The following year, Commodus became Aurelius co-emperor, and they reigned together from then until Aurelius death in 180. Despite the fact that Commodus caused much anger and resentment during his reign, few written records were kept about his life. Commodus was a spoiled, narcissistic young man who was something of an embarrassment to his father. Wikimedia CommonsA bust of Roman Emperor Commodus, styled as if he were a reincarnation of Hercules, which is precisely what he believed himself to be. Marcus Aurelius was the first emperor since Vespasian to have a legitimate biological son, though he himself was the fifth in the line of the so-called Five Good Emperors, also known as the Adoptive Emperors, each of whom had adopted his successor. The Iliad can provide new insights on the role of motherhood among the ancient Greek gods, and by extension, amongst ancient mortal Greek women themselves. Unfortunately, the damage to Rome was already done. He was left-handed and very proud of the fact. Soon after he became sole ruler, Lucius changed his name to Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus. Meanwhile, Commodus was lapsing into insanity. Commodus : The general who became a slave. Commodus was made coruler when he was just 16 years old, and he was emperor before he turned 19. He is viewed as having been an inept emperor, his megalomaniac tendencies leading to odd behaviors which frustrated and upset the Roman people. The historian Herodian, a contemporary, described Commodus as an extremely handsome man. From all angles, Commodus was groomed to succeed on the throne. A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery. The activities which held Commodus attention and with which he spent his time were primarily surrounding gladiatorial combat. He would take to the arena and engage in combat, which the Romans viewed as being scandalous and disgraceful. He gave Rome a new name, Colonia Commodiana (Colony of Commodus), and imagined that he was the god Hercules, entering the arena to fight as a gladiator or to kill lions with bow and arrow. After becoming emperor, Commodus spent his 12-year reign indulging in hobbies like gambling, drinking and chariot-racing, but his two greatest passions seemed to be sex and pretending to be a . Commodus is commonly regarded as being an inadequate and megalomaniacal emperor, but Gladiators distortion of history portrays him as exclusively and resolutely evil. The poison failed, so Narcissus entered Commodus's bedchamber. Innumerable statues around the empire were set up portraying him in the guise of Hercules, reinforcing the image of him as a demigod, a physical giant, a protector, and a warrior who fought against men and beasts (see "Commodus and Hercules" and "Commodus the Gladiator" below). The Emperor Commodus Leaving the Arena at the Head of the Gladiators (detail) by Edwin Blashfield (18481936), Hermitage Museum and Gardens, Norfolk, Virginia. Its protagonist, Maximus, is entirely fictitious. Unlike the preceding emperors Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, he seems to have had little interest in the business of administration and tended throughout his reign to leave the practical running of the state to a succession of favourites, beginning with Saoterus, a freedman from Nicomedia who had become his chamberlain. Commodus : The general who became a slave. Her motive is alleged to have been the envy of the Empress Crispina. Lucilla was exiled to Capri and later killed. The Horsemen of Oyo were legendary warriors who served the Oyo Empire of West Africa. However, the ending, while sad, is true to Maximus's goals. schizoform/ CC BY 2.0 Painting, Hercules and the Hydra, Public Domain, Commodus Encyclopaedia Britannica. The emperor Titus Flavian completed the Colosseum and endeared himself to the public with his generosity only to have his good works undone by his brother Domitian, who was assassinated by his own court. A bust of Roman Emperor Commodus, styled as if he were a reincarnation of Hercules, which is precisely what he believed himself to be. It was presumably there that, on 15 October 172, he was given the victory title Germanicus, in the presence of the army. His body was buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian. A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery. It appears that Aurelius was desperate to have a son of his own bloodline succeed him. He was appointed co-emperor of Rome and ruled alongside his father when he Marcus Aurelius is famed for various accomplishmentshis title as the last of the Five Good Emperors; his extensive study of and literary accomplishments in the field of Stoicism; and, last but not Long bouts of bad weather have been blamed as a cause for the downfall of ancient civilizations around the world. The ancient Greek city of Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, was home to the main Temple of Apollo and the renowned Oracle of Delphi. To help answer that question, here are five of the key elements of the story and their historical precedents. To some, this was a sign that Commodus was not actually the biological child of Aurelius, and that his mother had conceived him while engaging in an affair. His fictionalized depiction as a mad emperor in the film Gladiator actually plays down some of his less believable excesses while giving him a nobler death. With a thirst for power, he ruled the Roman Empire almost 2,000 years ago, declaring himself Emperor A new anthropological study provides a strong message about what happens when social contracts are broken by a previously good government the government and the society collapses hard Commodus, the son and heir of the distinguished philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius , was a failure as a Roman emperor. The second, the freeman Cleander, he allowed to be torn apart by a mob who were outraged at the freemans abuses. After the murder of the powerful Saoterus, Perennis easily took over the reins of government and Commodus found a new chamberlain and favourite in Cleander, a Phrygian freedman