Pertinax: The Son of a Slave Who Became Roman Emperor

By Simon Elliott

A biography of the man who ascended the ranks of the military and government to become Roman Emperor.

The son of a former slave, Pertinax was the Roman Emperor who proved that no matter how lowly your birth, you could rise to the very top through hard work, grit and determination.

Born in AD 126, Pertinax made a late career change from working as a grammar teacher to a position in the army. As he moved up the ranks and further along the aristocratic cursus honorum, he took on many of the most important postings in the Empire, from senior military roles in fractious Britain, the Marcomannic Wars on the Danube, to the Parthian Wars in the east. He held governorships in key provinces, and later consulships in Rome itself. When Emperor Commodus was assassinated on New Year’s Eve AD 192/193, the Praetorian Guard alighted on Pertinax to become the new Emperor, expecting a pliable puppet who would favour them with great wealth. But Pertinax was nothing of the sort and when he then attempted to reform the Guard, he was assassinated. His death triggered the beginning of the “Year of the Five Emperors” from which Septimius Severus, Pertinax’s former mentoree, became the ultimate victor and founder of the Severan Dynasty.

This previously untold story brings a fascinating and important figure out of the shadows. A self-made everyman, a man of principle and ambition, a role model respected by his contemporaries who styled himself on his philosophizing predecessor and sometime champion Marcus Aurelius, Pertinax’s remarkable story offers a unique and panoramic insight into the late 2nd century AD Principate Empire.

Praise for Pertinax

“A story that echoes and rivals that of Spartacus.” —Books Monthly (UK)

“An authoritative new history unearths the true story of a slave’s son who rose through the ranks to become the Roman Empire’s most powerful man. . . . The author vividly documents Pertinax’s last days and effectively captures the tenor of the era, a time awash in corruption and violence. Roman history enthusiasts will find new material to digest and general readers, useful context for the Roman way of life.” —Kirkus Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Dec 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781784385262

Simon Elliott

Dr Simon Elliott is an award-winning and best-selling archaeologist, historian and broadcaster. He has written numerous books on themes related to the classical world and military history, and frequently appears on broadcast media as a presenter and expert. Amongst others, his books published by Casemate Publishers include Ancient Greeks at War (2021), Old Testament Warriors (2021) and Romans at War (2020). He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent, Trustee of the Council for British Archaeology, Ambassador for Museum of London Archaeology, President of the Society of Ancients, and Guide Lecturer for Andante Travels and Hidden History Travel.

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Introduction

Publius Helvius Pertinax was the emperor who proved that no matter how lowly your birth, within the Roman Empire you could rise to the very top through hard work, grit and determination. In his case he also did it by endeavouring to be a good role model, styling himself on his sometime benefactor Marcus Aurelius. He was also highly thought of by contemporaries, the Greek historian Cassius Dio (74.1) calling him ‘an excellent and upright man’ and Herodian (2.1.4) saying he was ‘famous for his accomplishments, both civil and military; he had won many victories over the Germans and the Eastern barbarians’. Modern commentators are equally flattering; with Birley (1999, 63) saying he was ‘one of the most remarkable figures of . . . any age of Roman history’. In short, given that he was the son of a manumitted slave and only joined the cursus honorum, the aristocratic career path, later in life, his story is unique among the lengthy list of Roman emperors.

Because of the trajectory of Pertinax’s career through Roman society from low to high, this everyman also presents us with a unique prism through which to view the multifarious nature of the Principate Roman Empire at its height in the later second century

AD

. To that end, this is not just a biography of the man himself, but also the story of the dramatic times in which he lived.

Pertinax was born on 1 August in

AD

126. He was initially a grammarian or teacher. He then chose a career in the army in his mid-thirties, a very late age for such a switch, with the support of a senior family patron. This launched him on a highly unusual and successful journey along the cursus honorum. Initially made an equestrian (he was later adlected into the Senate, meaning he was able to skip the early qualifications necessary for this), he made his name fighting as a cavalry officer in the Roman–Parthian War in the east from 161 to 166.

He then had his first taste of life in the troublesome province of Britannia, serving as a military tribune (senior officer) in legio VI Victrix based in York and then as the commander of an auxiliary unit, either I or II Tungrorum. In both roles he served along Hadrian’s Wall, then recently restored as the northern frontier in Britain after the abandonment of the Antonine Wall, and campaigned north into Scotland. This set a pattern for him being an imperial troubleshooter, always serving in provinces where serious action was guaranteed.

