Early Roman Empire, Nerva-Antonine Dynasty (96-193): 17 Marcus Aurelius: Second Marcomannic War (177-180)

In 177 Marcus proclaimed his sixteen-year-old son Lucius ⁰⁹Aurelius Commodus (31; fl.166-192) as his successor and joint emperor. He then left for the north where the Quadi and the Marcomanni were in rebellion. He arrived at Carnuntum in August 178, moved first against the Marcomanni and then in 179-180 against the Quadi. Under the command of Valerius (20) Maximianus the Romans defeated the Quadi at Laugaricio (near Trencín, Slovakia) and chased them westwards, deeper into Germania Magna, where the praetorian prefect Tarutenius Paternus later achieved another decisive victory against them. However, on 17 March 180 Marcus, the last of the ‘Five Good Emperors’ (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus himself), died at Vindobona (=Vienna). 

Marcus had laid the groundwork for extending the Roman frontier far north of the Danube to the mountainous territory between western Germany and Romania, with the intention of creating two new provinces called Marcomannia and Sarmatia. Just before his death he had directed Commodus to carry the war to a successful conclusion.