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For over a century,

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the Roman Coliseum has hosted
the most grueling and bloody games

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in human history,

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fought and won
by the Roman gladiator.

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At the end of
the second century,

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the Roman people
witness a game like no other.

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For the first time in history,

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a Roman Emperor
will fight to the death.

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All hail Commodus,

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Emperor of Rome!

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Commodus's reign
will mark the beginning of the fall...

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of the greatest civilization on Earth.

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But his story begins
more than a decade earlier.

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By the end of the second century,

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There's no civilization as massive
or as powerful as the Roman Empire.

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Almost one in five people on Earth
lives within the Empire's boundaries...

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and is under rule of one of
the most powerful men on the planet,

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the Roman Emperor
Marcus Aurelius.

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For more than a decade,

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Aurelius has waged war
to defend the Empire's reach.

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And he reigns over a territory
that spans thousands of miles.

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From Western Europe
and the Middle East,

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through parts of Africa
and the entire Mediterranean.

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Marcus Aurelius was

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considered really one of
the most successful Emperors.

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He was not just Emperor,
but he was a distinguished philosopher.

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He was a student of Epictetus,

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who was the leading
Stoic philosopher of the day,

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and he was a gifted philosophical writer
in his own right.

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His meditations are still read today.

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Over the last century,

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Rome has been built into
one of the most advanced cities

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in the ancient world.

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And, under Aurelius's reign,

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it's given rise to a modern era.

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The Roman Empire
in the second century

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was a formidable global superpower.

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They had the most proficient
military forces.

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They ruled
the most civilized array of people.

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There was anything that you wanted
by Roman standards,

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you could find in their empire.

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And what kept this empire together

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was an incredibly efficient
array of infrastructure.

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Ancient Rome during
this time period was the greatest empire

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that the world had ever known.

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It was responsible for
enormous advances in technology

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such as the system of Roman roads
or the aqueducts that supplied water.

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The city of Rome itself
had reached one million people.

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So it was the first

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large-scale urban metropolis.

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Marcus Aurelius
rules over 50 million people

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within the boundaries
of the Roman Empire.

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And no one lives
better than his son...

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Commodus.

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The problem that was
ushered in by Marcus Aurelius

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when instead of doing
what his predecessors had done,

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and adopting a person
who was qualified

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by temperament, and upbringing,
and training to serve as Emperor,

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instead wanted
his son to succeed him.

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Commodus was the first Roman Emperor

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who was ever born to a sitting emperor.

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Growing up
the son of an emperor,

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as someone who was
raised from birth to succeed his father,

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we have to imagine
that Commodus's ego had no place to go.

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Knowing that he would
have this role,

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that this had planted some seed
in his mind

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that he was,
in some sense, extraordinary.

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Commodus.

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Go.

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Good morning, mother.

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Now.

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Do you know what time it is?

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Early.

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I'm sending you to Germania.

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What? Why?

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Because all you do here
is drink and play with whores.

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But there's a war.

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It'll teach you discipline.

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I'm not going anywhere.

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It's already been decided.

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Your father's expecting you.

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When you think about Commodus,
who had more, personally,

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and more, historically, going for him
than any other human being

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previous in the history
of human existence...

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I mean, in fact, no Roman Emperor
for 80 years had had a son.

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However, one would be very,
very hard pressed to find

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a less intellectually,

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less energetic, less motivated

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person with that type of responsibility
in the whole of human history.

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Against his will,

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Commodus has been
called to Germania.

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Ordered to train under his father
to become the next Emperor.

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Hundreds of miles from Rome,

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along the borders of the Empire,

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massive armies of Germanic tribes
are invading Roman territory.

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And the Roman military
has been called to the front lines.

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With one of the strongest ground
and naval forces in the world,

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the Roman military is made up of hundreds
of thousands of highly trained soldiers,

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equipped with the latest weaponry,

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and prepared to defend
the Empire's borders...

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at all costs.

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There was
the problem of Rome's neighbors.

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Both to the east, and to the north.

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The Parthians to the east

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and Germanic tribes to the north,
which were a threat.

