Editing Commodus (section)

==Sole reign (180–192)==
[[File:Bust of Emperor Commodus, front - Getty Museum (92.SA.48).jpg|thumb|303x303px|Commodus {{Circa}} 180 AD, [[Getty Museum]].]]
Upon his ascension, Commodus devalued the [[Roman currency]]. He reduced the weight of the [[denarius]] from 96 per [[Roman pound]] to 105 per Roman pound (3.85&nbsp;grams to 3.35&nbsp;grams). <!-- Note, weights are per pound, so larger numbers are lower weight --> He also reduced the silver purity from 79&nbsp;percent to 76&nbsp;percent&nbsp;– the silver weight dropping from 2.57&nbsp;grams to 2.34&nbsp;grams. In 186, he further reduced the purity and silver weight to 74&nbsp;percent and 2.22&nbsp;grams respectively, being 108 to the Roman pound.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tulane.edu/~august/handouts/601cprin.htm|title=Tulane University "Roman Currency of the Principate"|access-date=3 March 2011|archive-date=10 February 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010210220413/http://www.tulane.edu/~august/handouts/601cprin.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> His reduction of the denarius during his rule was the largest since the empire's first devaluation during [[Nero]]'s reign.

[[File:ObverseCommodusDenarius177-192CE.png|thumb|The obverse image of a silver denarius depicting Roman Emperor Commodus (177–192 CE)]]

Whereas the reign of [[Marcus Aurelius]] had been marked by almost continuous warfare, Commodus' rule was comparatively peaceful in the military sense, but was also characterised by political strife and the increasingly arbitrary and capricious behaviour of the emperor himself. In the view of [[Cassius Dio]], his accession marked the descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust".<ref>Dio, Cassius, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/72*.html#36 72.36.4], Loeb edition, translated E. Cary</ref>

Despite his notoriety, and considering the importance of his reign, Commodus' years in power are not well chronicled. The principal surviving literary sources are [[Herodian]], Cassius Dio (a contemporary and sometimes first-hand observer and [[Roman senator|Senator]] during Commodus' reign, whose reports for this period survive only as fragments and abbreviations), and the ''[[Historia Augusta]]'' (untrustworthy because of its character as a work of literature rather than of history, with elements of fiction embedded within its biographies; in the case of Commodus, it probably embroiders what the author found in reasonably good contemporary sources).

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. Unlike the preceding emperors [[Trajan]], [[Hadrian]], [[Antoninus Pius]] and [[Marcus Aurelius]], he seems to have had little interest in the business of administration. He 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 (office)|chamberlain]].

Dissatisfaction with this state of affairs led to a series of conspiracies and attempted coups, which in turn eventually provoked Commodus to take charge of affairs, which he did in an increasingly dictatorial manner. Nevertheless, though the [[Roman Senate|senatorial order]] came to hate and fear him, the evidence suggests he remained popular with the army and the common people for much of his reign, not least because of his lavish shows of largesse (recorded on his coinage) and because he staged and took part in spectacular [[gladiator]]ial combats. He was not an inspired combatant. He killed animals by bow, standing above the arena. When he fought fellow gladiators, they would purposely submit. During this period Rome's economy declined.

One of the ways he paid for his donatives (imperial handouts) and mass entertainments was to tax the senatorial order. On many inscriptions, the traditional order of the two nominal powers of the state, the Senate and People (''[[SPQR|Senatus Populusque Romanus]]'') was provocatively reversed (''Populus Senatusque...'').

===Conspiracies of 182===

{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2024}}

[[File:Commodus, Hermitage Museum.JPG|thumb|left|Commodus with attributes of [[Helios]], [[Apollo]] and [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], late 2nd century AD, [[sardonyx]] [[Cameo (carving)|cameo relief]], [[Hermitage Museum]], St. Petersburg]]

At the outset of his reign, Commodus, aged 18, inherited many of his father's senior advisers, notably [[Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus]] (the second husband of Commodus' eldest sister [[Lucilla]]), his father-in-law [[Gaius Bruttius Praesens (consul 153)|Gaius Bruttius Praesens]], Titus Fundanius Vitrasius Pollio, and [[Gaius Aufidius Victorinus|Aufidius Victorinus]] the [[Praefectus urbi|Prefect of the City of Rome]]. He also had four surviving sisters, all of them with husbands who were potential rivals. Lucilla was over ten years his senior and held the rank of [[Augustus (honorific)|Augusta]] as the widow of her first husband, [[Lucius Verus]].

The first crisis of the reign came in 182, when Lucilla engineered a conspiracy against her brother. Her motive is alleged to have been the envy of the [[Roman Empress|Empress]] [[Bruttia Crispina|Crispina]]. Lucilla's husband, Pompeianus, was not involved, but two men alleged to have been her lovers, [[Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus]] (the consul of 167, also her first cousin) and Appius Claudius Quintianus, attempted to murder Commodus as he entered a theater. They bungled the job and were seized by the emperor's bodyguard.

