Roman Empire (2)
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The music we play is mournful.
The tears flow, etching our cheeks with sorrow.
But do not forget that our beloved Empress
has departed this world for one of eternal bliss.
She has left us far too soon,
but I take great comfort that her soul resides in eternity
watched over by all the gods in the Elysian Fields.
And now as we prepare to light the pyre
and usher her into the afterlife,
I ask only one thing of you,
that you remember her as I do,
a woman who loved Rome and family
more than life itself.
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Fourteen years after becoming the Emperor of Rome,
Marcus Aurelius mourns the death of his wife
and the mother of his only son,
Empress Faustina.
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Are they ready?
Just giving the horses some water.
You should prepare to leave for Rome
at first light tomorrow.
If this is not a good time for me to leave the front,
I'll follow you in a week.
Trust Pompidius and our attack plan is good.
Tell them I'll be there in a minute.
Father,
when Mother sent me up here to learn from you,
I know I didn't take it seriously.
Now I feel I'm ready to.
Feel?
No, I know I am.
You don't know anything.
I'm your son.
Let me try.
We'll see.
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The basic reason that Marcus Aurelius
chose Commodus as his successor
is the obvious one that Commodus was his son.
And once that is taken into consideration,
I think it would be extremely difficult
for Marcus to pass his son over.
It would have looked extremely problematic.
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The purpose of this training is not to teach you how to kill.
The great leader has internal strength.
To get there, we begin with a sword.
But it's only a beginning.
Begin.
Begin.
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Begin.
Marcus Aurelius had been chosen at the age of 17
to someday become emperor.
And at that point, after years of education
and prepping and grooming,
he'd been given military commands,
he'd been given experience,
and he patterned Commodus' own education
in exactly that way.
For Commodus to succeed him
and one day rule the empire,
Aurelius knows that first,
his son must be groomed for the throne,
a process with a long tradition in the empire.
Since the dawn of the empire,
the success of an emperor's rule
has relied on his control of the army.
And to gain the respect of the Roman troops,
an emperor must prove himself
as a skilled warrior.
Now, we may think it was a bit irresponsible of a father
to take their son along into a war zone.
And yet what Marcus Aurelius is trying to do
is introduce his son to his troops.
He knows that when Commodus inherits from him
that the troops will be his power base.
And he wants to make sure
that the troops are already familiar with him
and comfortable with him.
You've greatly improved, Commodus.
There's still a long way to go.
In battle, your enemy will look you in the eye
and attack you with a weapon.
In Rome, you must learn to fight a battle of words
in a den of snakes.
Hm.
I'll show you.
After proving himself on the battlefield,
Commodus heads back to Rome with his father.
But his training for the throne
is not over yet.
Now Marcus Aurelius knows
it's time for Commodus
to learn to navigate the empire's political systems.
He's going to need a lot of help.
Including the Senate.
For centuries, the Roman Senate has commanded authority
as one of the empire's most powerful institutions.
There was no way,
no matter how much power the emperor claimed to exercise,
for a single person to rule an empire of 50 million people
without the help of others.
The emperor needs a civilian governing apparatus,
and that apparatus, that governmental structure,
had to have leaders.
The answer was the Senate.
Made up of 600 men of the elite class
and with seats passed down through generations,
the Roman Senate is responsible for maintaining the treasury,
holding trials, and advising the emperor.
I humbly thank the Senate for its time.
May the gods be with you.
Emperor.
Senators, you know my son, Commodus.
Of course, of course, Senate.
Emperor, before anything else,
I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences
on behalf of the Senate on the loss of your wife.
You're very kind, Senator.
But you should remember that it's not just the Senate
but you should remember that it's not just my wife who was lost.
My children have lost their mother,
and Rome has lost their empress.
Indeed, and a great one.
Without question.
This is such a difficult time for the empire,
in so many ways.
Which is why I have not made my request for funds lightly.
I am acutely aware of the limitations of the treasury.
We are not interested in awareness, emperor,
simply accountability.
Emperor, what Senator Quintianus means...
Senator Quintianus made himself quite clear.
