After the murder of Emperor Commodus on 31 December 192 AD, Pertinax was chosen by Commodus' conspirators as a suitable replacement for the title of Roman ruler. He would be the first of five Emperors during 193AD, known as the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors. During this year, the leader of the Roman Empire was to be decided within a civil war between its three largest military forces. This civil war was contested by Clodius Albinus in Britain, Septimius Severus in the Danube and Syrian leader Pescinnius Niger.