who had married one of the emperor's mistresses, Demostratia. Although he's very well written, Maximus is more of a plot device to allow the . It's fair to say the audience is pretty attached to Maximus by the end of "Gladiator." Corrections? Wikimedia CommonsAn illustration of the murder of Commmodus. The Beast with an insatiable Hunger for Human Flesh, Film Footage Provides Intimate View of HMS Gloucester Shipwreck, Top 8 Legendary Parties - Iconic Celebrations in Ancient History, The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth Behind the Black Legend (Part II), The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth behind the Dark Legend (Part I), Bloodthirsty Buddhists: The Sohei Warrior Monks of Feudal Japan, Legends Of The Oracle Of Delphi At The Centre Of The World. A small group of conspirators, including the emperors chamberlain and mistress, Marcia, decided to kill him. Heinz, W. (1986). Once that's done, he only has one more goal: reunite with his family in the afterlife. Commodus, who is portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, was indeed the son of Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) and an emperor of Rome. He also declared himself to be an incarnation of the god Hercules and forced the senate to recognize his divinity. Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala, The Irish Story and Legend of C Chulainn, Alleged Sighting of the Mythical Manananggal in the Philippines Causes Public Anxiety, Aluxes: The Mischievous Little People of Maya Mythology, The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend Part I, A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire, Medieval Hygiene Might Have Been Better Than You Think, New Evidence Shows Humans Were Using Bows and Arrows in 52,000 BC. He also devalued Roman currency, reducing the weight of the denarius and reducing the purity of silver. Marcus Aurelius. Despite Maximus being a fictional character, the athlete Narcissus is one of the multiple historical figures serving as the likely inspiration for Gladiator's protagonist. He kept most of the advisers from his fathers regime in place and the first three years of his reign ran as smoothly as that of his father with the added benefit that Rome was no longer fighting any wars. Yet another attempt on his life had been foiled, but the conspirators did not lose their nerve. Commode-Hercule et l'anthropologie hercalenne,", M.P. Commodus's assassination in 192, by a wrestler in the bath, marked the end of the NervaAntonine dynasty. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Striking story! A more fun alternative would be having Maximus and the Senate recover control of Rome, while Maximus gets to experience a new family life with Lucilla (Connie Nielson) and her son Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark). 180-192 AD. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. His reign is commonly thought of as marking the end of a golden period of peace in the history of the Roman Empire, known as the Pax Romana. [4] Commodus was supposedly in a drunken stupor after Marcia had poisoned him[1] and Narcissus proceeded to strangle his master in his bathtub[1] or, according to Herodian, in his bed.[3]. [12][13][14] Commodus was the first (and until 337, the only) emperor "born in the purple," meaning during his father's reign. 1. Commodus was the tenth of fourteen children born to Aurelius and was ultimately the only surviving son. The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites around the French village of Carnac, in Brittany, consisting of more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. It's ironic that we watched the film Gladiator the other night. However, the following year, a detachment of soldiers from Britain (they had been drafted to Italy to suppress brigands) also denounced Perennis to the emperor as plotting to make his own son emperor (they had been enabled to do so by Cleander, who was seeking to dispose of his rival), and Commodus gave them permission to execute him as well as his wife and sons. Faustina was the daughter of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and was Aurelius first cousin. Commodus ruled with chaos and left chaos in his wake. The legions were renamed Commodianae, the fleet which imported grain from Africa was termed Alexandria Commodiana Togata, the Senate was entitled the Commodian Fortunate Senate, his palace and the Roman people themselves were all given the name Commodianus, and the day on which these reforms were decreed was to be called Dies Commodianus. Maximus is a powerful Roman general, loved by the people and the aging Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Interestingly, it took Scott a while to realize that, like a sadistic emperor at a gladiatorial display, the ending demanded Maximus's death. In the story of Gladiator, the Roman general Maximus is betrayed by the evil Emperor Commodus. Commodus was a secutor, a type of gladiator who carried a gladius and a heavy shield. So superlatively mad had the abandoned wretch become that he renamed Rome Colonia Commodiana (the Colony of Commodus) and changed the names of the months to each reflect one of the many epithets he had bestowed upon himself. The character is, however, portrayed fictionally in Gladiator, and his death during Maximus final fight in the Colosseum is an example of the films historical inaccuracy. Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of, Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p.99 and. Anyone who caught the emperors attention risked also inadvertently invoking his wrath. [6][7] The latter died in 169 having failed to recover from an operation, which left Commodus as Marcus Aurelius's sole surviving son. 1475); the hero wears his characteristic lionskin and wields a club. His death in history marks the end of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty; in the movie, his death marks the retributive end of Maximus Gladiator story. A bust of Commodus as a youth. 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