PERTINAX

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.

Publius Helvius Pertinax (126-193 C.E.) was a military officer and civil servant who packed several lifetimes into his 66 years. Though he only served 86 days before he was assassinated, military historian and archaeologist Elliott takes the basic elements of his story to fashion a mostly readable account of his life. After years as a teacher, Pertinax switched careers at age 35 and entered the military, embarking on a “dizzying upward trajectory” capped by his short-lived reign as emperor. He occupied posts in Rome’s sophisticated military and governing machines in empire hot spots like Syria, Carthage, and Britannia, “the wild west of the Roman Empire,” where he served as governor and survived an assassination attempt by mutinous legionnaires. He endured periods of banishment but always came back to move further up the ladder of rank, prestige, and wealth. After the “deluded” Emperor Commodus was assassinated, Pertinax was drafted by the Senate to become the new emperor. But he ran afoul of the Praetorian Guard, a state-sanctioned band of mercenaries ready to sell the empire's throne to the highest bidder. Pertinax’s story shows how an ordinary Roman citizen—even the son of a slave—could negotiate a rigid class and caste system. Elliott, author of several books about Roman affairs, has a deep understanding of Roman life, especially as it was lived in Britannia. His challenge is that there is very little personal information in accounts of Pertinax’s life, and he fills the gaps with more particulars about military life than are likely to interest general readers. 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.