 This was the first time such an explicit declaration of heirship had been made at such a young age, and showed a marked shift from the traditional "cursus honorum", in which a presumed heir would be gradually raised through offices of increasing importance, in order to learn the skills of all positions, to a new system of imperial succession, wherein dynastic hereditary descent was the path to the throne, with heirs being instructed in how to be an emperor.Annius died on 10 September 169 AD, at seven years of age, due to complications in removing a tumor from under his ear.This left Commodus as the sole heir.