He was next appointed to take charge of a squadron in Moesia Superior or Inferior, either of cavalry or as a navarchus in the Classis Flavia Moesica, the regional fleet on the lower Danube. He then served in a procuratorial civilian post in Italy before returning west as the Praefectus Classis or admiral of the Classis Germanica on the River Rhine. Heading back east again, he was next the procurator of the province of Dacia, the militarised redoubt standing proud of the Danube, during the early stages of the Marcomannic Wars of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. It was then through the influence of another patron that he was able to secure more imperial favour here, though at some stage he fell foul of court intrigue and was recalled to Rome. Pertinax was soon back in action on the Danube again, given his value as a military leader, before a major promotion as suffect consul in Rome. This was an appointment to the most senior magisterial position in the imperial capital, the term ‘suffect’ meaning that he was appointed to complete the consular year of an office holder who had stepped down. Having filled this role he was then eligible to become a provincial governor, serving as such in the key frontier provinces of Moesia Inferior and Superior on the Danube, in Dacia again, in Syria where he fought the Parthian Empire once more, in Britain, and finally in Africa Proconsularis as proconsul. In Britain he overstepped the line as a hard disciplinarian, trying to tackle the mutinous state of the three British legions, who may have tried to elevate him to emperor. These legions were always difficult to manage given their distance from Rome and their permanent service in the never-conquered far north of the province. His refusal to usurp provoked a revolt, with the troops of one legion ambushing him and his singulares consularis bodyguard cavalry. The guards were killed and Pertinax left for dead. When recovered, he punished the perpetrators very harshly, perhaps with a decimation. His actions seem to have alienated him from the military establishment in Britain as he apparently asked to be recalled to Rome because ‘the legions had grown hostile to him’ (Historia Augusta, 3.10).

Now an expert in traversing the ups and downs of senatorial life, he was soon back in imperial favour and by 192 was a full consul for the second time, on this occasion partnered with the Emperor Commodus. Pertinax had already proved himself adept at managing this unstable emperor, with Herodian saying he was ‘the only survivor of the revered advisors appointed for Commodus by his father’ (Marcus Aurelius, 2.1.4). Contemporaries believed that this was either because of his noble nature, or because his very humble beginnings meant that he was far less wealthy than any of his senatorial contemporaries and so was rarely seen as a threat to his rivals.

Pertinax’s position as consul put him in the best, or as it turned out worst, of situations: while he was serving in this post Commodus was assassinated on New Year’s Eve, 192/193. The praetorian prefect and court chamberlain then alighted on Pertinax, perhaps with his foreknowledge, to become emperor. They hoped he would set right the many wrongs of Commodus, and this he did. However, in so doing he angered the disgruntled Praetorian Guard, who had enjoyed huge freedom to misbehave under the mad and bad Commodus. They soon confronted him, though he survived two usurpation attempts before they finally assassinated him eighty-six days after he had become emperor. This event triggered the chaos of the ‘Year of Five Emperors’ that saw his former mentoree Septimius Severus the ultimate victor and founder of the Severan Dynasty.

*

I have used the widest possible range of data in the research for this book. This includes my own academic research over the last fifteen years through my MA in War Studies from King’s College London, MA in Archaeology from University College London, and PhD in Archaeology from the University of Kent. Additionally, my recently published works on Roman themes have proved a fertile source of new information regarding the Empire in the mid and later second century

AD

. These include Sea Eagles of Empire: The Classis Britannica and the Battles for Britain, Empire State: How the Roman Military Built an Empire, Septimius Severus in Scotland: The Northern Campaigns of the First Hammer of the Scots and Roman Legionaries. Meanwhile, specific sources of further information on Pertinax and his times have included the archaeological record, the historical record (using wherever possible key primary sources and contemporary itineraries and epigraphy, particularly the Brühl Inscription detailed in Chapter 4), analogy, and where appropriate anecdote.

Much new archaeological information has emerged in recent years concerning the many provinces of the Empire and the theatres of war in which Pertinax served. This data is heavily used here. Next, with regard to primary written sources, we have specific accounts of the life of Pertinax from two identified historians. These are Cassius Dio with his Roman History, and Herodian with his History of the Roman Empire. The former covers the whole of Roman history in eighty books from the earliest times to his own day, while the latter covers the late second century

AD

to the midthird century. Both were originally written in Greek, and are flawed in their own ways, with the detail often patchy and inaccurate.

Dio was born in Nicaea, Bithynia, in 155 and was a direct contemporary of Pertinax. An active senator in public service under Commodus, he was later twice consul, a proconsul and a governor. While serving in the last position in Pannonia Superior in 226–8 he experienced front-line military action, and this is reflected in his often-detailed accounts of such operations in his work. One issue with Dio here is that his writing only survives in excerpts when it deals with the key parts relevant to this narrative, principally within an epitome that was prepared by the twelfth-century Byzantine historian and monk John Xiphilinus. Dio is also clearly a fan of Pertinax, especially after his untimely death, and this needs to be taken into account when using him as a source.

