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eventVerified

A 190 grain shortage and Circus riot bring Cleander down after Marcia urges his death as received

Dio: famine worsened by the grain commissioner Papirius Dionysius to blame Cleander; Circus riot; Marcia urges Commodus to kill Cleander. The 190 grain crisis is a humanitarian path of high confidence on occurrence in Dio/Livius, none on a unique calorie coefficient supplied here. In the causal graph this event weakens the driver Income Inequality.

A 190 grain shortage and Circus riot bring Cleander down after Marcia urges his death as received

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

Context

Urban hunger and riot are a humanitarian path. Killing Cleander propitiates the crowd; executing Papirius afterward is neighbouring court violence. Shared annona officials remain.

Commodus’s documented role is bounded by other offices and collaborators named in the sources below.

Dio: famine worsened by the grain commissioner Papirius Dionysius to blame Cleander; Circus riot; Marcia urges Commodus to kill Cleander. Year-level date.

Why it matters

The 190 grain crisis is a humanitarian path of high confidence on occurrence in Dio/Livius, none on a unique calorie coefficient supplied here.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Commodus

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.4 · verified

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactA 190 grain shortage and Circus riot bring Cleander down after Marcia urges his death as received
    2. weakensDriverIncome Inequality

    impact weight 0.5 · Effect from 1 April 190 · verified

    The 190 grain crisis is a humanitarian path of high confidence on occurrence in Dio/Livius, none on a unique calorie coefficient supplied here.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Livius — CommodusLivius.org · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Cassius Dio Book 73 (Loeb English) — CommodusLacusCurtius / University of Chicago · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Dio narrates the 190 grain crisis, riot, and Marcia’s urging. Livius independently dates Cleander’s fall to 190.

Commodus did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act. Marcia is a court actor in the literary file, not a modern minister.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorCommodus
  2. contributed toFactA 190 grain shortage and Circus riot bring Cleander down after Marcia urges his death as received
  3. weakensDriverIncome Inequality

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). A 190 grain shortage and Circus riot bring Cleander down after Marcia urges his death as received. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/com-grain-crisis-190

https://factrail.ai/facts/com-grain-crisis-190

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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