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Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (161–192 CE) was a Roman Emperor. He was associated by his father Marcus Aurelius to the throne in 177 CE, and succeeded him in 180 CE. He was murdered in 192 CE.

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Overview

Commodus, who succeeded to his father Marcus Aurelius in 180 CE, was the last ruler of the Antonine dynasty. His rule was characterized by certain instability. In 186 C.E. there were uprisings in Africa and Britain, as well as the Brigands’s War in Italy, and famine through the Empire in 189 C.E. Although various conspiracies, as that of Commodus’s sister, Lucilla in 183 C.E., were unsuccessful, Commodus was toppled and murdered by the Praetorian Praefectus Pertinax in 192 CE. The murder of Commodus resulted in a long civil war, from which emerged victorious in 197 C.E., Septimius Severus.

Early Career

Lucius Aurelius Commodus was born in 161 CE, the son of the ruling emperor Marcus Aurelius and of his wife Faustina the Younger. He had a twin brother, T. Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, who did not survive the first years and died in 165 CE. Commodus was appointed Caesar, together with his younger brother Marcus Annius Verus in 166 CE. However the latter died in 169 CE. In 172 CE, Commodus rejoined his father at his headquarters of Carnutum during the First Marcomannic War. There he was bestowed the title of Germanicus, together with his father. In 175, Commodus entered the College of Pontiffs, and in the same year he received the toga virils. The same year, he followed his father in his travel to the East, where he was initiated to the Eleusine Mysteries. In 176 CE, Marcus Aurelius bestowed on Commodus the title of Imperator, and the following year, in 177 CE, which of Augustus, as well as the tribunician power, therefore associating him to the throne. The same year the two emperors celebrated a joined triumph, and afterwards he was appointed consul. He than was betrothed and married Bruttia Crispina. With the beginning of the Second Marcomannic War, in 178 CE, Commodus followed his father on the Danubian frontier. In 1809, with the death of his father at Vindobona, he succeeded to the Imperial throne.

Imperial Succession

Commodus remained with the Danube armies for only a short time before negotiating a peace treaty with the Danubian tribes. He then returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph for the conclusion of the wars on 22 October 180. It seems that Commodus 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 favorites, as Saoterus, Perennis and Cleander, who acted as Imperial chamberlains. One of the first acts, upon his accession to the Imperial throne, was a devaluation of the Roman denarius in both weight and in the purity of the silver. His devaluation of Roman coinage was the greatest since Nero began this process. The first conspiracy against Commodus came as early as 182 CE. The conspiracy was conceived by Lucilla, the Emperor ‘sister. The conspiracy was discovered and as consequence Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus and Appius Claudius Quintianus were executed, Lucilla was exiled to Capri and her husband Claudius Pompeianus had to retire from public life, although he did not take part in the conspiracy. In the aftermath of the conspiracy, Sextus Tigidius Perennis, one of the two praetorian prefects, had Saoterus murdered, becoming the imperial chamberlain. A second conspiracy was discovered by Perennis. Tarrutenius Paternus, the other praetorian prefect and Publius Salvius Julianus were executed. Commodus appointed Cleander as his chamberlain, although Perennis remained the Imperial favorite. There were disturbances in Dacia and in 184 CE, in Britannia, the governor once more moved the frontier northwards to the Antonine wall. However the army revolted against the governor, Ulpius Marcellus, and acclaimed another legate, Priscus as Emperor, who, however, refused the soldiers’ acclamations. The same year Perennis was toppled from his position and executed. Cleander succeeded as the Imperial favorite. In the same period a large numbers of army deserters who turned brigands troubled the peace in the provinces of Gallia and Germania. A further conspiracy was unveiled in 187 CE, when Maternus, one of the deserters, was caught and executed in Rome. In 191 CE, part of the city of Rome burned, and Commodus took the opportunity to "refound" the city of Rome in his own honor, naming it Colonia Commodiana. Commodus was very fond of gladiatorial games, which made him very unpopular with the Senate, although till the end of his rule he maintained his popularity with the army and the plebs. Commodus liked to portrait himself as Hercules, and claimed to be the son of Jupiter. In 192 CE, Latus the praetorian prefect, set up a conspiracy to enthrone Pertinax, then the praefectus urbis. Commodus was murdered by Narcissus, his wrestling partner. The Senate at his death declared the damnatio memoriae. However in 195 CE, the Emperor Septimius Severus rehabilitated his memory and obliged the Senate to deify him. Commodus was succeeded by Pertinax.

Commodus in ancient sources

• Commodus (sources) -- survey of ancient sources

Related categories

• Roman Emperors / Commodus

External links

• Wikipedia