Quadratus and Quintianus were executed. Lucilla was exiled to [[Capri]] and later killed. Pompeianus retired from public life. One of the two [[praetorian prefect]]s, [[Publius Tarrutenius Paternus]], had actually been involved in the conspiracy but his involvement was not discovered until later. In the meantime, he and his colleague, [[Tigidius Perennis|Sextus Tigidius Perennis]], were able to arrange for the murder of Saoterus, the hated chamberlain.

Commodus took the loss of Saoterus badly, and Perennis now seized the chance to advance himself by implicating Paternus in a second conspiracy, one apparently led by Publius Salvius Julianus, the son of the jurist [[Salvius Julianus]] and betrothed to Paternus' daughter. Salvius and Paternus were executed along with a number of other prominent consulars and senators. [[Didius Julianus]], the future emperor and a relative of Salvius Julianus, was dismissed from the governorship of [[Germania Inferior]].

====Cleander====
After the murder of the powerful [[Saoterus]], Perennis took over the reins of government and Commodus found a new chamberlain and favourite in [[Marcus Aurelius Cleander|Cleander]], a [[Phrygia]]n [[freedman]] who had married one of the emperor's mistresses, Demostratia. Cleander was in fact the person who had murdered Saoterus. After these attempts on his life, Commodus spent much of his time outside Rome, mostly on the family estates at Lanuvium. As he was physically strong, his chief interest was sport: he took part in [[horse racing]], [[chariot racing]], and combat with beasts and men, mostly in private but occasionally in public.

===Dacia and Britain===
Commodus was inaugurated in 183 as consul with Aufidius Victorinus as colleague and assumed the title ''Pius''. War broke out in [[Dacia]]: few details are available, but it appears two future contenders for the throne, [[Clodius Albinus]] and [[Pescennius Niger]], both distinguished themselves in the campaign. Also, in [[Roman Britain|Britain]] in 184, the governor [[Ulpius Marcellus]] re-advanced the Roman frontier northward to the [[Antonine Wall]], but the [[legionaries]] revolted against his harsh discipline and acclaimed another legate, Priscus, as emperor.<ref name="ReferenceA">Dio, Cassius, 73.10.2, Loeb edition, translated E. Cary</ref>

Priscus refused to accept their acclamation, and Perennis had all the legionary [[Legatus|legates]] in Britain [[cashiered]]. On 15 October 184, at the [[Capitoline Games]], a [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynic]] philosopher publicly denounced Perennis before Commodus. His tale was considered false and he was immediately put to death. According to Cassius Dio, Perennis, though ruthless and ambitious, was not personally corrupt and was a generally good administrator.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

However, the following year a detachment of soldiers from Britain (they had been drafted to [[Roman Italy|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. The fall of Perennis brought a new spate of executions: Aufidius Victorinus committed suicide. Ulpius Marcellus was replaced as [[Governors of Roman Britain|governor of Britain]] by [[Pertinax]]. Brought to Rome and tried for treason, Marcellus narrowly escaped death.

===Cleander's zenith and fall (185–190)===
[[File:1699 - Archaeological Museum, Athens - A youth, possibly Commodus - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 11 2009.jpg|thumb|Remnant of a Roman bust of a youth with a [[blond]] beard, perhaps Commodus, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]]]
Cleander proceeded to concentrate power in his own hands and to enrich himself by taking responsibility for all public offices. He sold (and bestowed entry to) Senate seats, army commands, [[Roman governor|governorships]], and increasingly, [[suffect consul]]ships, to the highest bidder. Unrest rose throughout the empire, with large numbers of army deserters causing trouble in [[Gaul]] and [[Germania|Germany]]. Pescennius Niger dealt with the deserters in Gaul in a military campaign. The revolt in [[Brittany]] was put down by two [[Roman legion|legions]] brought over from Britain.

In 187, one of the leaders of the deserters, [[Maternus (rebel)|Maternus]], came from Gaul intending to assassinate Commodus at the Festival of the Great Goddess in March but was betrayed and executed. In the same year [[Pertinax]] unmasked a conspiracy by two enemies of Cleander, [[Lucius Antistius Burrus|Antistius Burrus]] (one of Commodus' brothers-in-law) and [[Gaius Arrius Antoninus|Arrius Antoninus]]. As a result, Commodus appeared more rarely in public, preferring to live on his estates.

Early in 188, Cleander disposed of the current praetorian prefect, [[Publius Atilius Aebutianus|Atilius Aebutianus]], and took over supreme command of the [[Praetorian Guard]] at the new rank of ''a pugione'' ("dagger-bearer"), with two praetorian prefects subordinate to him. Now at the zenith of his power, Cleander continued to sell public offices as his private business. The climax came in the year 190, which had 25 suffect consuls—a record in the 1,000-year history of the Roman consulship—all appointed by Cleander (they included the future Emperor [[Septimius Severus]]).

