They then pronounced Com'modus a parricide, an enemy to the gods, his
country, and all mankind; and commanded that his corpse should rot
upon a heap of dirt. 14. In the mean time they saluted Per'tinax as
emperor and Caesar, with numerous acclamations, and cheerfully took the
oaths of obedience. The provinces soon after followed the example of
Rome; so that he began his reign with universal satisfaction to the
whole empire, in the sixty-eighth year of his age.
15. Nothing could exceed the justice and wisdom of this monarch's
reign, during the short time it continued. But the praetorian soldiers,
whose manners he attempted to reform, having been long corrupted by
the indulgence and profusion of their former monarch, began to hate
him for his parsimony, and the discipline he had introduced among
them. 16. They therefore resolved to dethrone him; and accordingly, in
a tumultuous manner, marched through the streets of Rome, entered his
palace without opposition, where a Tungrian soldier struck him dead
with a blow of his lance.
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