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On this day in AD 192, the Roman emperor Commodus was murdered.

The emperor was strangled in his bath by Narcissus, a wrestler who was tasked with the deed by a small group of conspirators.

Happy Birthday Julius Caesar! Part I

The date is not absolutely certain, and the year is subject to slight question but… happy birthday from us, nonetheless!

On this day in AD138 the Emperor Hadrian died and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius.

Coming to the throne in 117, Hadrian was the third of the so-called ‘Five Good Emperors’, who were known for their peaceful and prosperous reigns. Hadrian was also well known for his love of learning and his extensive building works; he was especially loved by the Greeks, who named him as the second founder of the city of Athens because of his many building projects there.

On this day in AD175 Commodus took the toga virilis, the sign he had entered adulthood

The denarius shows Apollo leaning on a column, a type known only under this emperor.

On this day in AD221 the emperor Elagabalus adopted Severus Alexander

What prompted the notorious emperor to adopt his young cousin as his heir?

On this day in AD79 the emperor Vespasian died, aged 69.

Vespasian had achieved the position of emperor by virtue of being the last man standing in the short civil war that erupted following Nero’s suicide in June of 68 (the so-called Year of the Four Emperors).

On this day in AD 121, the emperor Marcus Aurelius was born

Born on the 26th of April 121, he was born Marcus Annius Verus to a relatively inconspicuous father of the same name who died as praetor-designate in 124, when his son was only three years old.

On this day in 195 Julia Domna was awarded the title mater castrorum

Who was this woman, and what is the significance of her title?

On this day the Roman emperor Septimius Severus was born

Lucius Septimius Severus was born on 11 April, AD 145 or 146, in Leptis Magna in modern day Libya, the first emperor to be born in Africa.

On this day in 222AD Severus Alexander became emperor of Rome

On 14th of March 222 Severus Alexander became emperor at the tender age of just thirteen, making him the second youngest Emperor in Rome’s history.