 Legislation of 177 AD by Marcus Aurelius did little to stop it, and was completely ignored by his son, Commodus.The decline of the "munus" was a far from straightforward process.The crisis of the 3rd century imposed increasing military demands on the imperial purse, from which the Roman Empire never quite recovered, and lesser magistrates found the obligatory "munera" an increasingly unrewarding tax on the doubtful privileges of office.