Upon his father's death on the Danubian front on 17 March 180, Commodus became sole emperor at age 18. On 1 January 177, Commodus became consul for the first time, thereby making the 15-year-old the youngest consul in Roman history up to that time. In the middle of 177, he was given the title Augustus, which gave him the same status as his father and he formally shared power with him. It was on 27 November 176 that Commodus was given the rank of Imperator. On 12 October 166, Commodus was made Caesar along with his younger brother, Marcus Verus, who died in 169 as a result of an operation, which left Commodus as Marcus Aurelius's only surviving son. Commodus was also the first emperor to have both his father and grandfather as the two preceding emperors. When he took the throne, it was the first time a son had succeeded his biological father since Titus succeeded Vespasian in 79. A contemporary witness of the period, Dio Cassius, wrote that his taking office marked the descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust." This famous quote led Edward Gibbon, among other historians, to see the reign of Commodus as the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire. His time on the throne was marked by political strife and Commodus's ever increasingly arbitrary and unpredictable behavior. The reign of Commodus was a turning point in the history of Rome. He was co-emperor with his father, Marcus Aurelius, from 177 until the death of his father in 180. Commodus (31 August 161-31 December 192), who was born Lucius Aurelius Commodus and died Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, was Emperor of Rome from 180 to 192.
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