Commodus Facts & Worksheets

From 180 CE to 192 CE, Commodus (Lucius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus, August 31, 161 CE – December 31, 192 CE) ruled as Roman Emperor. From 177 until his father Marcus Aurelius’s passing in 180, he also served as co-emperor. Since Titus replaced Vespasian in 79, his ascension to the throne was the first time a son could replace his father. The phrase “born to the purple” refers to an emperor born during his father’s reign. 

See the fact file below for more information on Commodus, or you can download our 28-page Commodus worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

SOLE REIGN (180-192)

• Even though Marcus Aurelius preferred reading to fighting, his reign was characterized by almost continuous combat. 
• The rule of Commodus was relatively quiet from a military perspective, but it was characterized by political strife and the emperor’s own irrational and inconsistent behavior. 
• As a contemporary observer, Dio Cassius believed that his ascension signaled the transition “from an empire of gold into one of rust and even iron.” Historian Edward Gibbon regarded Commodus’ rule as the start of the Roman Empire’s collapse.
• Despite his fame, Commodus’s reign as emperor is not widely documented. Before arranging a peace agreement with the Danubian tribes, Commodus only briefly stayed with the Danube army. 
• On October 22, 180 CE, he left Rome once more and returned to Rome to celebrate the war’s end.
• Commodus exhibited little interest in government affairs, unlike the previous emperors Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. Saoterus, a freedman from Nicomedia who became his chamberlain, was the first in a succession of favorites he left in charge of running the state at this point.
• This situation sparked several plots and coup attempts, ultimately prompting Commodus to assume control of the situation, which he handled increasingly dictatorially.
• Nevertheless, although the senatorial order came to despise and fear him, the evidence points to the fact that he was still well-liked by the army and the populace for most of his rule. 
• He organized and participated in spectacular gladiatorial battles and made costly gift displays, which are commemorated on his coins.
• Senatus Populusque Romanus, the usual ranking of the two nominal powers of the state, the Senate and the People, is provocatively reversed (Populus Senatusque…) on many inscriptions as one of the ways he funded his popular entertainments.

THE CONSPIRACIES OF 182

• Commodus, 19 years old at the time of his conquest, inherited many of his father’s top advisors. Additionally, he had five still-living sisters, all of whom had potentially competitive husbands. 
• Four of his sisters were significantly older than he was; the oldest, Lucilla, was a widow of her first husband, Lucius Verus, and held the status of Augusta.
• The reign’s first crisis occurred when Lucilla created a plot against her brother in 182. She is said to have been motivated by jealousy of Empress Crispina. 
• Although two men who were allegedly her lovers attempted to kill Commodus as he came to the theater, her husband Pompeianus was not involved.
• They did a poor job. The emperor’s bodyguard took them and slaughtered them; Lucilla was banished to Capri and ultimately killed. Pompeianus ended his career in public life. 
• Tarrutenius Paternus, one of the two Praetorian Prefects, had participated in the plot but had escaped detection then. 
• In the aftermath, he planned Saoterus’ assassination with his fellow Prefect Sextus Tigidius Perennis.
• Commodus was devastated by the death of Saoterus, and Perennis grabbed the opportunity to advance himself by accusing Paternus of participating in a second conspiracy.
• Executions then occurred. Commodus found a new chamberlain and favorite in Cleander, a Phrygian freedman who had wed one of the emperor’s mistresses, Demonstratia.
• Perennis assumed control of the government. In reality, Cleander was the one who killed Saoterus.
• After those assassination attempts, Commodus spent a lot of time away from Rome, especially on the Lanuvium family estates. His primary interest was in sport, participating in horse racing, chariot racing, and combats with men and animals, generally in private but occasionally in public, despite his physical strength and mental laziness.

BRITANNIA 

• The Roman frontier was stretched north to the Antonine Wall in Britain in 184 CE by Governor Ulpius Marcellus, but the troops rebelled against his strict discipline. Perennis fired all of the legionary legates in Britain.
• A Cynic philosopher openly criticized Perennis in front of Commodus on October 15, 184, CE at the Capitoline Games. He was executed right away. Dio Cassius claimed that while being cruel and ambitious, Perennis was not corrupt and generally did a good job running the state.
• The following year, however, a group of British soldiers sent to Italy to fight brigands accused Perennis of hatching a scheme to install his son as emperor. 
• Cleander, who wanted to eliminate his competition, had made it possible for them to do so.
• The troops had Commodus’ approval to kill Perennis and his family. A second round of executions started once Perennis fell. 
• Pertinax succeeded Ulpius Marcellus as governor of Britain; Marcellus was transported to Rome and prosecuted for treason, narrowly escaping death.

