Commodus, The Gladiator Who Was Emperor Of Rome
Jofrey Rudel Marie-Lan Nguyen (Jastrow)/Wikimedia CommonsNot only did Commodus play at being a gladiator, but he also claimed to be descended from Hercules.
Last but not least on this list of gladiators is Commodus, who ruled as Roman emperor from 180 C.E. until his assassination in 192 C.E. Though he had plenty to do as the leader of the Roman Empire — and though he was the son of another emperor, Marcus Aurelius — Commodus’ first passion was for gladiatorial combat.
According to Historia Augusta, which was published around the fourth century and included biographies of several Roman emperors, rumors abounded that Commodus’ mother, Faustina, had gotten pregnant after an affair with a gladiator. “She confessed the passion to her husband… [who was advised] that Faustina should bathe in his blood and thus couch with her husband. When this was done, the passion was indeed allayed, but their son Commodus was born a gladiator, not really a prince,” Historia Augusta explains.
Indeed, Commodus spent much of his free time playing at being a gladiator. He later boasted that he’d won some 12,000 matches, but — of course — no gladiator would kill or hurt the emperor. And even when Commodus fought in venationes, or bouts against wild beasts, he made sure he had the advantage. On one occasion, he killed 100 bears from the safety of his balcony.
Edwin Howland Blashfield/Wikimedia CommonsA 19th- or 20th-century depiction of Commodus as a gladiator.
Commodus may have racked up victories in the ring (fairly or otherwise), but he is considered one of the worst Roman emperors. Not only did he spend much of his time watching gladiator fights or playing at being a gladiator himself, but Commodus also executed prominent citizens to get their estates and spent so lavishly that he depleted the Roman treasury.
Decisions like these — and Commodus’ ego, which was so large that he attempted to rename Rome after himself — led to his assassination. The emperor did not die in the arena, as he perhaps would have wished, but in his bathtub, where he was strangled to death by a wrestler named Narcissus.
Though not representative of the other gladiators on this list, Commodus represents what gladiators meant to many Roman citizens. They often came from dire backgrounds, but they were also often admired and revered. Indeed, Commodus revered them so much that he became one.
After reading about some of history’s most famous gladiators, go inside the curiously complicated question of why Rome fell. Or, discover the story of the brutal Roman military punishment known as decimation. Then, read about the fabled Pax Romana era in ancient Rome.
