Emperor Pertinax was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard after just 86 days in power, beginning the Year of Five Emperors. The resulting chaos weakened traditional Roman religious institutions and the prestige of the emperor's role as Pontifex Maximus. Each successive crisis of the third century further eroded confidence in the old gods, creating a spiritual vacuum that Christianity and other mystery religions filled. Imperial instability was inadvertently one of Christianity's greatest allies.