Roman Emperor Commodus HIEU 322-B01 Joel Leviten October 6, 2016
Emperor Commodus By all accounts was a handsome man, with curly blonde hair. But he appeared to possess a weak character and was easily influenced by others. But so too was he prone to cruelty and excessive behavior. To an extent his behavior was still held in check, when his father was still alive, although then too some believed to detect the signs of a new Nero in the young heir. Cassius ' earlier rebellion, when he mistakenly thought Marcus Aurelius had died, might well have been inspired by a fear of what was to come if Commodus came to the throne. Commodus was a crazed power lunatic who thought he was a God and fought in the Gladiator events thinking he could not die. Commodus was in fact a terrible one. Cruelty, vanity, power and fear formed into a terrifyingly dangerous mix of bloodlust, suspicion and megalomania. Commodus should be remembered as a monster, a tyrant who renamed months in his own honor, and who slaughtered his way through the circuses in ludicrous displays of 'manliness '.
Lucius Aurelius Commodus was born on 31 August AD 161 at Lanuvium, roughly 14 miles south east of Rome. Of the fourteen children of Marcus Aurelius
Cassius is a talented general, and does not like the fact that Caesar has become `god-like' in the Roman people's minds (see above quote Act I, Scene ii). Cassius can be seen as a
Commodus' ambition begins after he kills his father Emperor Marcus Aurelius because he feels that his father did not love him enough and becomes the Emperor of Rome. Marcus says that Commodus "is not a moral man" and that "he cannot rule". Commodus is the Macbeth character in 'Gladiator' but is still not the main character. The main character in the film is Maximus who resembles Macduff in the film. While still being shown as a great fighter, Commodus is also shown in the film as a bit of a coward, after Maximus wins the war for Rome, Commodus shows up late to the victory celebrations acting as if he wasn’t even aware of a war even existing. Quickly after being crowned as Emperor of Rome, Commodus becomes disliked by the Senate and the people of Rome and seen as a pathetic leader. Commodus uses the ambition to be like his father to create barbaric fights in the Coliseum. "He'll bring them death and they will love him
Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, notoriously known as the Roman Emperor Trajan was born September 18, most likely in the year 52 AD of Spanish origin. He was an educated man with a powerful, masculine figure. A bronze sculpture at Harvard University showcases his physique in ceremonial armor standing as if addressing his troops. He possessed a true sense of dignity and humbleness which to the Romans made him an emperor of true virtue. He was an emperor who truly enjoyed war; his passion for war came from the fact that he was very good at it. He was a brilliant general, as shown by his military achievements. He was naturally very popular with the troops, especially due to his willingness to share in the hardships alongside his soldiers.
Murder is defined as “the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another,” (Dictionary.com). Through this definition, Emperor Nero, like many emperors before and after him, can be seen as a murderer. In, The Annals of Imperial Rome, written by Cornelius Tacitus, the story of Nero is documented. This story includes the tale of his premeditated murder of his mother, Agrippina the Younger. Nero, though many recall him being ill of mind or in many ways even crazy, had, in his mind, many reasons why this was a smart decision. Agrippina’s quest for increased political power, her tendency to make decisions on his behalf without first consulting him as well as her threatening to overthrow him have been linked to being the reasons that Nero decided to kill his mother. These reasons provided enough of an incentive to Nero to place an order of execution upon the head of his mother, as chronicled in Tacitus’ ancient document.
Marcus Aurelius was born on April 26th, 121 AD. He was born as Marcus Annius Verus. His family was a very wealthy family who claimed that they were descendants of Numa, The Second King of Rome. His father was Annius Verus and his mother was Domitia Lucilla.
In the article Domitian and the dynamics of terror in classical Rome, Professor Peter Wiseman defends the historical depictions of several emperors—Domitian in particular—as tyrants.
