Commodus
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| Commodus | ||
|---|---|---|
| Emperor of the Roman Empire | ||
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| Commodus as Hercules, Capitoline Museums |
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| Reign | 177–17 March 180 (with Marcus Aurelius); 18 March 180– 31 December 192 (alone) |
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| Full name | Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus | |
| Born | 31 August 161 | |
| Lanuvium | ||
| Died | 31 December 192 | |
| Rome | ||
| Predecessor | Marcus Aurelius (alone) | |
| Successor | Pertinax | |
| Wife/wives | Bruttia Crispina | |
| Dynasty | Antonine | |
| Father | Marcus Aurelius | |
| Mother | Faustina | |
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Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (August 31, 161–December 31, 192) was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 180 to 192.
Contents |
[edit] Life
[edit] Early life and rise to power (161–180)
[edit] Childhood
Commodus was born as Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus in Lanuvium, on the 31st of August 161, as the son of the reigning emperor Marcus Aurelius. He had an elder twin brother, Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, who died in 165. On October 12, 166, Commodus was made Caesar together with his younger brother Marcus Annius Verus; the latter also died in 169, having failed to recover from an operation, which left Commodus as Marcus Aurelius’ sole surviving son. He was looked after by his father’s physician, Galen. Commodus received extensive tuition at the hands of what Marcus Aurelius called ‘an abundance of good masters’. The focus of Commodus’ education appears to have been intellectual, possibly at the expense of military training.
[edit] Teenage years
Commodus is known to have been at Carnuntum, Marcus Aurelius’ headquarters during the Marcomannic Wars, in 172; it was presumably there that, on 15 October 172, he was given the victory title Germanicus in the presence of the army. The title suggests that Commodus was present at his father’s victory over the Marcomanni. On January 20, 175, Commodus entered the College of Pontiffs, the starting-point of a career in public life.
In April 175, Avidius Cassius, governor of Syria, declared himself emperor following rumors that Marcus Aurelius had died. Having been accepted as emperor by Syria, Palestine and Egypt, Cassius carried on his rebellion even after it had become obvious that Marcus was still alive. During the preparations for the campaign against Cassius, the prince assumed his toga virilis on the Danubian front on July 7, 175, thus formally entering adulthood. Cassius, however, was killed by one of his centurions before the campaign against him could begin.
Commodus subsequently accompanied his father on a lengthy trip to the eastern provinces, during which he visited Antioch. The emperor and his son then traveled to Athens, where they were initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries. They then returned to Rome in the autumn of 176.
[edit] Joint rule
On November 27, 176, Marcus Aurelius granted Commodus rank of Imperator, in the middle of 177 the title Augustus, giving his son the same status as his own and formally sharing power. On 23 December of the same year, the two Augusti celebrated a joint triumph, and Commodus was given tribunician power. On January 1, 177, Commodus became consul for the first time, which made him, aged 15, the youngest consul in Roman history. He subsequently married Bruttia Crispina before accompanying his father to the Danubian front once more in 178, where Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180, leaving Commodus sole emperor.
[edit] Physical Prowess
[edit] Commodus and 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 thought of himself as the reincarnation of Hercules, frequently emulating the legendary hero's feats by appearing in the arena to fight a variety of wild animals. Cassius Dio and the writers of the Augustan History say that Commodus was a skilled archer, who could shoot the heads off ostriches in full gallop, and kill a panther as it attacked a victim in the arena.
[edit] Commodus the gladiator
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 always won since his opponents always submitted to the emperor. Thus, these public fights would not end in a death. Privately, it was his custom to slay his practice opponents. For each appearance in the arena, he charged the city of Rome a million sesterces, straining the Roman economy.
[edit] Colonia Commodiana
In 192, 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 named in his honour (Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Herculeus, Romanus, Exsuperatorius, Amazonius, Invictus, Felix, Pius [1]), and the Senate was named as the Commodian Fortunate Senate. The army became known as the Commodian Army.
[edit] Death
A year after Colonia Commodiana, Commodus was strangled in his bath by the wrestler Narcissus, ordered by Commodus' mistress/cousin Marcia, a day before Commodus planned to march into the Senate dressed as a gladiator to take office as consul. Upon his death the Senate passed a damnatio memoriae on him and restored the original 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.
His title was succeeded by Pertinax, whose reign was short lived, being the first to fall victim to the Year of the Five Emperors. Commodus' death marked the end of the Nervan-Antonian dynasty.
[edit] Commodus in popular culture
[edit] Film
- In 1964's The Fall of the Roman Empire, he was portrayed by Christopher Plummer.
- In 2000's Gladiator, he was portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in an Academy Award-nominated performance. The historical character of Commodus is fictionalized in the movie as a deranged megalomaniac who murders Marcus Aurelius to usurp the throne. (There is no historical evidence suggesting Marcus Aurelius was murdered, much less by his own son.) The film's protagonist, Maximus Decimus Meridius (played by Russell Crowe) is loosely inspired by Narcissus.
[edit] Other
- British adventure writer Talbot Mundy's novel Caesar Dies deals with Commodus' murder and events leading up to it.
- 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 set in the 180s.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Titus Pomponius Proculus Vitrasius Pollio and Marcus Flavius Aper |
Consul of the Roman Empire with Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus 177 |
Succeeded by Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus and Domitius Velius Rufus |
| Preceded by Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus and Domitius Velius Rufus |
Consul of the Roman Empire with Publius Martius Verus 179 |
Succeeded by Lucius Fulvius Gaius Bruttius Praesens and Sextus Quintilius Condianus |
| Preceded by Marcus Aurelius |
Roman Emperor 180–192 |
Succeeded by Pertinax |
| Preceded by Marcus Aurelius |
Antonine Dynasty 96–192 |
Succeeded by (none) |
| Nervan-Antonian Dynasty 96–192 |
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| Preceded by Lucius Fulvius Gaius Bruttius Praesens and Sextus Quintilius Condianus |
Consul of the Roman Empire with Lucius Antistius Burrus 181 |
Succeeded by Marcus Petronius Sura Mamertinus and Quintus Tineius Rufus |
| Preceded by Marcus Petronius Sura Mamertinus and Quintus Tineius Rufus |
Consul of the Roman Empire with Gaius Aufidius Victorinus 183 |
Succeeded by Lucius Cossonius Eggius Marullus and Cnaeus Papirius Aelianus |
| Preceded by Maternus and Titus Claudius Marcus Appius Atilius Bradua Regillus Atticus |
Consul of the Roman Empire with Marcus Acilius Glabrio 186 |
Succeeded by Lucius Bruttius Quintius Crispinus and L. Roscius Aelianus Paculus |
| Preceded by Domitius Iulius Silanus and Quintus Servilius Silanus |
Consul of the Roman Empire with Marcus Petronius Sura Septimianus 190 |
Succeeded by Popilius Pedo Apronianus and M. Valerius Bradua Mauricus |
| Preceded by Popilius Pedo Apronianus and Marcus Valerius Bradua Mauricus |
Consul of the Roman Empire with Pertinax 192 |
Succeeded by Quintus Pompeius Sosius Falco and Gaius Iulius Erucius Clarus Vibianus |