But be assured, the barbarian resistance is in its last throes.
And I have no doubt with the aid of the Senate,
our inevitable victory will come that much more quickly.
A victory which will bring greater compensation
back to those who made it possible.
Senator.
That's very interesting.
You can't trust any of them.
In the early centuries of Roman expansion,
the Senate saw itself as the kind of brains trust of the state.
The emperors had to pay lip service to them.
But they were always conscious of the fact
that they could not allow senators to overreach themselves.
And so the relationship between emperors and senators
was often very challenging.
As two of the most influential senators in Rome,
Cassius Dio and Quintianus both serve under Marcus Aurelius.
And by supporting the emperor's request for military funds,
they looked to maintain power of their own.
Cassius Dio and Quintianus were both powerful Roman politicians.
They were both senators.
Cassius Dio was actually to become a consul.
Quintianus had led the successful Roman campaign into Germania.
So people looked to them for leadership,
for advice, for patronage.
Both men were at the heart of Roman politics.
But they were also at the heart of the Roman Empire.
For Aurelius, negotiating with the Senate
is an important lesson for his son.
But before he can assume the throne,
Commodus must have an empress who will aid in his rule.
The Roman Empire has always had a very strong relationship
with Rome's emperors and their families.
It's almost exclusively arranged marriages.
So these decisions were not made very much on the basis of love.
Almost all, really virtually all, of the marriages
one has seen for generations amongst Rome's elite
are for political, dynastic purposes.
And it was therefore necessary when choosing a spouse
either for a prince or a princess in the imperial household
to choose somebody of considerable aristocratic prestige.
Born into one of Rome's most influential families,
Bruttia Crispina is the daughter
of one of Marcus Aurelius' closest advisors
and is chosen by the emperor as a strategic match for his son.
Bruttia Crispina was from a very powerful family.
Her father has been consul twice.
And a clever emperor needed the support
of the most powerful people in Roman history.
The most powerful people in Roman society
who tended to be the senatorial class.
And so he knows then that when he himself dies,
Commodus will be able to inherit a situation
where the movers and shakers in Roman politics
are there to support him.
My apologies, sir.
I did not mean to be delayed, but here we are.
I must say it's good to take a break
from all the matters of the empire with this.
Simple private social lunch.
This gathering is as important as any meeting I've taken in the Senate.
Don't you think so, Commodus?
I do.
But I also think it's a beautiful day.
I would love to show Crispina some of the palace orchids.
Would you care for more wine?
Perhaps a little.
The marriage will bring Commodus one step closer
to the throne of the Roman Empire.
The marriage will bring Commodus one step closer
The marriage will bring Commodus one step closer to the throne
securing his power and support within the empire.
But the union is also a threat
to anyone looking to gain influence
including Commodus' sister, Lucilla.
Lucilla had been the perhaps most visible powerful woman
in the Roman Empire at the time.
And Crispina may have in a way sort of usurped her position.
Within months, Commodus and Crispina will be married.
In a ceremony traditional of royal weddings in the Roman Empire.
When a member of the royal family is married
an agreement is signed between the two families.
Gifts are exchanged and the union is honored by the general public.
For Commodus and Crispina
the wedding is commemorated with minted coins
and a commissioned song by one of Rome's best composers.
But while the empire welcomes a new empress
not everyone in the palace is celebrating.
The marriage secures a valuable alliance
but as the empire's future begins to settle in Rome
hundreds of miles away from Rome
the Roman Empire is in a state of turmoil.
The Roman Empire is in a state of turmoil
and the Roman Empire is in a state of turmoil
Hundreds of miles away
with the absence of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus on the battlefield
the war against the Germanic tribes has escalated.
The Roman army is struggling to fight back.
The Goths, this Germanic tribe, move westwards
and what this causes is a kind of domino effect
and there is a whole series of wars
between groups of these German tribes and the Roman Empire.
There are diverse groups of tribes
and the Roman Empire is the only one that is not.
The Roman Empire is the only one that is not.
When you're dealing with tribes
it's not like dealing with the Persian Empire
where you're just dealing with one government, one army.
They form alliances, they fall out with each other.