Meanwhile Herodian, an easterner, was later perhaps a minor public official in Rome. His History of the Roman Empire in his own lifetime came in the form of eight books covering the period from the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 through to the start of Gordian III’s reign in 238. This was just after the beginning of the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’ that permanently changed the nature of the Roman Empire. His principal focus relevant to this work is on Pertinax’s accession to the imperial throne and subsequent demise. Herodian was a boy when Pertinax became emperor and it is highly likely he used Dio as one of his own sources. In that respect it is no surprise that he is also supportive of Pertinax. Note also needs to be taken that Herodian is often thought highly unreliable and rhetorical, with for example Birley (1999, 172) saying that his account of the reign of Septimius Severus is ‘riddled with mistakes, omissions and inaccuracies’.

Next we can add the now anonymous Historia Augusta, a collection of biographies of Roman emperors, junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from the accession of Hadrian in 117 to the elevation of Diocletian in 284. Written towards the end of the fourth century in Latin, modern scholars believe it was based on a single work dating to the period of Dio and Herodian. The leading twentieth-century historian and classicist Sir Ronald Syme believed the author to be an individual he dubbed ‘Ignotus’, while others favour a lost work by the historian and Senator Marius Maximus, at least for part of it. The Historia Augusta is also thought unreliable, and frequently reads as though the author is more interested in entertaining his audience than reporting historical fact (Pausche, 2009, 115).

To the Historia Augusta we can also add the works of the later Latin chroniclers Flavius Eutropius, Aurelius Victor and Paulus Orosius. The first two (and given their use as sources by the third, that too by default) likely used as a major source the so-called ‘Kaisergeschichte’, a hypothetical set of short histories now lost. Burgess (1993, 491) argues this was written between 337 and 340. Again, these sources should be considered with care, especially given the length of time between the events they describe and the date when they were written.

No modern literary source exists in English regarding Pertinax alone; my narrative is the first to tackle this enigmatic subject. However, given that the life of Pertinax allows us to view the midand late second century

AD

in such detail, many other key works are available to illuminate his Icarus-like story. For a broad view of the Roman world at this time modern works abound, high quality examples including Michael Kulikowski’s recent Imperial Triumph: The Roman World from Hadrian to Constantine. The various works of Anthony R. Birley are also most useful, particularly when they touch on Pertinax in the context of his mentoree, the later Emperor Septimius Severus. On specific subjects which feature prominently in this work, David Potter’s Rome in the Ancient World is particularly valuable when considering how a Roman emperor ran his empire, while the many works on the Roman military of Adrian Goldsworthy, Ross Cowan and others provide all the detail needed to consider this very important aspect of the life of Pertinax and his contemporaries. Meanwhile, Guy de la Bédoyère’s recent Praetorian illuminates that most Roman of elite military institutions, the Guard, which first elevated Pertinax to the purple and then proved his nemesis.

Slavery in the Roman Empire, the practice of manumission and the possible careers of freedmen are particularly important at the beginning of this story, with key sources being Keith Bradley’s Slavery and Society at Rome, Henrik Mouritsen’s The Freedman in the Roman World and Elisabeth Herrmann-Otto’s ‘Slaves and Freedmen’ in the Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome. On the subject of Roman patronage so important to Pertinax’s elevation into the military and his later political career, Patronage in the Ancient World edited by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, has proved very useful. Meanwhile, as mentioned above, Pertinax was a teacher for much of his early life. This aspect of Roman society is well detailed in works such as Stanley Bonner’s Education in Ancient Rome. The Rome Pertinax rose to dominate in later life is well described in the Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome, edited by Paul Erdkamp. Meanwhile, Tim Cornell and John Matthews’s Atlas of the Roman World has provided extensive information regarding the far-flung provinces where Pertinax spent much of his later career.

When it comes to the assassination of Commodus, then Pertinax becoming emperor at the beginning of the ‘Year of the Five Emperors’ in 193, and finally the later elevation of his immediate successor Marcus Severus Didius Julianus, these events are well detailed in multiple sources. However, Alan Appelbaum’s ‘Another Look at the Assassination of Pertinax and the Accession of Julianus’ has provided a new narrative that is considered here.

To conclude the review of written sources used in this book, contemporary or later itineraries (such as the Tabula Peutingeriana, Antonine Itinerary, Ravenna Cosmography and Notitia Dignitatum) and a wide variety of differing types of epigraphy on contemporary stone-built structures and funerary monuments have also proved most useful. Where the data have in any way proved either contradictory or ambiguous (which is often the case with the primary sources) I have endeavoured to use common sense to make a personal judgement on what I believe to be the truth.

*

Moving on to some housekeeping issues, with regard to the use of classical and modern names, I have used the modern name where a place is first mentioned, but also giving its Roman name at that first point of use. When a classical name for a role, position or event is well understood I use that, giving the modern name or term at the first use. When emperors are first introduced in the main narrative I have listed the dates of their reigns.