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Romans had been fighting Germans,

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at this point, for 250 years.

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And the border

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on the Danube
had always been a problem.

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And, in fact, as it turns out,
always would be a problem.

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The Roman army

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was the most formidable
fighting machine

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that the ancient world had seen.

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The basis for their success

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was less their capacity for killing,

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and more their capacity
for entrenchment.

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It was a capacity
for digging fortresses,

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for fashioning all the infrastructure
of a frontier force

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that served to ensure
that the Roman frontiers

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were essentially guarded
and held secure.

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Oh, Saoterus, that's disgusting.

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I hope you learned your lesson.
You'll never outdrink me, my friend.

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Never again.

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Tell my father I'm here.

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Let's hope we're not
stuck here for too long.

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Come with me.

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Marcus Aurelius and Commodus

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have come down in history as very,
very different individuals.

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After all, he was also
a leading general of his time

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and led many wars
along the Danube frontier.

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Commodus probably was
as irresponsible as people say.

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That said, Marcus Aurelius does not appear
to have shown any hesitation

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in promoting Commodus
from a very young age.

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Where is he?

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What?

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I promised your mother

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I'd try and do my best
to make a man of you.

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I never break my word. Ever.

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It begins now.

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You want me to train
like some common soldier?

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Again...

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Again...

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Again...

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I'm going to show you what happens
when you don't know how to handle a sword.

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One of the great debates,

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not just among
Roman historians of today,

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but even of the time,
was why Commodus?

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Why did Marcus Aurelius
choose Commodus?

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Why, despite the fact
that everybody seemed to see

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that he was not up to this task,
why was there still the insistence

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that Commodus
was going to be the next Emperor?

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Perhaps we can
chalk it up to naïveté

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or a kind of generic
just love for his son,

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blinding him to the realities

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that his son
was not up to the task.

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And his son was
not ready for this position.

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The means through which Commodus
was groomed and trained to become Emperor

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were unparalleled in Roman history.

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He had high hopes
for his son during this period.

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What Marcus Aurelius imagined
for his child and what his child became

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were two very different things.

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As Commodus trains,

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the Germanic tribes
begin to push through Roman defenses,

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banding together and launching
a massive assault on the Roman army.

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The great Roman nightmare
was of Northern Barbarians

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sweeping southwards
and conquering Rome.

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In the reign of Marcus Aurelius,
there was a disturbance.

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He knew that he had no choice
but to confront that.

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And as it turned out,
the wars that Marcus Aurelius fought

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against the German people were

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as strenuous and challenging
as any Barbarian enemy

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that the Roman people had faced.

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Lasting years...

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it's a devastating war.

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Killing thousands
of men on both sides.

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The war also takes its toll
on the Emperor...

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who soon falls ill.

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Marcus Aurelius spent most of his life

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dealing with, fighting,
trying to resist, coping with

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Barbarian tribes pressing up against
the frontiers of the Empire.

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And as the health
of Marcus Aurelius began to fade,

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there was a great deal of worrying.

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He seems to have had problems
in his chest and stomach.

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It may have been cancer.

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It may have been something to do
with his heart. One doesn't really know.

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With the Emperor's health diminishing,

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news is sent to the palace.

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But on its way back to Rome,

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the message is quickly distorted.

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And soon enough,
it becomes a rumor...

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that Marcus Aurelius has died.

203
00:22:08,453 --> 00:22:10,247
In the case of Marcus Aurelius,

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it seems quite clear
that rumors started to spread

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00:22:13,458 --> 00:22:14,835
that the Emperor had died.

206
00:22:15,419 --> 00:22:17,754
And sometimes these
may well have been engineered.

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00:22:18,338 --> 00:22:22,259
And what is crucial about this,
is that verification of these rumors

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in the Roman world
would have been phenomenally difficult.

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00:22:49,870 --> 00:22:51,329
Before long,

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00:22:51,413 --> 00:22:53,874
the rumor of Marcus Aurelius's death

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reaches the most powerful
woman in the Empire...

