Editing Commodus (section)

===Assassination (192)===
[[File:Römermuseum Osterburken (DerHexer) 2012-09-30 008.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Damnatio memoriae]]'' of Commodus on an inscription in the Museum of Roman History in [[Osterburken]], Germany. The abbreviation "CO" has been restored with paint.]]
In November 192, Commodus held Plebeian Games, in which he shot hundreds of animals with arrows and javelins every morning, and fought as a gladiator every afternoon, winning all the fights. In December, he announced his intention to inaugurate the year 193 as both consul and gladiator on 1 January.

When Marcia found a list of people Commodus intended to have executed, she discovered that she, the prefect Laetus, and Eclectus were on it. The three of them plotted to assassinate the emperor. On 31 December, Marcia poisoned Commodus' food, but he vomited up the poison, so the conspirators sent his wrestling partner [[Narcissus (wrestler)|Narcissus]] to strangle him in his bath.<ref>Dio, Cassius, 73.22</ref>

Upon his death, the Senate declared him a public enemy (a ''de facto'' ''[[damnatio memoriae]]'') and restored the original name of the city of Rome and its institutions. Statues of Commodus were demolished. His body was buried in the [[Mausoleum of Hadrian]].

Commodus' death marked the end of the [[Nerva–Antonine dynasty]]. Commodus was succeeded by [[Pertinax]], whose reign was short; he became the first claimant to be usurped during the [[Year of the Five Emperors]].

In 195, the emperor [[Septimius Severus]], trying to gain favour with the family of Marcus Aurelius, rehabilitated Commodus' memory and had the Senate [[Apotheosis|deify]] him.<ref>To "accept kinship with Commodus&nbsp;... the bluntly pragmatic decision was taken to deify the former emperor, thus legitimizing Severus' seizure of power." See [[Annelise Freisenbruch]], ''Caesars' Wives: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Roman Empire'' (London and New York: Free Press, 2010), 187.</ref>