Silver Denarius of Emperor Commodus - C.8718Origin: MediterraneanCirca: 180 AD to 192 ADCollection: NumismaticsStyle: RomanMedium: Silver.Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus was born on August 31, 161 A.D. to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior. Of their thirteen children, he was the only boy to survive early childhood, thus making him the logical heir to the throne. He was appointed as Caesar at the age of five and was officially presented to the army at the age of twelve in 173 A.D. Two years later, young Commodus was named Princeps Ivventis and coopted in the college of priests. Next, he accompanied his father on a victorious military campaign against the Germans and the Sarmatians. In 177 A.D., the title of Augustus was bestowed upon him and he was lofted to the position of co-ruler alongside his father. That same year, he was married to Crispina, the daughter of one of the dutiful generals on the Sarmatian campaign. The next year, Commodus embarked upon another German campaign that ended with a favorable peace shortly after his father’s death in 180 A.D. Soon afterward, a Senatorial plot was uncovered and suppressed in 182 A.D. Implicated in the conspiracy were both his wife Crispina and his sister Lucilla, both of whom would be exiled to Capri. Ten years later, on December 31, 192 A.D., Commodus was murdered.

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