Commodus
On December 31, 192 CE emperor Commodus, after 12 years of brutal rule, was poisoned with wine by his mistress Marcia. Unfortunately, the ruler vomited poison and conspirators with prefect Laetus hired a wrestler Narcissus to finish the work. The Roman wrestler strangled the emperor in the bathhouse. After his death, the Senate announced the erasure of Commodus from history (damnatio memoriae).
Interestingly, however, in 195 CE once Septimius Severus took the power after the civil war, Commodus was deified. In this way the new ruler wanted to refer to the previous dynasty and legalize his rule.
Sources
- Aleksander Krawczuk, Poczet cesarzy rzymskich
