Commodus

Commodus

Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (originally Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus) (August 31, 161–December 31, 192) was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 180 to 192. He is often considered to have been one of the worst Roman Emperors, in the mold of Nero and Caligula, and his reign brought to a close the era of the "five good emperors".

Life

Commodus was the son of the popular and successful Marcus Aurelius. He had a twin brother, Antoninus, who died when he was about four years old, and a sister, Lucilla, who was implicated in plots to overthrow him. He was made co-emperor in 177, during his father's lifetime; when he became sole emperor upon the death of his father in 180, it was at first seen as a hopeful sign by the people of the Roman Empire.

Nevertheless, as generous and magnanimous as his father was, Commodus turned out to be just the opposite, with the sole exception being that he stopped the persecution of Christians started by his father. Commodus is often thought to have been insane, and he was certainly given to excess. He began his reign by making an unfavourable peace treaty with the Germanic tribe of the Marcomanni, who had been at war with Marcus Aurelius. Later, Commodus would wage wars of his own against the Germans, often winning partial victories yet claiming the honours for a full victory in the Roman Senate.

Commodus as Hercules.

Commodus was extremely proud of his physical prowess, disdaining the more philosophic inclinations of his father. He ordered many statues to be made showing him dressed as Hercules with a lion's hide and a club. He would frequently seek to emulate the legendary hero's feats by appearing in the arena to fight a variety of wild animals.

The emperor also had a passion for gladiatorial combat, which he took so far as to take to the arena himself, dressed as a gladiator. This was considered scandalous by the people of Rome, who regarded gladiators as occupying the lowest rungs of society. Commodus naturally always won, although, since his opponents always submitted to the emperor, these public fights would not end in a death. For each appearance in the arena, he charged the city of Rome a million sesterces.

Commodus demanded to be worshipped as a god, and he neglected matters of state while dallying with a harem of some 300 women. He appointed his underlings to administer the Empire, and shared in the money these men stole. Numerous ancient authorities also record rumours of an incestuous relationship with his sister.

In 190, part of the city of Rome burned, and Commodus took the opportunity to "re-found" the city of Rome in his own honour, as Colonia Commodiana. The months of the calendar were all renamed in his honour (Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Herculeus, Romanus, Exsuperatorius, Amazonius, Invictus, Felix, Pius [1]), and the Senate was renamed as the Commodian Fortunate Senate. The army became known as the Commodian Army.

A year later, Commodus was strangled in his sleep by the wrestler Narcissus a day before he planned to march into the Senate dressed as a gladiator to take office as consul. Some historical accounts, however, record his death during a gladiatorial duel in the Colosseum. Upon his death the Senate passed a damnatio memoriae on him and restored the proper name to the city of Rome and its institutions. However, in 195, the emperor Septimius Severus, trying to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius, rehabilitated the memory of Commodus and had the Senate deify him.

Why Commodus?

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Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus in Gladiator.

Many wonder why Marcus Aurelius decided to break the successful scheme of adoptive succession. The real reasoning can be found in that line of succession before him. The other emperors did not have direct successors available, so had to adopt their successors. However, they attempted to keep it in the family as it were. Trajan was chosen by Nerva more likely to appease the Senate than anything else. Hadrian was a relative of Trajan, and although Antonius Pius was not related to Hadrian, the conditions of his being made heir included the adoption of Hadrian's young nephew Marcus Aurelius as heir to Pius. So, in fact, Aurelius' choice to make his son his successor was hardly out of place, and it's likely that had any of the previous emperors had available a suitable son as heir they would have taken the same course of action. It is then merely misfortune, and the deficiencies of Imperial rule, more than anything else that placed such an ill-suited man on the throne.

Commodus in popular culture

The popular movies The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and Gladiator (2000) were loosely based on the career of the emperor Commodus, although they should not be taken as accurate historical depictions of his life. More recently the video game Colosseum: Road to Freedom has included Commodus as an opponent in the Colosseum. Along with other contemporary figures, Commodus also features prominently in the historically authentic MMORPG Roma Victor, which is based around the 180 C.E. period.

External links

Primary sources

• Historia Augusta: Life of Commodus
• Book 73 of Cassius Dio's History

Secondary material

• Commodus entry at De Imperatoribus Romanis