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Empress Faustina.

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00:23:09,639 --> 00:23:12,267
Faustina was Marcus Aurelius's wife.

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00:23:12,351 --> 00:23:14,561
She was the daughter
of the previous Emperor,

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Antoninus Pius.

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00:23:17,064 --> 00:23:19,733
And she was
a successful wife with Marcus,

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gave him children
over that period.

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00:23:21,777 --> 00:23:27,157
So she must immediately have looked for
her safety and for her family's safety.

219
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Devastated by news
of her husband's death,

220
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Faustina fears her son
isn't ready for the throne,

221
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and knows she has to come up with
a plan before word reaches the Senate.

222
00:23:50,097 --> 00:23:53,809
The Roman Senate is made up of
the most influential men in the Empire.

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All looking for opportunities
to further their political careers.

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00:24:09,574 --> 00:24:12,494
There were clearly any number of folks

225
00:24:12,577 --> 00:24:13,829
in the Roman Senate

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00:24:13,912 --> 00:24:16,832
themselves, who were senators,
who thought that they had

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00:24:16,915 --> 00:24:18,542
even better claim to nobility

228
00:24:18,625 --> 00:24:21,837
or to the throne
than the reigning Emperor himself.

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00:24:22,504 --> 00:24:24,673
In general,
it seems that being at the top

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was a very lonely
and dangerous place in Ancient Rome.

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Throughout the Empire,

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00:24:34,933 --> 00:24:38,395
governors and ambitious leaders
are determined to seize control.

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And a challenge to the throne could come
from any of the Empire's regions.

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With rumors quickly spreading,

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00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,823
a power grab could soon take hold.

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00:24:56,496 --> 00:25:00,083
The play for the throne
puts members of the royal family at risk.

237
00:25:01,626 --> 00:25:03,879
Including the Emperor's daughter...

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Lucilla.

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Married to her father's trusted advisor,

240
00:25:11,636 --> 00:25:15,682
Lucilla has already been groomed
for a life of influence.

241
00:25:17,851 --> 00:25:19,561
Lucilla had been

242
00:25:19,644 --> 00:25:22,522
one of the oldest
of Marcus Aurelius's children

243
00:25:22,606 --> 00:25:24,399
who had survived into adulthood.

244
00:25:25,067 --> 00:25:27,652
She had been involved
in Roman politics,

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00:25:27,736 --> 00:25:30,739
the back room deals,
the administration.

246
00:25:31,281 --> 00:25:32,949
So she was far
more experienced.

247
00:25:33,033 --> 00:25:34,993
She had far better contacts.

248
00:25:35,077 --> 00:25:39,498
She had resources at her disposal
that Commodus didn't even know existed.

249
00:25:42,876 --> 00:25:45,379
But with the throne
being called into question,

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Lucilla knows her ambitions
are in jeopardy.

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00:25:51,343 --> 00:25:53,553
Lucilla was Commodus's older sister

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00:25:53,637 --> 00:25:54,638
12 years older.

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00:25:55,180 --> 00:26:00,102
And so she was used to having a place
at the top table in Roman society.

254
00:26:01,144 --> 00:26:03,438
But she certainly seems
to have been slightly jealous

255
00:26:03,522 --> 00:26:07,776
of the increasingly powerful role
that her younger brother Commodus

256
00:26:07,859 --> 00:26:09,027
would have to inherit.

257
00:26:18,787 --> 00:26:19,955
Here, take that.

258
00:26:21,748 --> 00:26:22,832
No.

259
00:26:23,583 --> 00:26:24,418
Yes.

260
00:26:27,879 --> 00:26:29,548
No one told me we were leaving.

261
00:26:30,757 --> 00:26:31,717
You've heard?

262
00:26:42,394 --> 00:26:43,311
Where are we going?

263
00:26:46,773 --> 00:26:48,191
I'm going to Egypt.

264
00:26:50,819 --> 00:26:52,112
You're staying here.

265
00:26:53,697 --> 00:26:55,574
We can't abandon Rome completely.