And so the war proves to be very long, costly.
As the Emperor's wartime advisor
and a respected military leader
Pertinax has acted in the Emperor's place.
But with the Roman army losing ground
he sends word of the mounting struggle to Marcus Aurelius.
Aurelius and Commodus are on the way to Rome.
News of invasions along the border
and Roman casualties travel to Rome.
The Roman army is on the front lines.
In the reign of Marcus Aurelius
the military campaigns were mainly reactive.
These were not campaigns of conquest.
These were to solidify Rome's borders
and these were forced upon Marcus Aurelius.
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Now facing a war with multiple fronts
against several battling armies
Marcus Aurelius must come up with a plan.
On the third legion, two leagues.
West and the seventh legion
two leagues east. We'll trap them right there.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, gentlemen.
I'll give the barbarians something
they don't give in easily.
Can we defeat them?
We'll find out on the battlefield.
Or wherever these cowards decide to crawl out from under the rocks.
Is it true they have us surrounded?
They do not have us surrounded.
They do have us unsettled only because I wasn't here to lead a direct counterattack.
Here?
If we hadn't gone back to Rome
we wouldn't be in this predicament.
We had to go back to Rome.
We had to go back.
Yes.
Yes, we did.
But if we hadn't...
This isn't Mother's fault.
Don't put words in my mouth.
What are you trying to say, then?
I'm saying...
She went to your tent to ask for forgiveness.
Your mother
made a decision.
Did you refuse?
Do not lay the blame at my feet.
Father!
Father!
Help!
He just collapsed.
He just collapsed.
For years,
war has ravaged the borders of the Roman Empire
and taken a toll on its emperor.
But nearly a decade after the conflict began,
Marcus Aurelius is fighting another deadly enemy.
One sweeping through the empire
and wreaking havoc on the human population.
The Roman Emperor
is the only one who has the power to stop the war.
The plague.
For the past 15 years,
the Antonine Plague
has devastated the Roman Empire.
And the same half million miles of roads built by the Romans
are now providing an ideal path
for the spread of the disease.
One of Rome's greatest strengths
has become a fatal weakness.
The Antonine Plague occurs in the mid-60s
during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
The effect seems to have been dramatic.
2,000 people a day are dying in the city of Rome.
And a quarter of all those who are affected
die of the symptoms.
The Roman Empire had good networks of communication.
That also meant
that disease could travel along those networks.
It meant that any kind of new disease
would quickly be dispersed amongst the wider population.
More than 5 million people have died of the plague.
And the Roman army has been nearly wiped out.
With his father ill,
Commodus knows the fate of the empire
is at stake.
The Roman Empire is at stake.
Commodus.
Bring me good news.
There are reports of a tribal army
on the other side of the river.
Fourth and fifth in reserve.
Ah.
Tell them to commit all the troops.
The barbarians will have to
march a hundred miles to attack our flank.
We can overpower them.
Pope Annas was always
too conservative.
Father.
You're going to be sole emperor of Rome
when I die.
You're not dying.
I wish that were true
for your sake.
I'm not ready.
No.
But if I don't name you emperor,
they'll kill you.
You're brought up with women and slaves.
Then you should have been here by my side.
I can be strong.
Oh, you'll have to be.
Because even when you've taken the throne,
they'll come for you.
Who?
The Romans.
All of them.
No, no, no.
Not the generals.
They're loyal soldiers.
Anyone who thinks they deserve to be emperor.
Promise me.
You'll finish the war.
Yeah.
Nearly 20 years after he claimed the throne,
Marcus Aurelius dies at the age of 58.
The life of one of the most
celebrated rulers
in the history of the Roman Empire
will be honoured for centuries.
And his writings on philosophy
will be read for generations.
Marcus Aurelius was famous for being a good emperor.
He saw it as his duty to support the empire
and to try and protect it militarily.
But he was also popular with the people.
He delivered Rome great military victories.
He handed out money
and people seemed to have held him in very high regard.
After the passing of one of Rome's greatest emperors,
Commodus knows he must now take on
the most powerful position in the world.
The throne.
