On this day in history facts April 9th
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 9th April On this day in history in 193, Lucius Septimius Severus was proclaimed Emperor. The previous year on 31st December 192, Commodus, Russell Crowe's nemesis and the evil Emperor who diddled his sister in the movie Gladiator, was assassinated. Strangely, he wasn't killed by Russell Crowe, but the movie wasn't that far off the mark. He was originally poisoned by Marcia, his favourite mistress, but this just made him ill instead of dead. He vomited it up. All of it. And then kept going. Marcia and her co-conspirators then sent Narcissus, the Emperor's wrestling partner, to strangle Commodus in his bath. So, yeah, the film was pretty close. To a degree. If looking through a really dirty telescope. After the death of Commodus, Pertinax was acclaimed Emperor by the Senate. His reign didn't last long, and ended about as well as his predecessor. He was assassinated as well. This time...