266
00:26:56,283 --> 00:26:57,951
And there are things I need to do,

267
00:26:58,785 --> 00:27:00,078
to secure our safety.

268
00:27:00,787 --> 00:27:01,955
In Egypt.

269
00:27:05,042 --> 00:27:06,668
You're seeing Avidius Cassius.

270
00:27:08,211 --> 00:27:10,088
I'm doing what I need to do

271
00:27:10,172 --> 00:27:11,923
to protect our family.

272
00:27:12,632 --> 00:27:14,092
So to protect Commodus,

273
00:27:14,926 --> 00:27:16,678
you'll leave me here by myself.

274
00:27:22,726 --> 00:27:24,019
I know it's dangerous.

275
00:27:27,689 --> 00:27:29,441
But what other choice do we have?

276
00:27:31,735 --> 00:27:32,736
My cloak.

277
00:27:33,945 --> 00:27:37,699
I will return as quickly as I can.

278
00:27:37,783 --> 00:27:40,202
We will all be together.
We will all be safe!

279
00:27:45,374 --> 00:27:46,375
Trust me.

280
00:27:49,294 --> 00:27:50,253
Go!

281
00:27:53,590 --> 00:27:55,759
Any member of the imperial family

282
00:27:55,842 --> 00:27:59,930
is potentially in danger
when the Emperor dies.

283
00:28:00,013 --> 00:28:02,474
It is extremely common

284
00:28:02,557 --> 00:28:05,060
for emperors who fall from power

285
00:28:05,143 --> 00:28:08,146
to have their entire family wiped out.

286
00:28:45,100 --> 00:28:47,561
Determined to protect her family

287
00:28:47,644 --> 00:28:49,229
and secure her own power,

288
00:28:51,148 --> 00:28:53,525
Faustina sets a plan in motion.

289
00:28:54,067 --> 00:28:56,528
Instead of waiting for an overthrow,

290
00:28:56,611 --> 00:28:58,613
the Empress plans
to leave her city...

291
00:28:59,364 --> 00:29:00,490
immediately.

292
00:29:06,079 --> 00:29:09,041
Traveling more than
1,000 miles south...

293
00:29:11,001 --> 00:29:15,255
across the Mediterranean
to one of the Empire's furthest regions...

294
00:29:19,217 --> 00:29:20,302
Egypt.

295
00:29:39,613 --> 00:29:41,865
One of the wealthiest territories
in the world,

296
00:29:44,701 --> 00:29:47,454
Egypt is one of
the leading producers of grain,

297
00:29:49,456 --> 00:29:53,418
and is home to one of the largest ports
in the Northern Hemisphere.

298
00:29:59,091 --> 00:30:02,678
Guarded by more than
15,000 Roman soldiers,

299
00:30:13,730 --> 00:30:17,275
and run by the second most
powerful man in the Empire,

300
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:21,571
Egyptian governor
Avidius Cassius.

301
00:30:26,868 --> 00:30:28,995
Egypt was the personal territory

302
00:30:29,079 --> 00:30:32,207
of the Emperor.
It was actually his estate,

303
00:30:32,290 --> 00:30:35,877
and Cassius was tasked
with keeping control of Egypt,

304
00:30:35,961 --> 00:30:39,506
essentially keeping control
of the Emperor's own private lands.

305
00:30:40,298 --> 00:30:42,092
He had been trusted by the family.

306
00:30:42,175 --> 00:30:44,011
He had been in the inner circle.

307
00:30:51,685 --> 00:30:52,936
Sir...

308
00:30:53,020 --> 00:30:54,479
The report you requested.

309
00:31:02,654 --> 00:31:04,865
I want you to
double the guards at the port.

310
00:31:04,948 --> 00:31:06,616
There's been some
pilfering of the grain.

311
00:31:07,325 --> 00:31:08,243
I'm not happy.

312
00:31:13,123 --> 00:31:14,416
-You can go.
-Sir.

313
00:32:08,220 --> 00:32:09,888
The image we get out of Faustina

314
00:32:09,971 --> 00:32:12,557
is one of untrustworthiness
and promiscuity.