And while the empire grieves,
the royal family looks to the future
knowing that the only son of Marcus Aurelius
must now carry on his father's legacy.
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That's four farms along the frontier
and two villages to the east.
Cowards.
And we'll continue to see more of this
unless we strike back now.
And stretch the legion out even thinner.
We need to consolidate our forces.
Will the animals that did this
scatter into the woods
to strike us again tomorrow?
No.
I say we push across the Danube,
drive a wedge between the two tribes.
You seem to forget the numbers are on our side.
To say nothing of the gods.
This one battle may have been lost.
I don't doubt we'll win the war.
Enough!
Consolidate.
Separate.
Can you give me an answer as to why we're even here?
Emperor, we are here for the glory of Rome.
We are hundreds of miles from Rome.
Emperor, your father himself...
I'm well aware of my father's feelings.
Of course.
For nearly a decade,
Commodus has watched his empire consumed by war.
And with his father gone,
he knows he must make a choice
that will determine the fate of Rome.
When Marcus Aurelius dies,
Commodus finds himself in a war zone
with a war that he doesn't want to go to.
He's a man of his word.
He's a man of his word.
With a war that he doesn't want to continue.
It's easy for us to judge Commodus
by the standards of his father.
But Marcus Aurelius was an exceptional emperor
who had ruled from the very highest standards
of good governance.
Commodus was not really interested in administration.
And he was not interested in fighting wars.
And so,
Commodus seems to sit at this threshold
of an empire that is transitioning.
Commodus will soon lead the entire Roman Empire.
And those he trusts will be promoted
into the highest ranks of the Imperial Palace.
Including his closest friends
and former slaves,
Cleander and Serturus.
Knock, knock. Anyone home?
Emperor?
No.
He's got to be at the bluff.
Back to the bluff.
Ugh.
Cleander and Serturus
were members of the Imperial household.
And of slightly different background.
At the moment when we encounter them
in the life of Commodus.
But both of them were, in essence,
low status individuals
who achieved high status
by virtue of proximity to the emperor.
Commodus' trust of Cleander and Serturus
probably derives from the fact
that they were close to him
for virtually his entire life.
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Adam-2.
Yeah.
We thought you were coming back to the tent.
No.
I don't want to be anywhere near that tent.
Or that camp.
Or them.
Or this ridiculous, endless war.
What did they say?
It's what they didn't say.
Yes, Emperor.
Excellent point, Emperor.
They don't care what I think.
You see, I'm not my father,
so I don't exist.
They'll just keep doing
what they want to do
and they'll never respect me.
You're the Emperor of Rome.
They don't have to respect you.
They have to obey you.
If only it were that easy.
But does it have to be so difficult?
Commodus, the people of Rome,
they're just like you.
They want to see an end to this war.
I've heard it in the streets every day.
It kept your father away for eight years
and now it's threatening to do the same to you.
I know, but I can't just...
They need to see you.
A new Emperor needs to be in Rome.
I promised my father I would finish the war.
Those generals, they know it.
And they will use it against me at every opportunity.
So finish it.
The End
Despite his father's wishes
and the advice of his military advisors,
Commodus is determined to put an end
to the war with the Germanic tribes.
And just months after his father's death,
he makes his first move
in his absence.
Emperor, with all due respect,
Emperor, with all due respect,
I urge you to reconsider...
The war is over.
The Treaty of Commodus
The Treaty marks a historic moment for the Empire
as Germanic tribes are pushed back from the border
and thousands of enemy soldiers
are forced to enlist in the Roman army.
But for Commodus, the fight is far from over.
While the people celebrate peace,
the military and the Senate oppose the treaty.
Commodus did not continue to pursue
his father's war with the Germanic tribes.
When historians wrote about Commodus
suspending this war,
they often said that he was eager to rush back to Rome
because he wanted to enjoy life in the city,
that he had some interest in luxury and debauchery
that kept him off the battlefield.
But instead, we can see someone
who really wanted to shore up political support
for himself in the nexus of power.
With the war finally over,
Commodus prepares to leave the battlefront
and can now return home
as ruler of the Roman Empire.
