20200328 "Roman Empire: Reign of Blood" shorthand synopsis (Commodus the Great)
Commodus (161-192 AD) was pampered from an early age. The father changed his previous practice of selecting sages for successors, and planned to carry out hereditary inheritance and pass the throne to his son. During his father's reign, he fought many times. When he fought Germanic in the north, Commodus was sent by his mother to the front line to experience. The father was injured in the war, and there was news that the father was dead, so the mother went to seek the help of the second-in-command of the Roman Empire. After learning that it was Oolong, her mother went to the front line to plead guilty to her father, and then committed suicide. Commodus lost his original asylum.
The father still died on the front line, and Commodus lost the second layer of protection. Fortunately, his father had a good reputation and prestige during his lifetime, and Kang Maode successfully succeeded to the throne. After ascending the throne, he first stopped the northern war and returned to Rome. The biggest obstacle to returning to Rome was the Senate. On the one hand, Commodus held an athletic competition, which cost the Senate a lot of money as a warning. On the other hand, marrying the daughter of a nobleman consolidates his power.
Commodus doesn't care about his own business, but has two low-level friends. Commodus promoted one of his capable friends to handle political affairs on his behalf. Another friend felt jealous.
Out of ambition for power, her sister Lucilla conspired with an elder to assassinate Commodus. The jealous friend found out, pretended to cooperate, killed the capable friend, and after the incident of Lucilla and others was exposed, he separated the relationship, replaced the dead capable friend, and became Commodus' agent. (This passage in history seems to say that Lucilla’s assassination and jealous friends are two different things. Lucilla failed to assassinate first, then was exiled, and then jealous friends provoked the relationship between the emperor and capable friends because of other things. The emperor himself Kill capable friends.) Well, Commodus doesn't have any good friends anymore.
Jealous friends wanted to consolidate their reputation, so they deliberately arranged for Rome's food procurement problems (mostly from Egypt and other places at that time), and then brought food to relief the victims after preparation, showing a very capable look. But the food shortage met the plague, the jealous friend screwed up, the Roman people wanted to rebel, and condemned the jealous friend and Commodus, who then killed the jealous friend.
In order to regain his reputation, Commodus intends to hold a gladiatorial competition and participate in it himself, wearing a lion-headed hat, in the image of the ancient god of battle, mythology himself. Commodus won the gladiatorial match, but it was not honorable, because the opponent's sword was replaced by a dull one, which was ineffective.
Commodus began to suspect everyone and planned to get rid of everyone who knew the details. His mistress, a certain elder, and a gladiator who had recovered his freedom found out, and began to persecute himself, preemptively, and killed Commodus before Commodus could act.
All the people close to Commodus left him one by one.
From Commodus onwards, the Roman Empire went into decline.
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