Commodus’ reign, who was Emperor of Rome for two decades until his death in 180, wasn’t easy: wars with the Parthian Empire, the menace of the barbarian tribes in the northern border of the empire, and the plague that left numerous dead.

Commodus’ reign, who was Emperor of Rome for two decades until his death in 180, wasn’t easy: wars with the Parthian Empire, the menace of the barbarian tribes in the northern border of the empire, and the plague that left numerous dead.

A – Commodus’ reign, who was Emperor of Rome for two decades until his death in 180, was rife with difficulties: wars with the Parthian Empire, the menace of the barbarian tribes in the northern border of the empire, and the plague that left numerous dead.

B – The reign of Commodus, who was the Emperor of Rome for two decades until his death in 180, was rife with difficulties: wars with the Parthian Empire, the menace of the barbarian tribes in the northern border of the empire, and the plague that left numerous dead.

C – The reign of Commodus, who was Emperor of Rome for two decades until his death in 180, was rife with difficulties: wars with the Parthian Empire, the barbarian tribes menacing the northern border of the empire, and the dying of numerous because of the plague. 

D – Commodus’ reign, who was Emperor of Rome for two decades until his death in 180, was rife with difficulties: wars with the Parthian Empire, the barbarian tribes menacing the Empire on the northern border, and the dying of numerous because of the plague. 

E – Commodus, the Emperor of Rome for two decades until his death in 180, was rife with difficulties during his reign: facing wars with the Parthian Empire, the menace of the barbarian tribes in the northern border of the empire and the plague that left numerous dead.

Right Answer: B

Error Identification

Identifier	Error Type
Wars… menace… plague	Parallelism
Commodus’ reign vs The reign…	Modifier
: facing	Miscellaneous / Sentence Construction

Explanation: 

The primary identifier in this sentence is the modification ‘who was Emperor…’ and the parallel construction ‘wars… the menace…the plague’. 

A – ‘who was Emperor’ incorrectly modifies ‘reign’. 

B – This is the correct answer.

C – ‘the dying….’ is not parallel with the list. 

D – ‘who was Emperor’ incorrectly modifies ‘reign’; ‘the dying of…’ is not parallel with the list. 

E – “Marcus… was rife with difficulties…” changes the meaning of the sentence; his reign was rife with difficulties, not Marcus himself. “Facing wars…” breaks the construction of the sentence and cannot be used after the colon (:) making this a fragmented sentence.