Commodus, The Most Diabolic Roman Emperor

Does anyone else out there have a child who has a favorite Roman Emperor? I am assuming probably not.

My daughter became obsessed with the Roman Emperor Commodus after watching Ridley Scott’s Gladiator starring Russell Crowe. On a recent trip to Rome, while visiting the Vatican Museum we wandered into a gallery of Roman sculpture. All of the sudden, my daughter went running down the room, yelling, “There’s Commodus”. In a room full of hundreds of Roman busts and statues, she spotted Commodus.

Commodus is not a widely known Roman Emperor and we probably would not given him a second thought if it had not been for Joaquin Phoenix’s riveting performance of Commodus in Gladiator. Was Commodus as sadistic and demented as he appears in the movie? He was and more! Many historians consider him the cruelest of the Roman Emperors, making Nero and Caligula look like nice guys.

Commodus was born in 161 to Faustina The Younger and Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a widely loved and renowned Roman Emperors. At age 15, Commodus was made co-emperor by his father even though he was unfit for the job. Roman historian, Aelius Lampridius wrote this of Commodus, “Even from his earliest years he was base and dishonorable, and cruel and lewd, defiled of mouth, moreover, and debauched.” In 180, Marcus died and Commodus was now Emperor at age 18.

Commodus had no desire to rule but was more interested in watching gladiatorial contests and joining in them himself. Another early Roman historian Dio Cassius, wrote . “He often slew in public large numbers of men and of beasts as well.” “For example, all alone with his own hands, he dispatched five hippopotami together with two elephants on two successive days; and he also killed rhinoceroses and a camelopard [giraffe].” His opponents were often armed with only harmless wooden swords while Commodus had real weapons, providing him with a better chance of winning. Many gladiators would also let Commodus win their fights and be careful not to wound him because they knew that their Emperor had a cruel temper. Commodus claimed to have won twelve thousand contests in total.

As his rule progressed he became more delusional and insane. Many tried to assassinate him including his own sister, Lucilla who organized a plot though it. Lucilla was exiled and later executed by Commodus. After her death, Commodus was driven further into insanity. He began to believe that he was the reincarnation of Hercules and had statues of himself as Hercules made to reinforce the comparison. Commodus renamed all of the months of the year after himself or titles referring to himself. The months became Amazonius for January, Invictus for February, Felix for March, Pius for April, Lucius for May, Aelius for June, Aurelius for July, Commodus for August, Augustus for September, Herculeus for October, Romanus for November, and Exsuperatorius for December. 

After the center of Rome was destroyed by a fire, Commodus took the opportunity to rename Rome Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana, which translates to “The Colony of Commodus.”  Commodus replaced the statue of Nero near the Colosseum with a statue of himself. He had statues of himself spread across Rome.

The tyranny of Commodus became too much and a group of his inner circle, including his mistress conspired a plot to assassinated him. On New Year’s Eve 192 AD, his mistress Marcia slipped poison into his wine. However, instead of killing him, the poison caused the emperor to vomit up the wine, which was a common side-effect of drinking too much in the hot climate of the bath he was taking. Realizing they had failed, the conspirators quickly came up with a Plan B and sent the wrestler Narcissus who successfully strangled Commodus to death. He was 31.

The Roman people did not miss Commodus. They tried unsuccessfully to erase his name from history. Commodus’ insanity led to losing his people’s respect and ultimately his life.

According to historian Barry Strauss, as bad as Caligula and Nero eventually evolved, they each “began their reigns on high notes,” while “Commodus started out bad”—and stayed that way. In particular, his antics in the arena were an embarrassment ill-befitting his role as ruler. “If Commodus wasn’t the worst emperor in ancient Roman history,” Strauss says, “he was certainly the most undignified in the eyes of the Roman elite.”

**And on a side note, there is no historical evidence that Commodus had a romantic affair with his sister Lucilla.