The Rise and Fall of the Empire

The citizens of the East were becoming progressively more hostile towards Marcus Aurelius and his pointless war in the frozen north. In 172, protesting the excessive tax burden, an insurrection broke out in Egypt that was efficiently put down by none other than Novidius Cassius. Back in Rome, the Senate was generally supportive of Marcus's policies, but there was a growing faction of senators who secretly opposed the Imperial regime.