In the spring of 190, Rome was afflicted by a food shortage, for which the ''praefectus annonae'' [[Papirius Dionysius]], the official actually in charge of the [[Grain supply to the city of Rome|grain supply]], contrived to lay the blame on Cleander. At the end of June, a mob demonstrated against Cleander during a horse race in the [[Circus Maximus]]: he sent the Praetorian Guard to put down the disturbances, but Pertinax, who was now City Prefect of Rome, dispatched the ''[[Vigiles Urbani]]'' to oppose them. Cleander fled to Commodus, who was at [[Laurentum]] in the house of the [[Quinctilia gens|Quinctilii]], for protection, but the mob followed him calling for his head.

At the urging of his mistress [[Marcia (mistress of Commodus)|Marcia]], Commodus had Cleander beheaded and his son killed. Other victims at this time were the praetorian prefect Julius Julianus, Commodus' cousin [[Annia Fundania Faustina]], and his brother-in-law Mamertinus. Papirius Dionysius was executed, too. In AD 191, Commodus took more of the reins of power, though he continued to rule through a cabal consisting of Marcia, his new chamberlain Eclectus, and the new praetorian prefect [[Quintus Aemilius Laetus]].

===Megalomania (190–192)===
[[File:Medallion of Commodus as Hercules.jpg|thumb|367x367px|Medallion of Commodus depicting him as Hercules, AD 192.]]
In opposition to the Senate, in his pronouncements and [[iconography]], Commodus had always stressed his unique status as a source of god-like power, liberality, and physical prowess. 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 {{seclink||Commodus and Hercules}} and {{seclink||Commodus the Gladiator}} below). Moreover, as Hercules, he could claim to be the son of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], the supreme god of the Roman [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]]. These tendencies now increased to [[wiktionary:megalomania|megalomaniacal]] proportions. Far from celebrating his descent from Marcus Aurelius, the actual source of his power, he stressed his own personal uniqueness as the bringer of a new order, seeking to re-cast the empire in his own image.

During 191, the city of Rome was extensively damaged by a fire that raged for several days, during which many public buildings including the [[Temple of Peace, Rome|Temple of Pax]], the [[Temple of Vesta]], and parts of the imperial palace were destroyed.

Perhaps seeing this as an opportunity, early in 192 Commodus, declaring himself the new [[Romulus]], ritually re-founded Rome, renaming the city ''Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana''. All the months of the year were renamed to correspond exactly with his (now twelve) names: ''Lucius'', ''Aelius'', ''Aurelius'', ''Commodus'', ''Augustus'', ''Herculeus'', ''Romanus'', ''Exsuperatorius'', ''Amazonius'', ''Invictus'', ''Felix'', and ''Pius''. The legions were renamed ''Commodianae'', the fleet which imported grain from [[Africa (Roman province)|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''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/commod.htm|title=Roman Emperors – DIR commodus|website=www.roman-emperors.org|access-date=24 June 2022|archive-date=21 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321061813/http://www.roman-emperors.org/commod.htm|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>

Thus, he presented himself as the fountainhead of the Empire, Roman life, and religion. He also had the head of the [[Colossus of Nero]] adjacent to the [[Colosseum]] replaced with his own portrait, gave it a club, placed a [[bronze]] [[lion]] at its feet to make it look like ''Hercules Romanus'', and added an inscription boasting of being "the only left-handed fighter to conquer twelve times one thousand men".<ref>Dio, Cassius, 73.22.3</ref>

===Assassination (192)===
[[File:Römermuseum Osterburken (DerHexer) 2012-09-30 008.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Damnatio memoriae]]'' of Commodus on an inscription in the Museum of Roman History in [[Osterburken]], Germany. The abbreviation "CO" has been restored with paint.]]
In November 192, Commodus held Plebeian Games, in which he shot hundreds of animals with arrows and javelins every morning, and fought as a gladiator every afternoon, winning all the fights. In December, he announced his intention to inaugurate the year 193 as both consul and gladiator on 1 January.

When Marcia found a list of people Commodus intended to have executed, she discovered that she, the prefect Laetus, and Eclectus were on it. The three of them plotted to assassinate the emperor. On 31 December, Marcia poisoned Commodus' food, but he vomited up the poison, so the conspirators sent his wrestling partner [[Narcissus (wrestler)|Narcissus]] to strangle him in his bath.<ref>Dio, Cassius, 73.22</ref>

Upon his death, the Senate declared him a public enemy (a ''de facto'' ''[[damnatio memoriae]]'') and restored the original name of the city of Rome and its institutions. Statues of Commodus were demolished. His body was buried in the [[Mausoleum of Hadrian]].

Commodus' death marked the end of the [[Nerva–Antonine dynasty]]. Commodus was succeeded by [[Pertinax]], whose reign was short; he became the first claimant to be usurped during the [[Year of the Five Emperors]].

In 195, the emperor [[Septimius Severus]], trying to gain favour with the family of Marcus Aurelius, rehabilitated Commodus' memory and had the Senate [[Apotheosis|deify]] him.<ref>To "accept kinship with Commodus&nbsp;... the bluntly pragmatic decision was taken to deify the former emperor, thus legitimizing Severus' seizure of power." See [[Annelise Freisenbruch]], ''Caesars' Wives: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Roman Empire'' (London and New York: Free Press, 2010), 187.</ref>