315
00:32:13,016 --> 00:32:15,769
There are many rumors
going around about both of these areas.

316
00:32:17,270 --> 00:32:22,651
And we can see a partial answer to that
in Faustina's bid to Avidius Cassius,

317
00:32:23,860 --> 00:32:27,781
where she thought maybe she would be
able to retain her position in the Empire,

318
00:32:27,864 --> 00:32:29,366
perhaps even as his wife.

319
00:32:39,167 --> 00:32:41,253
That was unexpected.

320
00:32:42,879 --> 00:32:43,922
Cassius,

321
00:32:45,090 --> 00:32:47,092
you've always been there for me

322
00:32:47,718 --> 00:32:49,636
ever since we were children.

323
00:32:52,764 --> 00:32:55,100
Now you're the only one
who can protect me.

324
00:32:57,477 --> 00:33:00,147
I think you might be
overestimating me.

325
00:33:02,149 --> 00:33:03,191
How could I?

326
00:33:04,151 --> 00:33:04,985
Marcus always said

327
00:33:05,068 --> 00:33:08,113
you were the second most powerful
man in the Empire.

328
00:33:09,823 --> 00:33:11,491
You could be Emperor yourself,

329
00:33:12,743 --> 00:33:13,618
if you wanted.

330
00:33:14,745 --> 00:33:15,871
Emperor?

331
00:33:18,415 --> 00:33:20,334
With the strength of your armies

332
00:33:21,293 --> 00:33:23,545
and my name behind you,

333
00:33:24,379 --> 00:33:26,506
no one could stop you.

334
00:33:31,386 --> 00:33:33,555
Emperor of Rome.

335
00:33:39,269 --> 00:33:41,480
But you must promise me one thing.

336
00:33:42,105 --> 00:33:43,023
Anything.

337
00:33:44,024 --> 00:33:45,901
Protect my family.

338
00:33:45,984 --> 00:33:47,069
Commodus.

339
00:33:48,070 --> 00:33:49,571
As if he were your own.

340
00:34:04,628 --> 00:34:09,883
Allegedly, again, she had
actually promised to marry Avidius Cassius

341
00:34:09,966 --> 00:34:11,885
after Marcus's presumed death

342
00:34:11,968 --> 00:34:15,931
in order to solidify
that transfer of power.

343
00:34:17,724 --> 00:34:20,060
Because, if a power vacuum
had been left,

344
00:34:20,143 --> 00:34:23,563
that would've put Faustina
and everybody else around Marcus

345
00:34:23,647 --> 00:34:26,024
in an extremely perilous position.

346
00:34:29,861 --> 00:34:33,323


347
00:34:39,287 --> 00:34:41,498
With Empress Faustina's backing,

348
00:34:41,873 --> 00:34:46,086
Avidius Cassius raises an army
to march on Rome...

349
00:34:46,670 --> 00:34:48,797
and claim the throne for himself.

350
00:34:53,885 --> 00:34:55,053
Within months,

351
00:34:55,137 --> 00:34:59,433
he seizes control of major territories
in the eastern Roman Empire.

352
00:34:59,516 --> 00:35:04,896
And with support from leaders
in Egypt, Syria, Judaea, and Arabia,

353
00:35:07,524 --> 00:35:10,318
he makes the ultimate move
for the throne.

354
00:35:13,363 --> 00:35:15,282
Cassius declared himself Emperor.

355
00:35:15,365 --> 00:35:18,410
Egypt declared him to be
the Emperor as well.

356
00:35:18,493 --> 00:35:23,040
Two of the legions located within Egypt
declared Cassius for Emperor.

357
00:35:33,508 --> 00:35:36,887
And then, it was gradually revealed
that Marcus Aurelius was still alive.

358
00:35:39,014 --> 00:35:40,849
That he hadn't passed away after all,

359
00:35:40,932 --> 00:35:44,019
that the messages had been
incorrectly interpreted.

360
00:35:46,438 --> 00:35:47,439
And now,

361
00:35:47,522 --> 00:35:48,940
we have two rival Emperors.

