Marcus Aurelius Cleander

Marcus Aurelius Cleander (C.E.2nd century – C.E.190), praetorian prefect, under Commodus.

Quotes about Marcus Aurelius Cleander:

Jean-Baptiste-Louis Crevier:

• Cleandro shared all the pleasures, or rather, all the debaucheries of Commodus, and having thus gained his confidence, he was for some time the rival of Perenne, and in the end supported by the faction of the freedmen of the palace, of which he was the leader, he came to ruin it. He, heir to his power, abused it with all the wickedness typical of a vile soul, and brought into the ministry all the vices of the servile condition. Everything was for sale with him, the positions of the Senators, the commands of the army, the governments of the Provinces, and the Prefectures, and he was paid dearly for them.
• To multiply his earnings, Cleander multiplied his positions and appointed, something that had never been seen before, twenty-five Consuls for a single year. He respected neither the Laws nor things judged. Anyone who had money to give him was sure to be ^[sic]<ref>acquitted, an ancient form of part. past of absolve . </ ref>, whatever crime he had committed; or reinstated, if he had previously been convicted, and very often still with increased dignity and splendor.
• He did not immediately take the position of Prefect of the Praetorium which was too disproportionate to the baseness of his condition, but he paved the way for it by degrading it and degrading it with frequent changes. He made and unmade the Praetorian Prefects as he pleased. He had one that lasted five days, and another that lasted six hours. Finally, when Cleander believed he had reduced this powerful office in proportion to his rank, he conferred it on himself, taking two colleagues, who were his creatures, and who depended entirely on him. Then three Praetorian Prefects were seen for the first time.