CLEANDER’S RISE AND FALL (185-190)

• Cleander seized control of the situation and made money by selling off government positions. He granted access to the Senate, army commanders, governorships, and even replacement consulate ships to the highest bidder.
• As more army deserters caused turmoil in Gaul and Germany, unrest spread throughout the empire.
• Two armies sent across from Britain put down a rebellion in Brittany. Maternus, one of the deserters’ leaders, arrived from Gaul in 187 CE intending to kill Commodus during the Festival of the Great Goddess in March, but he was deceived and put to death.
• The same year, Pertinax exposed a plot by two of Cleander’s adversaries.
• Commodus chose to live on his estates; as a result, appearing in public even less frequently. 
• Early in 188 CE, Cleander got rid of the praetorian prefect in place and assumed ultimate control over the Praetorians. 
• He was given the new position of pugione (literally, “dagger-bearer”), and two praetorian prefects were reporting to him. At the height of his influence, Cleander kept running his own company selling government positions.
• The culmination occurred in 190 when Cleander nominated 25 successive consuls, setting a record for thousand years of the Roman consulship (among them was the upcoming emperor Septimius Severus).
• Rome experienced a food shortage in the spring of 190 CE, but the official in charge of the grain supply could blame Cleander. 
• A crowd protested against Cleander towards the end of June while a horse race occurred in the Circus Maximus. 
• Cleander despatched the praetorian guard to quell the unrest, but Pertinax, who had become the City Prefect of Rome, sent the Vigiles Urbani to end it.
• When Cleander ran to Commodus for refuge at Laurentum Quintilii’s residence, the mob pursued him while yelling for his execution. 
• Commodus ordered the execution of his son and the beheading of Cleander at the suggestion of his mistress Marcia. 
• Commodus’s cousin Annia Fundania Faustina, the praetorian prefect Julius Julianus, and his brother-in-law Mamertinus were also victims during this period. 
• Papirius Dionysius also met his death.
• Marcia, his new chamberlain Eclectus, and the newly appointed praetorian prefect Quintus Aemilius Laetus made up Commodus’ cabal, which continued to administer the empire. Around this time, many Christians in Sardinia were also released from their mine-related labor obligations. It has been claimed that Marcia was a Christian.

A NEW ORDER (190-192)

• Rome suffered severe damage from a fire that burned for days in 191, destroying several public structures, such as the Temple of Pax, the Temple of Vesta, and a portion of the Imperial Palace.
• Commodus positioned himself as the founder of the Roman Empire, Roman culture, and Roman religion. 
• A bronze lion was placed at the feet of the Colossus of Nero outside the Colosseum, and a club was added to make it resemble Hercules, and a plaque boasting that he was “the only left-handed fighter who killed twelve times one thousand men” was added. He also had the head of the statue displaced with his portrait.

GLADIATOR COMMODUS

• The emperor also had a fascination for gladiatorial battles, which he indulged in by dressing like one and entering the arena. 
• The Romans regarded the gladiatorial competitions under Commodus as scandalous and despicable. 
• According to rumors, he was the gladiator’s son, not Marcus’, who his mother Faustina took in as a lover while visiting the seaside village of Caieta.
• Commodus prevailed in the arena because his opponents constantly surrendered to the emperor. Therefore, no one would die as a result of these street fights. He strained the Roman economy by charging the city of Rome a million sesterces for each appearance in the arena.

ASSASSINATION

• Commodus hosted the Plebeian Games in November 192 CE, during which he gladiatorially competed every day and shot numerous animals using arrows and spears each morning, winning every match. 
• He declared in December that he would usher in the year 193 on January 1 as both a consul and a gladiator.
• To replace Commodus with Pertinax at this juncture, the prefect Laetus and Eclectus enlisted Marcia in their scheme. 
• His supper was poisoned by Marcia, but he vomited the poison up, so the conspirators dispatched Narcissus, his wrestling partner, to strangle him in his bathtub. 
• Upon his passing, the Senate branded him a common enemy and changed the titles of the city of Rome and its institutions back to their former forms. Statues of Commodus were knocked over.

Commodus Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Commodus across 28 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Commodus. From 180 CE to 192 CE, Commodus (Lucius Aurelius Commodus Antoninus, August 31, 161 CE – December 31, 192 CE) ruled as Roman Emperor.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

1. Commodus Facts
2. Who is Commodus?
3. The Consequence of an Action 
4. Fill with Letters
5. FAQs
6. Time Track
7. Trivia Check
8. Defining Words
9. Symbol Making
10. The Conspiracies of 182
11. Movie Watch

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Commodus?

Commodus, whose full name was Lucius Aurelius Commodus, was a Roman emperor who ruled from 180 to 192 AD. He was born on August 31, 161 AD, and was the son of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger.

How did Commodus become emperor?

Commodus became emperor following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius. He was made co-emperor alongside his father in 177 AD and succeeded him upon his death in 180 AD. This transition of power was unique as it was the first time in nearly a century that a son succeeded his father as emperor.

What was Commodus known for?

Commodus is known for his extravagant and often controversial behavior. He was fond of participating in gladiatorial contests himself, often fighting against weak opponents who were made to submit to him. He also believed himself to be the reincarnation of Hercules and had statues and coins minted in his own likeness, wearing the lion’s skin.

How did Commodus’ reign end?

Commodus’ reign ended with his assassination on December 31, 192 AD. A group of conspirators, including members of his own household, plotted to kill him due to his despotic rule and erratic behavior. He was strangled in his own palace, ending his 12-year reign.

What impact did Commodus have on the Roman Empire?

Commodus’ reign is generally seen as a period of decline for the Roman Empire. His extravagant spending and disregard for governance led to financial instability and weakened the empire’s administration. Additionally, his obsession with gladiatorial combat and neglect of state affairs further eroded the prestige of the imperial office. After his death, a period of instability and civil war, known as the Year of the Five Emperors, followed.

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