He was the son of the reigning emperor, Marcus Aurelius, and Aurelius's first cousin, Faustina the Younger, the youngest daughter of Emperor Antoninus Pius, who had died only a few months before. 2.3 Cleander's zenith and fall (185–190)Įarly life and rise to power (161–180) Early life Ĭommodus was born on 31 August AD 161 in Lanuvium, near Rome.1 Early life and rise to power (161–180).He was succeeded by Pertinax, the first emperor in the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors. Throughout his reign, Commodus entrusted the management of affairs to his palace chamberlain and praetorian prefects, named Saoterus, Perennis and Cleander.Ĭommodus's assassination in 192, by a wrestler in the bath, marked the end of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Intrigues and conspiracies abounded, leading Commodus to revert to an increasingly dictatorial style of leadership, culminating in his creating a deific personality cult, with his performing as a gladiator in the Colosseum. During his solo reign, the Roman Empire enjoyed reduced military conflict compared with the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Later that year he became the youngest emperor and consul up to that point, at the age of 15. His reign is commonly thought of as marking the end of a golden period of peace in the history of the Roman Empire, known as the Pax Romana.Ĭommodus accompanied his father during the Marcomannic Wars in 172, and on a tour of the Eastern provinces in 176. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination.
Commodus ( / ˈ k ɒ m ə d ə s/ 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 176 to 192.
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