Since much of Pertinax’s story was played out across the distant frontiers of the Empire, military installations have a key role. I have used the current size-based hierarchy as a means of describing these as they occur in the narrative. Starting with the largest, these are 20-hectare-plus legionary fortresses for one or more legions, then 12-ha-plus vexillation fortresses holding a mixed force of legionary cohorts and auxiliaries, next 1-ha-plus forts for outpost garrisons, and finally fortlets for part of an auxiliary unit. A military settlement associated with a fortification is called a canabae when connected with a legionary fortress, and a vicus elsewhere.

The built environment again features heavily in the story of Pertinax as he travelled far and wide throughout the Empire in imperial service. Larger towns are categorised as one of three types. These are coloniae, chartered towns for military veterans (in Britain Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln, for example), municipiae, chartered towns of mercantile origin (for example, St Albans), and civitates capitales, these last the Roman equivalent of county towns accommodating the local government of a region (in Britain Caerwent, Silchester and Canterbury, for example). Settlements below this level may be small towns (defined as a variety of diverse settlements which often had an association with a specific activity such as administration, industry or religion), villa estates or nonvilla estates.

Given Pertinax’s most humble of origins and then mighty rise to become emperor, an understanding of the social structure of Roman society is also very useful. At the very top of the ranks within the aristocracy was the senatorial class, said to be endowed with wealth, high birth and ‘moral excellence’, and into which Pertinax was adlected as explained above. There were around 600 senators in the mid-second century

AD

. Those of this class were patricians, a social as well as political rank; all those below, including other aristocrats, were plebeians. Next was the equestrian class, of which Pertinax became a member once he entered the military, having slightly less wealth but usually with a reputable lineage. They numbered some 30,000 across the Empire in the mid-second century

AD

. Finally in terms of the aristocracy there was the curial class, with the bar set slightly lower again. These were usually merchants and mid-level landowners, making up a large percentage of the town councillors in the Principate Empire. Below this were freemen who were free in the sense that they had never been slaves, Pertinax starting his adult life with this status. Freemen included the majority of smallerscale merchants, artisans and professionals in Roman society.

All of the above classes were also full cives Romani, citizens of the Roman Empire, if they came from Italy. They enjoyed the widest range of protections and privileges as defined by the Roman state, and could travel the breadth of the Empire pursuing their professional ambitions, as seen with Pertinax. Roman women had a limited type of citizenship and were not allowed to vote or stand for public or civil office. Freemen born outside of Italy in the imperial provinces were called peregrini (meaning in Latin: ‘one from abroad’) until Caracalla’s 212 constitutio Antoniniana, an edict that made all freemen of the Empire into citizens. In the first and second centuries

AD

peregrini made up the vast majority of the Empire’s inhabitants.

Further down the social ladder were freedmen, former slaves who had been manumitted by their masters (see Chapter 1 for more on this). Once free these former slaves often remained with the wider family of their pater familias (head of family) former owner, frequently taking that person’s name in some way. Providing the correct process of manumission was followed, freedmen could become citizens/peregrini, though with fewer civic rights than a freeman including not being able to stand for the majority of public offices (see Chapter 2 for more on these). Their children were freemen, as with Pertinax. Many freedmen became highly successful, and since they were not allowed to stand for public office found other ways to celebrate their lives. A common choice was the creation of monumentalised funerary memorials, a wellknown example being that of the baker Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces in Rome. Meanwhile, at the bottom of society were slaves. Roman slavery is covered in detail in Chapter 1.

The story of Pertinax takes place in the Principate phase of the Roman Empire’s existence, this dating from 27

BC

when Augustus was first acknowledged as emperor by the Senate until

AD

284 when the accession of Diocletian brought about the end of the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’. The name is derived from the term princeps (chief or master), referring to the emperor as the leading citizen of the Empire. While princeps was not an official title, emperors often assumed it on their accession, it clearly being a conceit allowing the Empire to be explained away as a simple continuance of the preceding Republic. Because of the major structural changes to the nature of the Roman Empire as its exited the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’, the period that followed until the end of the Western Empire in 476 is called the Dominate. This was a new, far more overtly imperial system, the title based on the word dominus, or lord, the emperor now being effectively the equivalent of an eastern potentate.

Next, a note on terminology. In this work the words German and Goth are frequently used. Both are problematic in that they infer a tribal identity that in reality did not exist. While each grouping may have often shared the same blood and cultural practices, the tribes more commonly fought among themselves than against the Romans, and indeed later in the Empire provided many of the troops and military leaders in the Dominate Roman army. Even the term tribe is itself problematic given that many were confederations of various regional groupings. While acknowledging these issues, I retain the use of the words here for ease of reference.

Pertinax’s career