned the mistrust of Marcus Aurelius for alleged conspiracies, but through the intervention of the emperor's son-in-law Claudius Pompeianus, he eventually came back into the emperor's good graces. He served once again with distinction in the Germanic Wars, and was named a suffect consul in AD 175.
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