Herodian, Cassius Dio, and the Augustan History provide conflicting accounts of the rise and fall of Perennis, but all three agree on the essential points of his powerful position under Commodus and his swift execution in 185.
Paternus was alleged to have displeased Commodus by ordering the death of the emperor's lover and friend Saoterus for his questionable involvement in an assassination plot headed by Lucilla and Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus.
[3] So too was Perennis thought to have held ambitions of military power: soldiers were given lavish gifts in an attempt to seduce them to his cause, and his sons were appointed to commanding army roles.
Gifts from his newly acquired fortune were to curry favor with the army and his sons were secretly recruiting additional forces in anticipation of the coming revolt.
First, during a public festival honoring Capitoline Jupiter, an unknown person took the stage before the performers and warned the emperor and the assembled crowd of Perennis' plans.