362
00:35:49,024 --> 00:35:51,526
We have a potential civil war
within the Empire.

363
00:36:08,669 --> 00:36:11,922
As news
of Aurelius' recovery reaches Egypt,

364
00:36:12,714 --> 00:36:17,469
Empress Faustina knows
she must face her husband in Germania.

365
00:36:19,721 --> 00:36:24,768
While Avidius Cassius chooses to continue
his campaign for the throne.

366
00:36:26,019 --> 00:36:28,814
Avidius Cassius, I think,
had little choice

367
00:36:28,897 --> 00:36:31,692
but to continue with his campaign.

368
00:36:34,736 --> 00:36:36,697
If he backed away at that point,

369
00:36:36,780 --> 00:36:38,782
then everybody's going to know,

370
00:36:38,865 --> 00:36:41,576
including Marcus, is going to know

371
00:36:41,660 --> 00:36:46,164
that he was ready to seize the power
from Marcus's own son,

372
00:36:46,832 --> 00:36:50,877
who was the closest person
in line for the succession.

373
00:37:17,946 --> 00:37:20,323
Avidius Cassius
has raised seven legions already.

374
00:37:21,283 --> 00:37:24,828
Three in Syria, two in Judaea,
one in Arabia, and one in Egypt.

375
00:37:25,829 --> 00:37:28,665
So only Cappadocia and Bithynia
have remained loyal.

376
00:37:30,042 --> 00:37:31,585
If we split our forces in half,

377
00:37:32,294 --> 00:37:35,255
we send ten legions across
the Mediterranean to Alexandria--

378
00:37:35,339 --> 00:37:37,466
No, no. Ten legions are not enough
to hold the front here.

379
00:37:37,549 --> 00:37:39,343
Our men would be spread
as far as Vetera.

380
00:37:39,426 --> 00:37:40,969
They'd be practically useless.

381
00:37:41,053 --> 00:37:42,220
With all due respect, Emperor,

382
00:37:42,304 --> 00:37:44,765
-your wife has put Rome--
-My wife has nothing to do with it.

383
00:37:45,223 --> 00:37:47,684
Mother? She's involved?

384
00:37:47,768 --> 00:37:48,727
No.

385
00:37:49,353 --> 00:37:50,896
Rumors only, nothing more.

386
00:37:53,315 --> 00:37:55,400
Listen, if we move the fifteenth north,

387
00:37:56,777 --> 00:37:57,652
to Dacia.

388
00:37:58,195 --> 00:37:59,404
We take the twelfth...

389
00:37:59,488 --> 00:38:02,157


390
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,525
After inadvertently starting
a war for the throne,

391
00:38:37,359 --> 00:38:40,904
Faustina knows
she must return to her husband...

392
00:38:41,863 --> 00:38:45,158
and try to maintain
her place as Empress.

393
00:38:51,498 --> 00:38:54,418
Faustina, unfortunately,
overplayed her hand.

394
00:38:56,378 --> 00:38:59,256
The great women in Roman society

395
00:38:59,339 --> 00:39:01,800
always supported their men,
elevated their men,

396
00:39:01,883 --> 00:39:07,055
pushed the men that they represented
into greater positions of power,

397
00:39:07,139 --> 00:39:08,890
greater positions of competition,

398
00:39:08,974 --> 00:39:10,809
and helped to drive them forward.

399
00:39:13,020 --> 00:39:14,521
We can see this
playing out, of course,

400
00:39:14,604 --> 00:39:17,357
directly in the case of
Avidius Cassius.

401
00:39:18,066 --> 00:39:21,528
Where she clearly trusted him
and had every reason to believe

402
00:39:21,611 --> 00:39:24,281
that he would make
a fantastic emperor.

403
00:39:24,364 --> 00:39:27,075
Unfortunately, of course,
we have a miscommunication

404
00:39:27,159 --> 00:39:30,454
that ends up backfiring
on that entire situation.

405
00:39:51,308 --> 00:39:52,642
I need to talk to my mother.

