9 Of The Cruelest, Maddest, And Most Incompetent Emperors To Ever Rule Rome

Published September 9, 2024
Updated March 19, 2025

Commodus, The Roman Emperor Who Saw Himself As A Gladiator

Worst Roman Emperor Commodus

TimeTravelRome/Wikimedia CommonsCommodus fancied himself a gladiator and spent much of his time watching or participating in gladiatorial contests.

“Even from his earliest years,” the Roman historian Aelius Lampridius wrote of the emperor Commodus, “he was base and dishonorable, and cruel and lewd, defiled of mouth, moreover, and debauched.”

Born in 161 C.E. as the son of emperor Marcus Aurelius (considered to be one of Rome’s “good” emperors), Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus came to power in 180 C.E. Despite the plot line of the 2000 film Gladiator, there is no evidence that Commodus had a hand in his father’s death. But Commodus would prove to be a very different kind of emperor than Marcus Aurelius.

Uninterested in the practicality of rule, Commodus spent most of his time playing at being a gladiator. He claimed that he was descended from Hercules and spent his days watching gladiatorial matches, participating in venatio, or fights against wild beasts (often unfair ones, like when he killed 100 bears from the safety of his balcony), tussling with actual gladiators, who let him win, or taking on opponents who had no chance against him. Commodus later boasted that he’d won roughly 12,000 matches.

Commodus As Hercules

Jofrey Rudel Marie-Lan Nguyen (Jastrow)/Wikimedia CommonsCommodus dressed as Hercules.

His preference for gladiator fights over actual governance was bad enough, but Commodus is considered one of Rome’s worst emperors for other reasons as well. He bled the Roman treasury dry, executed prominent citizens to get his hands on their wealth, renamed the months of the year after himself, and changed the name of Rome to “Colonia Commodiana,” or “Colony of Commodus.”

Unsurprisingly, Romans — including Commodus’ own sister — began to plot against him. After several assassination attempts, Commodus was killed by a wrestler named Narcissus in 192 C.E.

“Colonia Commodiana” was promptly renamed “Rome,” and Commodus went down in history as one of its worst emperors.

author
Kaleena Fraga
author
A senior staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2021 and co-host of the History Uncovered Podcast, Kaleena Fraga graduated with a dual degree in American History and French Language and Literature from Oberlin College. She previously ran the presidential history blog History First, and has had work published in The Washington Post, Gastro Obscura, and elsewhere. She has published more than 1,200 pieces on topics including history and archaeology. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.
editor
Jaclyn Anglis
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
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Fraga, Kaleena. "9 Of The Cruelest, Maddest, And Most Incompetent Emperors To Ever Rule Rome." AllThatsInteresting.com, September 9, 2024, https://allthatsinteresting.com/worst-roman-emperors. Accessed July 26, 2025.