15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
==Why did Commodus end the Macromannic War?==
[[File: Comm 3.jpg|500px250px|thumb|left| The Colosseum in Rome, where Commodus killed animals and gladiators]]
By 180 AD, the legions had been at war for eighteen years. It seemed that Rome was on the verge of a complete victory and was about to annex the Marcomanni and their allies' territory, the Qadi. Marcus Aurelius hoped that one more campaign season would result in a complete and total victory and expand Rome into central Europe. His death changed all of this. Soon after his death, Commodus ended the war, and many ancient writers regretted this, and later historians echoed this until recent times.
<dh-ad/>
If he had continued his father's policy and was successful in the wars, it is highly likely that the conquered lands would have only been a drain on the Imperial treasury and would have been impossible to defend.<ref>McLynn, Frank, Marcus Aurelius, Warrior, Philosopher, Emperor (Vintage Books, London, 2009), p 279</ref> Commodus by ending the war, on favorable terms, had probably taken the correct strategic decision. He can be seen as continuing the policy of Augustus, which warned against further expansion.
==How did Commodus centralize power when he was the Emperor?==