Most things said about Commodus are negative, however, Cassius Dio seems to backup Commodus saying that most of his negative qualities are due to the influence of bad company, as mentioned earlier on due to his weak character (Cavallini; ?). It is difficult to find ancient sources that are often in favor of Commodus, the corrupt ruler that was not well received by
Two of the more memorable emperors to the Romans were Augustus Caesar (27 BC to 14 AD), and Caligula (37 AD to 41 AD). Although only having ruled the empire by a separation of 23 years and belonging to the same family (through marriage and adoption), their empires couldn’t have been more different. It is possible to determine the impact of an emperor’s rule based on their many vices and virtues, as well as the choices that they make in relation to them. The author Suetonius expressed in his writings the many vices and virtues that put into perspective the kind of leaders that these emperors appeared as to their polis. As we explore the concept of vices and virtues, as well as what kind of ideals these two rulers represented, we will begin to be presented with a clearer picture of what an ideal emperor would have looked like. A vice can be described as an immoral or wicked behavior; while a virtue can be described as a behavior showing high moral standards. Suetonius and the Roman people had a high interpretation of the concept of virtue and vice, as well as their role in the ruler’s life.
Tiberius, who served as emperor from 14 to 37 AD, began his rule after the death of his father-in-law, Augustus. Tiberius was a weak ruler, and he understood that ruling Rome was like “holding a wolf by the ears.” When conflict arose in Europe, Tiberius sent his nephew, Germanicus, to deal with it. Germanicus did his job, and this resulted in Tiberius fearing the newest war-hero. To avoid the issue, Germanicus was appointed governor of the remote eastern provinces by his uncle. After the sudden death of Germanicus, people believed that Tiberius had poisoned him. He denied this, but the accusations never died. When he was in need of advice, Tiberius sought the assistance of Sejanus, a cavalry officer and town cheat. Tiberius sought the
Gaius Caesar, otherwise known as Caligula, is possibly one of the most controversial leaders in history. Born in 12 A.D. , he assumed the role of Roman emperor after the death of his predecessor, Tiberius from A.D. 37to A.D. 41. Often described as cruel and unpredictable, Caligula was feared by many, however, it was not always this way. At the beginning of his reign, he was extremely popular, due to the public reforms put in place after the cruel and almost universally disliked Tiberius had died.
Nero’s reign as emperor was a dark one in which he became known as possibly the worst emperor in roman history. Nero executed and persecuted many innocent people. He ignored his responsibilities as emperor as the empire began to crumble around him. Nero was an evil emperor who rose to power very quickly, had very bad relationships with his wives, and eventually allowed his passions to over rule his responsibilities as emperor.
	After nineteen years of ruling Rome, Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180 in Vindobona, which is currently Vienna. He died of a plague while in the middle of yet another war to defend the territory of Rome. Aurelius was succeeded by his son, Commodus, who was the polar opposite of his father. Commodus was a corrupt and evil ruler. Apparently, his father was never aware of this fact, for Commodus fooled him into believing they were of the same mind when it came to ruling. Commodus was the first of the bad emperors to Aurelius’ last of the good emperors. This lack of an able ruler cemented the descent of the Roman empire.
As Commodus' reign continued it became clearer that the ruler was mentally instable. He lived a dark life, one of self indulgence and debauchery. He neglected his political responsibilities and focused more on his desires. Commodus had many concubines, and throughout his reign had flings with about 300 women and boys. While distracted by his lifestyle, the emperor allowed prefects to run the day to day business of the empire. As the prefects became more and more powerful the king would kill them, making sure that no one threatened his authority.
Commodus also went against the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct, which is a shared definition of ethical leadership according to Eisenbeiss (2012), and something that also includes the advocacy of such behavior to followers.(Eisenbeiss 2012:792) Connecting the orientations of justice and moderation, is also applicable here, due to the proposed shift by Aurelius and also something that i.e altered the course of his life drastically and immediately (Eisenbeiss 2012:795) Another aspects addressed in this paper is the dilemma Commodus encounter in his meeting and interaction with Maximus, someone with an authentic leadership style, further contrasting his own shortcomings and strengths. The way that Commodus dealt with his- what he considered- betrayal, actually catapulted Maximus even further into such a leadership, due to the life changing event that occurred when his family was slaughtered (Northouse 2013:266) The theoretical approach for authentic leadership would have it that such leaders display self-awareness, and internalized moral perspective, balanced processing and relational transparency, all of which can be seen in the character of Maximus even though his processing went through stages where his balance was in questions, naturally due to the loss of his family and being imprisoned and sold like a slave. His moral reasoning, stemming from a military core as well, could have said to have a further impact on
- The antagonist in the story, he is the son of Marcus Aurelius. Commodus is an arrogant man who lusts for power which led him into killing his own father and would do anything to get rid of anyone that may threaten his claim to the throne.