Commodus
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Commodus was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 177 to 192 a.C.
Biography edit
Early life edit
Commodus was born on the 31st August 161 a.C. in Lanuvimium. He was the son of Marcus Aurelius.
He received a good education from a of teachers in the words. In April 175, Avidius Cassius, governor of Syria, declared himself emperor following the rumor that Marcus Aurelius was dead. Having been recognized as emperor by Syria, Palestine and Egypt, Cassius carried on his rebellion despite Marcus Aurelius being still alive.
During preparations for the campaign against Cassius, Commodus assumed his toga on the Danube front on the 7th July 175. Cassius, on the other hand, was killed by one of his centurions before the campaign against him began. Commodus accompanied his father on a long journey to the eastern provinces, during which he visited Antioch. The emperor and his son also went to Athens, then returned to Rome in the autumn of 176.
On the 27th November 176, Marcus Aurelius conferred on Commodus the rank of Imperator, and in 177, the title of Augustus, giving his son the same position as him and sharing power with him. On the 23rd December of the same year, he obtained the tribunicia potestas. On the st1 January 177, Commodus became consul for the first time, at the age of 15, the youngest consul in Roman history up to that time. He then married Bruzia Crispina.
After a new series of decisive victories in the years 178-179 against Marcomanni and Quadi, his father, Marcus Aurelius, fell seriously ill in 180, perhaps also struck by the plague that had plagued the empire for years. Marcus Aurelius died on the 17th March 180, at about fifty-nine, according to Aurelio Vittore in the city-encampment of Vindobona (current Vienna).
Ascension to power edit
After that, he intelligently secured the loyalty of the Roman army and people immediately with large donations, thus ruling as a true absolute monarch, protected from the continuous conspiracies of the Senate and maintaining power for twelve long years.
Marcomannic Wars edit
He began his reign with an unfavorable peace treaty agreed with the tribes of the Germans, who had been at war with Marcus Aurelius. Later he himself waged wars against the Germans, often winning partial victories, for which he also demanded honors from the Senate.
Career as a gladiator edit
Commodus had a passion for gladiator fights and those against beasts, to the point of descending himself into the arena dressed as the Roman Hercules wearing a lion's skin and being trained by Narcissus, one of the strongest in those times in gladiator fights. . He participated in 735 games, claiming to be duly registered and paid as a normal gladiator, but of course no one could beat him. In the melee he had chosen the figure of the Secutor, facing his opponents with helmet, shield and sword, at the epilogue he often pretended to pardon them and then mutilate or scar them. He also killed thousands of wild animals including elephants, rhinos, hippos, lions, bears, leopards and ostriches, the latter a passion of him, since after being beheaded they continued to run for a few seconds.
Abuses of power edit
Commodus' instability was not limited to this "hobby". In 190 a part of the city of Rome was destroyed by a fire and Commodus took the opportunity to "refound it", calling it a Commodian Colony in his honor. Even the months of the calendar were renamed in honor of him, and even in the Senate he changed the name to the Senate of Commodian Fortune, while the army became Commodian Army and so did the Classis Commodian fleet.
He also had a penchant for what was sexually extravagant or insane. He abused all his sisters, imposed on his concubines to put the name of his mother Faustina during embraces, he had set up a sort of harem composed of three hundred girls and three hundred boys for the use of his circle of friends and courtiers, staging orgiastic shows in theme, such as, for example, the Rustic Hercules.
The conspiracy edit
In 182, a group of members of the imperial family gathered around their sister Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla (the daughter of her first marriage, a nephew, her paternal cousin Marcus Numidio Quadratus and the sister of the latter Numidia Cornificia Faustina) planned the assassination of Commodus imagining to see Lucilla and her husband as the new rulers of Rome. Quintinian's nephew broke from his hiding place with a dagger trying to hit Commodus revealing his intention before he even acted. then, the guards overwhelmed him and disarmed him without even being able to hurt the emperor. Commodus ordered his death sentence and that of Marco Numidio Quadrato. Lucilla, her daughter and Numidia Cornificia Faustina were exiled to the island of Capri (a year later Commodus sent a centurion to Capri to kill the three women).
Death edit
Faced with the growing discontent with Commodus' excesses, the prefect of the Praetorium Quintus Emilio Leto and the cubicularius Ecletto, fearing for their own lives after opposing the latest extravagances of the emperor and being placed on a ban list, organized a conspiracy with Cassio Dione and numerous other senators. The concubine Marcia, a favorite of Commodus, was soon involved, so that she was able to poison him in order to kill him secretly.
The attack was carried out on the 31st December 192, during a banquet his wine was poisoned. The emperor, however, believing he felt weighed down by the lavish meal, retired to his apartments and asked the servants to help him vomit, thus saving himself unwittingly. At that point, having failed the poisoning and fearing that they could soon be discovered, the conspirators turned to the champion of gladiators Narcisso, the emperor's personal instructor, giving him a sword. The gladiator, driven by the promise of a rich reward and personal revenge for being placed on a ban list, killed Commodus that same evening in the baths, perhaps by strangling or stabbing him.
Private life and persona edit
Sexual relationships edit
He was married with Bruzia Crispina, but he divorced from her and exiled her for adultery. With the imperial court, he had various private vices. One was his penchant for what was sexually extravagant or insane. He abused all his sisters, imposed on his concubines to put the name of his mother Faustina during embraces, he had set up a sort of harem composed of three hundred girls and three hundred boys for the use of his circle of friends and courtiers, staging orgiastic shows in theme, such as, for example, the Rustic Hercules.
Personality edit
Before he came to power, Commodus didn't show no sign of violence, but after he came to power he started to show his depraved nature.
Commodus was cruel and arbitrary like Caligula and Nero. And just like them, he was sadists and his attitude can be associeted with sociopathic manner. Also, he was, like any average roman emperor, a megalomaniac and extremely egocentric, since he tried to make Rome and everything else something focused on him.
His sexual desires were described as completely insane and extravagant.
Gallery edit
Images edit
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Commodus in hunting costume. -
Capitoline Museums, Commodus's bust. -
Bourgeois Gallery, statue of Commodus. -
Drawing of Pieter Paul Rubens rappresenting Commodus in his Hercules costume. -
Golden coin with the face of Commodus on it. -
Hermitage Museum, Coin portraying Commodus. -
Bronze Medalliom portraying Commodus and Marcia.
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Trivia edit
- He is one of the villains in the book series "Trials of Apollo" along with Caligula and Nero.
- In the arenas, he liked to get dressed like Hercules.
- He is cited in the song of Franco Battiato "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", that cames from one of the poems of Manlio Sgalambro.
- One of the most famous impersonation of Commodus in fiction is the one in the movie "Gladiator" (2000), as he is portrayed by Jacquin Phoenix.
- He was renowned for ending the Reign of the Seven good emperors.
- Through misuse of power and civil strife, he ended 84 years of stability and prosperity for the people of Rome.