406
00:40:05,781 --> 00:40:07,366
The generals in there
want you dead.

407
00:40:08,825 --> 00:40:11,578
By the Gods,
how has this gotten so out of control?

408
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:13,538
I never intended this.

409
00:40:14,081 --> 00:40:15,082
Well is it true?

410
00:40:15,874 --> 00:40:17,167
Did you betray us?

411
00:40:19,086 --> 00:40:20,962
I thought your father was dead.

412
00:40:21,630 --> 00:40:23,507
I knew what that meant,

413
00:40:24,174 --> 00:40:25,676
how they would come for us.

414
00:40:27,010 --> 00:40:29,012
I was only trying to protect us,

415
00:40:29,930 --> 00:40:31,139
to protect you.

416
00:40:32,307 --> 00:40:33,934
So it was a misunderstanding.

417
00:40:34,810 --> 00:40:36,520
So tell father that.

418
00:40:37,896 --> 00:40:39,189
He'll never believe me.

419
00:40:39,981 --> 00:40:41,858
It's the truth.
Of course he'll believe you.

420
00:40:44,528 --> 00:40:45,946
The truth...

421
00:40:46,863 --> 00:40:48,532
He'll understand. He has to.

422
00:41:34,703 --> 00:41:35,662
Is it true?

423
00:41:37,122 --> 00:41:39,583
-You know me better than that.
-That is not an answer.

424
00:41:42,294 --> 00:41:44,046
You think I'd betray my own family?

425
00:41:44,755 --> 00:41:45,672
My husband?

426
00:41:46,173 --> 00:41:48,508
I think someone
can be driven to do anything,

427
00:41:49,176 --> 00:41:50,427
when their life's in jeopardy.

428
00:41:51,678 --> 00:41:54,264
And some things are beyond
even imagining.

429
00:41:55,307 --> 00:41:56,933
Faustina. Tell me the truth.

430
00:41:57,017 --> 00:41:59,227
-I don't know what you want.
-I need the truth!

431
00:42:02,022 --> 00:42:05,192
You tell me plainly. Now.

432
00:42:09,321 --> 00:42:11,323
I've been faithful to you.

433
00:42:12,449 --> 00:42:13,658
Always.

434
00:42:16,411 --> 00:42:17,537
And these stories,

435
00:42:18,038 --> 00:42:21,500
concerning you
and Avidius Cassius?

436
00:42:21,583 --> 00:42:23,043
They're lies.

437
00:42:24,670 --> 00:42:26,672
It's rumors...

438
00:42:27,881 --> 00:42:30,384
If there is one thing that's true,

439
00:42:30,884 --> 00:42:32,302
it's that I love you.

440
00:42:33,136 --> 00:42:36,223
And I would not do
anything to hurt you.

441
00:42:37,265 --> 00:42:39,893
Anything else is a lie.

442
00:42:45,399 --> 00:42:47,275
I just needed to hear it

443
00:42:48,068 --> 00:42:49,486
from your own lips.

444
00:43:02,332 --> 00:43:03,500
Marcus.

445
00:43:07,713 --> 00:43:08,964
Protect Commodus.

446
00:43:36,658 --> 00:43:37,534
Sir...

447
00:43:50,130 --> 00:43:52,341
Being a Roman Emperor
was a difficult job.

448
00:43:53,091 --> 00:43:54,593
You are atop of a system

449
00:43:54,676 --> 00:43:58,138
that managed one of the largest empires
the world had ever known.

450
00:43:59,389 --> 00:44:01,850
But there were also
problems of loyalty.

451
00:44:01,933 --> 00:44:04,895
In such a big empire,
you need to delegate.

452
00:44:04,978 --> 00:44:06,563
But who can you trust?

453
00:44:06,646 --> 00:44:09,107
Can you trust even
members of your own family?

454
00:44:09,566 --> 00:44:10,942
Often, sadly, not.

455
00:45:35,694 --> 00:45:36,695


456
00:45:41,950 --> 00:45:44,202


457
00:46:05,849 --> 00:46:07,017
Mother...