Editing Commodus (section)

==Early life and rise to power (161–180)==
===Early life===
Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus was born on 31 August AD{{nbsp}}161 in [[Lanuvium]], near [[Rome]].<ref name="HA LOC 1">''[[Historia Augusta]] – [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Commodus*.html Life of Commodus]''</ref> He was the son of the reigning emperor, [[Marcus Aurelius]], and Aurelius' first cousin, [[Faustina the Younger]], the youngest daughter of [[Roman Emperor|Emperor]] [[Antoninus Pius]], who had died only a few months before. Commodus had a twin brother, Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, who died in 165. On 12 October 166, Commodus was made [[Caesar (title)|''caesar'']] together with his younger brother, [[Marcus Annius Verus Caesar|Marcus Annius Verus]].<ref name="HA LOC 1" /><ref name="David 1">David L. Vagi ''Coinage and History of the Roman Empire'' Vol. One: History p. 248</ref> The latter died in 169 having failed to recover from an operation, which left Commodus as Marcus Aurelius's sole surviving son.<ref name="David 1"/>

He was looked after by his father's physician, [[Galen]],<ref name="SPM">Mattern, Susan P., ''The Prince of Medicine: Galen in the Roman Empire'', p. xx</ref><ref>[[Cassius Dio|Dio, Cassius]], ''Roman History'', 71.33.1</ref> who treated many of Commodus' common illnesses. Commodus received extensive tutoring from a multitude of teachers with a focus on intellectual education.<ref name="Birley 197">Birley, Anthony R., ''Marcus Aurelius: A Biography'', p. 197</ref> Among his teachers, Onesicrates, Antistius Capella, [[Titus Aius Sanctus]], and Pitholaus are mentioned.<ref name="Birley 197"/><ref>''[[Historia Augusta]]'' 1.6</ref>

{{multiple image
| total_width       = 550
| image1            = Marcus Aurelius und Commodus - Münzkabinett, Berlin - 5483205.jpg
| image2            = COMMODUS-RIC III 633-78001797 DE GERMANIS.jpg
| align             = center
| footer            = '''Left''': Medallion depicting the ''caesar'' Commodus (right) with his father [[Marcus Aurelius|Marcus]] (left), AD 172.<br/>'''Right''': [[Aureus]] of Commodus as co-''augustus'', AD 177.<ref>Inscription: "[[Imperator]] Lucius Aurelius Commodus [[Augustus (title)|Augustus]] [[List of Roman imperial victory titles|Germanicus Sermaticus]], (holder of the) [[tribunician power]] for the 2nd time, [[Roman consul|consul]], [[father of the fatherland]]."</ref>}}

[[File:Bust of Commodus 180-192 AD.JPG|left|thumb|252x252px|Commodus {{Circa}} 170–175 AD, [[Romano-Germanic Museum]].]]
Commodus is known to have been at [[Carnuntum]], the headquarters of Marcus Aurelius during the [[Marcomannic Wars]], in 172. It is presumed that there, on 15 October 172, he was given the [[victory title]] ''Germanicus'', in the presence of the [[Roman army|army]]. The title suggests Commodus was present at his father's victory over the [[Marcomanni]]. On 20 January 175, Commodus entered the [[College of Pontiffs]], the starting point of a career in public life.<ref name="HA LOC 1" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Kienast |first=Dietmar |url=https://archive.org/details/romische-kaisertabelle |title=Römische Kaisertabelle: Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie |last2=Werner Eck |author-link2=Werner Eck |last3=Matthäus Heil |date=2017 |publisher=[[Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft|WBG]] |isbn=978-3-5342-6724-8 |location=Darmstadt |pages=140–143 |language=de}}</ref>

In 175, [[Avidius Cassius]], Governor of [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]], declared himself emperor following rumours that Marcus Aurelius had died. Having been accepted as emperor by Syria, [[Syria Palaestina|Palestina]] and [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]], Cassius carried on his rebellion even after it had become obvious Marcus was still alive. During the preparations for the campaign against Cassius, Commodus assumed his ''[[toga virilis]]'' on the [[Danube|Danubian]] front on 7 July 175, thus formally entering [[adulthood]]. Cassius, however, was killed by one of his [[centurion]]s 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 travelled to [[Athens]], where they were initiated into the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]]. They then returned to Rome in the [[autumn]] of 176.<ref name=":1" />

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. Commodus was the first (and [[Constantine the Great|until 337]], the only) emperor "[[born in the purple]]," meaning during his father's reign.<ref>{{cite book |author=Marcel van Ackeren |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yt78Z9GY8RgC&pg=PA234 |title=A Companion to Marcus Aurelius |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4051-9285-9 |page=234}}</ref>

On 27 November 176, Marcus Aurelius bestowed the title of ''[[Imperator]]'' on Commodus.<ref>''[[Historia Augusta]]'' 2.4</ref> Modern authors often use this date as the beginning of his reign,<ref name="cooley" /> but the exact chronology of events is uncertain.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last=Hammond |first=Mason |author-link=Mason Hammond |date=1938 |title=The Tribunician Day during the Early Empire |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4238599 |journal=Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome |volume=15 |pages=23–61 (49–53) |doi=10.2307/4238599 |jstor=4238599 |issn=0065-6801|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Commodus is first mentioned as ''[[Augustus (title)|Augustus]]'' (emperor) on 17 June 177,<ref>{{cite book |last=Manuscripts |first=British Museum Department of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqgxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR39 |title=Greek Papyri in the British Museum |date=1907 |publisher=British museum |isbn=978-0-7141-0486-7 |pages=xxxix, Pap. 845}}</ref> but he reckoned his reign back to his salutation in 176.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hammond |first=Mason |date=1956 |title=The Transmission of the Powers of the Roman Emperor from the Death of Nero in A.D. 68 to That of Alexander Severus in A.D. 235 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4238640 |journal=Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome |volume=24 |pages=61–133 (104–105) |doi=10.2307/4238640 |jstor=4238640 |issn=0065-6801|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For instance, he assumed the ''[[tribunicia potestas]]'' (tribunician power) around February 177, but in April 177 he started to backdate this event to November 176.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Parker |first=H. M. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dkkSEQAAQBAJ&pg=PR50 |title=A History of the Roman World from A.D. 138 to 337 |date=2024 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |others=Chapter II, note 77 |isbn=978-1-040-03539-9}}</ref>

On 23 December 176, the two ''imperatores'' celebrated a joint [[Roman triumph|triumph]].<ref>''[[Historia Augusta]]'' 12</ref> On 1 January 177, Commodus became [[consul]] for the first time, which made him, aged 15, the youngest consul up to that time (the minimum age for the consulship was around 30).<ref>''[[Historia Augusta]]'', Marcus Aurelius, 22.12</ref> He subsequently married [[Bruttia Crispina]] before accompanying his father to the Danubian front once more in 178. Marcus Aurelius died there on 17 March 180, leaving the 18-year-old Commodus as sole emperor.<ref>Dio, Cassius, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/72*.html 72.33.]</ref>