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But let us come to Commodus, to whom it should have been very

easy to hold the empire, for, being the son of Marcus, he had

inherited it, and he had only to follow in the footsteps of his

father to please his people and soldiers; but, being by nature

cruel and brutal, he gave himself up to amusing the soldiers and

corrupting them, so that he might indulge his rapacity upon the

people; on the other hand, not maintaining his dignity, often

descending to the theatre to compete with gladiators, and doing

other vile things, little worthy of the imperial majesty, he fell

into contempt with the soldiers, and being hated by one party and

despised by the other, he was conspired against and was killed.