Elagabalus, also called Heliogabalus and officially known as Antoninus, was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for sex scandals and religious controversy. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, he came from a prominent Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where since his early youth he served as head priest of the sun god Elagabal. After the death of his cousin the emperor Caracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. As a private citizen, he was probably named Varius Avitus Bassianus. Upon becoming emperor he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.
The 180s decade ran from January 1, 180, to December 31, 189.
Commodus was a Roman emperor serving jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until his father's death in 180, and solely until 192. His reign is commonly thought of as marking the end of a golden period of peace in the history of the Roman Empire, known as the Pax Romana.
Publius Helvius Pertinax was Roman emperor for the first three months of 193. He succeeded Commodus to become the first emperor during the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors.
Marcus Didius Julianus was Roman emperor for nine weeks from March to June 193, during the Year of the Five Emperors.
Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus was a politician and military commander during the 2nd century in the Roman Empire. A general under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Pompeianus distinguished himself during Rome's wars against the Parthians and the Marcomanni. He was a member of the imperial family due to his marriage to Lucilla, a daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and was a key figure during the emperor's reign. Pompeianus was offered the imperial throne three times, though he refused to claim the title for himself.
Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla or Lucilla was the second daughter of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Roman Empress Faustina the Younger. She was the wife of her father's co-ruler and adoptive brother Lucius Verus and an elder sister to later Emperor Commodus. Commodus ordered Lucilla's execution after a failed assassination and coup attempt when she was about 33 years old.
Caerellius Priscus is the name given to the man on an inscription recovered at Mogontiacum (Mainz), set up by a governor of Germania Superior who was afterwards governor of Roman Britain in the late 170s.
Narcissus was a Roman athlete, likely a wrestler, from the 2nd century AD. He assassinated the Roman Emperor Commodus in 192 AD.
Saoterus was a Bithynian Greek freedman from Nicomedia who served as the Roman Emperor Commodus's palace chamberlain. His career is sketched by Herodian, Dio Cassius and the Historia Augusta. Commodus preferred to exercise his rule through palace officials and Saoterus was the first of these; Saoterus was seen as in the Emperor's favour at the outset of his reign, as he accompanied Commodus in his chariot when he made his ceremonial entry into Rome on 22 October 180. Commodus placed him in a high position in his government, resulting in resentment from noble senatorial families. The Historia Augusta, apparently drawing on the testimony of Marius Maximus, insinuates that Commodus had a homosexual infatuation with Saoterus. After the attempt on Commodus's life in 182, Saoterus was implicated in the plot by the praetorian prefect Tigidius Perennis, and was murdered by the freedman Cleander, who succeeded him as chamberlain.
The Marcomannic Wars were a series of wars lasting from about 166 AD until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges; there were related conflicts with several other Germanic, Sarmatian and Gothic peoples along both sides of the whole length of the Roman Empire's northeastern European border, the river Danube.
Annia Aurelia Fadilla, most commonly known as Fadilla was one of the daughters born to Marcus Aurelius and his wife Faustina the Younger. She was a sister to Lucilla and Commodus. Fadilla was named in honor of her late maternal aunt Aurelia Fadilla. The cognomen Fadilla, was the cognomen of the mother and a half-sister of Antoninus Pius. Her maternal grandparents were Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder and her paternal grandparents were Domitia Lucilla and praetor Marcus Annius Verus.
Marcus Aurelius Cleander, commonly known as Cleander, was a Roman freedman who gained extraordinary power as chamberlain and favourite of the emperor Commodus, rising to command the Praetorian Guard and bringing the principal offices of the Roman state into disrepute by selling them to the highest bidder. His career is narrated by Dio Cassius, Herodian and the Historia Augusta.
Publius Atilius Aebutianus was a prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, during the reign of emperor Commodus, from 185 until his death in 188. Aebutianus acceded to the office upon the execution of his predecessor Sextus Tigidius Perennis.
The gens Ulpia was a Roman family that rose to prominence during the first century AD. The gens is best known from the emperor Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, who reigned from AD 98 to 117. The Thirtieth Legion took its name, Ulpia, in his honor. The city of Serdica, modern day Sofia, was renamed as Ulpia Serdica.
Gaius Aufidius Victorinus was a Roman senator and general of the second century. A friend of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the son-in-law of the advocate and orator Marcus Cornelius Fronto, he was twice consul and governor of several Roman provinces.
Publius Tarrutenius Paternus was a Roman eques who flourished during the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius. He achieved several military successes, leading first to his appointment as praetorian prefect and subsequently to his adlection into the Roman Senate. Paternus was accused of treason by Aurelius' son and successor Commodus, and executed.
Marcus Aurelius Papirius Dionysius was a Roman eques and jurist who held a number of military and civilian positions during the reign of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, including praefectus annonae, or overseer of the grain rations for Rome.
Titus Flavius Piso was a Roman eques who held at least two senior postings during the reign of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus.
Lucius Julius Vehilius Gratus Julianus was a soldier and an eques who held a number of military and civilian appointments during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus. Julianus received honors two separate times for his military service.
