The Guard Killed the Emperor, Then Showed Everyone the Emperor Was Powerless

The sun sets on the short reign of Pertinax emperor, whose rule lasted a mere 86 days before a violent end. This video explores a pivotal moment in roman history, detailing how the praetorian guards stormed the imperial palace. It's a gripping account from ancient history, shedding light on the precarious lives of roman emperors and the political instability that often followed figures like the death of Commodus.

In this episode of The Roman Pattern, we uncover the real power behind the Caesars:

- How Sejanus turned the Praetorian Guard into a private police state

- The day the Guard murdered Pertinax… then auctioned the Roman Empire

- How imperial freedmen bureaucrats became the true gatekeepers of power

- Why eunuchs, court officials, and generals manufactured the emperor’s reality

- How Ricimer installed puppet emperors—and why Majorian had to die

- The final truth: the emperor was just a hood ornament—the engine was the machine

Rome is falling right now—you’re just watching the replay.

I’m Jeremy Ryan Slate, and if you want to spot collapse patterns before everyone else does, subscribe.

👇 Comment below: Which “institution” do you think becomes most dangerous when it stops serving the public—security, bureaucracy, or the military?

CHAPTERS:

00:00 – Pertinax Assassinated: The Empire Breaks

00:24 – The Spear That Killed a Caesar

00:52 – The Head on a Pole… Then Something Worse

01:19 – “Who Wants to Be Next?” The Empire for Sale

01:44 – Welcome to Rome’s Deep State

02:08 – The Lie of Emperor Power

02:36 – The Machine Behind the Throne

03:21 – Rome Fell from “Order,” Not Chaos

03:47 – The Praetorian Guard: Promise of Safety

04:14 – Sejanus Builds the Castra Praetoria

04:40 – Information Control: Filtering the Emperor’s Reality

05:05 – Tiberius Flees to Capri: Sejanus Takes Over

05:32 – Senators Vanish: The Police State Tightens

06:01 – Sejanus Exposed and Executed

06:48 – 193 AD: Pertinax and the Lesson the Guard Learned

07:11 – The Auction of the Roman Empire

08:31 – The Emperor as a Rental: Pay the Men with Swords

09:05 – The Bureaucracy Rises: Freedmen Run the State

09:33 – “Proximity Is Power” The Administrative State

10:26 – The Rule of the Eunuchs: Manufacturing Reality

10:55 – Barbarian Generals Replace the Guard

11:23 – Ricimer: The Puppet-Master of Rome

11:46 – Majorian: The Emperor Who Tried to Save Rome

12:35 – No Trial: Majorian Is Purged

13:28 – Odoacer Ends the West: The Regalia Sent East

13:54 – The Emperor Was a Hood Ornament

14:24 – Rome as a Mirror: The Replay Is Now