Editing Commodus (section)

==Character and physical prowess==

===Character and motivations===
Cassius Dio, a first-hand witness, describes him as "not naturally wicked but, on the contrary, as guileless as any man that ever lived. His great simplicity, however, together with his cowardice, made him the slave of his companions, and it was through them that he at first, out of ignorance, missed the better life and then was led on into lustful and cruel habits, which soon became second nature."<ref>Dio, Cassius, 73.1.2, Loeb edition, translated E. Cary</ref>

His recorded actions do tend to show a rejection of his father's policies, his father's advisers, and especially his father's austere lifestyle, and an alienation from the surviving members of his family. It seems likely that he was raised in an atmosphere of [[Stoicism|Stoic]] [[asceticism]], which he rejected entirely upon his accession to sole rule.

After repeated attempts on Commodus' life, [[Roman citizenship|Roman citizens]] were often killed for making him angry. One such notable event was the attempted extermination of the house of the [[Quinctilia gens|Quinctilii]]. Condianus and Maximus were executed on the pretext that while they were not implicated in any plots, their wealth and talent would make them unhappy with the current state of affairs.<ref>Dio, Cassius, 73.5.3, Loeb edition, translated E. Cary</ref> Another event, as recorded by the historian [[Aelius Lampridius]], took place at the Roman baths at [[Terme Taurine]], where the emperor had an attendant thrown into an oven after he had found his bathwater to be lukewarm.<ref>Historia Augusta. C 1, 9.</ref><ref>Heinz, W. (1986). Die <nowiki>''Terme Taurine''</nowiki> von Civitavecchia – ein römisches Heilbad. ''Antike Welt,'' ''17''(4), 22–43.</ref>

===Changes of name===
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| caption2          = Two ''[[aureus|aurei]]'' of AD 186 and 192 showing Commodus' change from "Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus" to his original "Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus"
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His original name was Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus.{{sfn|Hammond|p=32}} On his father's death in 180, Commodus changed this to Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus, before changing back to his birth name in 191.{{sfn|Hammond|pp=32–33}} Later that year he adopted as his full style ''Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Herculeus Romanus Exsuperatorius Amazonius Invictus Felix Pius'' (the order of some of these titles varies in the sources). "Exsuperatorius" (the supreme) was a title given to Jupiter, and "Amazonius" identified him again with Hercules.

An inscribed altar from [[Dura-Europos]] on the Euphrates shows that Commodus' titles and the renaming of the months were disseminated to the farthest reaches of the Empire; moreover, that even auxiliary military units received the title Commodiana, and that he claimed two additional titles: ''Pacator Orbis'' (pacifier of the world) and ''Dominus Noster'' (Our Lord). The latter eventually would be used as a conventional title by Roman emperors, starting about a century later, but Commodus seems to have been the first to assume it.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Spiedel |first=M.P. |title=Commodus the God-Emperor and the Army |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |volume=83 |pages=109–114 |year=1993 |jstor=300981 |s2cid=162303472 |doi=10.2307/300981}}</ref>

===Commodus and Hercules===
Disdaining the more philosophic inclinations of his father, Commodus was extremely proud of his physical prowess. The historian Herodian, a contemporary, described Commodus as an extremely handsome man.<ref>Grant, Michael. ''The Roman Emperors'' (1985) p. 99.</ref> As mentioned above, he ordered many statues to be made showing him dressed as Hercules with a lion's hide and a club. He thought of himself as the reincarnation of Hercules, frequently emulating the legendary hero's feats by appearing in the arena to fight a variety of wild animals. He was left-handed and very proud of the fact.<ref>Dio, Cassius, ''Roman History: Epitome of Book LXXIII'' pp 111.</ref> Cassius Dio and the writers of the ''[[Historia Augusta|Augustan History]]'' say that Commodus was a skilled archer, who could shoot the heads off [[ostrich]]es in full gallop, and kill a panther as it attacked a victim in the arena.

===Commodus the gladiator===
Commodus also had a passion for gladiatorial combat, which he took so far as to take to the [[arena]] himself, dressed as a [[secutor]].<ref>Gibbon, Edward, ''The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire''. Vol. 5. Methuen, 1898.</ref> The Romans found Commodus' gladiatorial combat to be scandalous and disgraceful.<ref>Herodian's Roman History F.L. Muller Edition 1.15.7</ref> According to Herodian, spectators of Commodus thought it unbecoming of an emperor to take up arms in the amphitheater for sport when he could be campaigning against [[barbarians]] among other opponents of Rome. The consensus was that it was below his office to participate as a gladiator.<ref>Echols, Edward C., "Herodian of Antioch's History of the Roman Empire", English translation, UCLA Press, Berkeley, CA (1961), 1.15.1-9</ref> Popular rumors spread alleging he was not actually the son of Marcus Aurelius, but of a gladiator his mother Faustina had taken as a lover at the coastal resort of [[Caieta (city)|Caieta]].<ref>''Historia Augusta'', Life of Marcus Aurelius, XIX. The film ''The Fall of the Roman Empire'' makes use of this story: one of the characters is an old gladiator who eventually reveals himself to be Commodus's real father.</ref>

Cassius Dio claimed that citizens of Rome who lacked feet (either through accident or illness) were taken to the arena, where they were tethered together for Commodus to club to death while pretending they were giants.<ref>Dio, Cassius, 73.20.3, Loeb edition, translated E. Cary</ref> Dio also wrote that it was Commodus' custom to privately use deadly weapons to fight, murdering and maiming his opponents.<ref name="Dio, Cassius, 73.10.3">Cassius DIO, 73.10.3</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2017-12-01 |title=Intrigue, Insanity, and the Reign of Commodus |url=https://www.wondriumdaily.com/intrigue-insanity-reign-commodus/ |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=Wondrium Daily |language=en-US |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526054623/https://www.wondriumdaily.com/intrigue-insanity-reign-commodus/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Commodus was also known for fighting exotic animals in the arena, often to the horror and disgust of the Roman populace. According to Cassius Dio, Commodus once killed 100 lions in a single day.<ref>Gibbon, p. 106: "disgorged at once a hundred lions; a hundred darts"</ref> Later, he decapitated a running ostrich with a specially designed dart<ref>Gibbon, Edward, ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'': Volume I. Everyman's Library (Knopf) New York. 1910. p. 106: "with arrows whose point was shaped in the form of a crescent"</ref> and afterward carried his sword and the bleeding head of the dead bird over to the Senators' seating area, and motioned to suggest that they were to be next.<ref name=foxcomm>[[Robin Lane Fox|Lane Fox, Robin]], ''The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian'', Basic Books, 2006, p. 446 "brandishing a sword in one hand and bloodied neck...He gesticulated at the Senate."</ref> Dio notes that the targeted senators actually found this more ridiculous than frightening, and chewed on [[Laurus nobilis|laurel]] leaves to conceal their laughter.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html Roman History by Cassius Dio] penelope.uchicago.edu</ref> On other occasions, Commodus killed three elephants on the floor of the arena by himself,<ref>Scullard, H. H., ''The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World'', Thames and Hudson, 1974, p. 252</ref> and a giraffe.<ref>Gibbon, p. 107: "*1 Commodus killed a camelopardalis or giraffe&nbsp;... the most useless of the quadrupeds".</ref>

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File:The Emperor Commodus Leaving the Arena at the Head of the Gladiators by American muralist Edwin Howland Blashfield (1848-1936) 01 (cropped).jpg|''The Emperor Commodus Leaving the Arena at the Head of the Gladiators'' (detail) by [[Edwin Blashfield]] (1848–1936), Hermitage Museum and Gardens, Norfolk, Virginia.
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