Gladiator is a 2000 epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson.The film was co-produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Pictures.DreamWorks Pictures distributed the film in North America while Universal Pictures released it internationally through United International Pictures. Flamma. Thereafter his rule became increasingly arbitrary and vicious. The historian Herodian, a contemporary, described Commodus as an extremely handsome man. At the end of June, a mob demonstrated against Cleander during a horse race in the Circus Maximus: he sent the Praetorian Guard to put down the disturbances, but Pertinax, who was now City Prefect of Rome, dispatched the Vigiles Urbani to oppose them. Well, kind of, but not really. Despite Maximus being a fictional character, the athlete Narcissus is one of the multiple historical figures serving as the likely inspiration for Gladiator's protagonist. Commodus was spoilt and decadent and his decadence led to the decline of the empire. The first, Sextus Tigidius Perennis, Commodus put to death after becoming convinced he was conspiring against him. The slave who became a gladiator. Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of, Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p.99 and. Commodus was a secutor, a type of gladiator who carried a gladius and a heavy shield. He is based in the UK and studied English at Kings College London. He also had four surviving sisters, all of them with husbands who were potential rivals. Cassius Dio declared that Commodus was not naturally wicked but that his cowardice, made him the slave of his companions.. Faustina was the daughter of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and was Aurelius first cousin. His great simplicity, however, together with his cowardice, made him the slave of his companions, and it was through them that he at first, out of ignorance, missed the better life and then was led on into lustful and cruel habits, which soon became second nature."[26]. It was presumably there that, on 15 October 172, he was given the victory title Germanicus, in the presence of the army. In 177 Lucius was made coruler and heir to his father, the emperor Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161180). His fictionalized depiction as a mad emperor in the film Gladiator actually plays down some of his less believable excesses while giving him a nobler death. Gladiator: How Commodus Died In Real Life & Who Killed Him, Gladiator: What Happened To Every Historical Character In Real Life. In hindsight, he should have kept the tradition of adopting his successor, which would have resulted in an appointment based on merit. Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us. Commodus also had a passion for gladiatorial combat, which he took so far as to take to the arena himself, dressed as a secutor. Marcus Aurelius died there on 17 March 180, leaving the 18-year-old Commodus as sole emperor.[18]. Upon his fathers death in 180, Commodus became the sole emperor. [6][7] The latter died in 169 having failed to recover from an operation, which left Commodus as Marcus Aurelius's sole surviving son. He gave Rome a new name, Colonia Commodiana (Colony of Commodus), and imagined that he was the god Hercules, entering the arena to fight as a gladiator or to kill lions with bow and arrow. Gladiator movie clips: http://j.mp/1Je0zMpBUY THE MOVIE: http://amzn.to/v7o2YKDon't miss the HOTTEST NEW TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u2y6prCLIP DESCRIPTION:Afte. [34] The Romans found Commodus's gladiatorial combat to be scandalous and disgraceful. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. ( Louisonze/CC BY-SA 3.0 ). View GLADIATOR - CHW3M.docx from HIS CHW3M at Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts. [15], On 23 December 176, the two imperatores celebrated a joint triumph. While the true story behind his reign and death are fascinating, I prefer the fictional story, where he is killed in the arena before thousands of subjects by a gladiator whose family was ordered killed by the emperor. Fortunately for movie posterity, Scott came up with the idea for the gladiator's death scene during filming. The Emperor and his son then travelled to Athens, where they were initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries. Commodus is commonly regarded as being an inadequate and megalomaniacal emperor, but Gladiators distortion of history portrays him as exclusively and resolutely evil. The ending of "Gladiator" makes it seem like Commodus' death means a new beginning for Rome. Cassius Dio recorded one incident where, after becoming tired out, Commodus ordered a cup of chilled wine to him and drank it at one gulp. In an amusing anecdote, Dio continued, At this both the populace and we senators all immediately shouted out the words so familiar at drinking-bouts, Long life to you!'. It was reputed in local legend to be the seat of the god Wotan and to be haunted. Commodus was a spoiled, narcissistic young man who was something of an embarrassment to his father. Her motive is alleged to have been the envy of the Empress Crispina. Whatever its roots, the conspiracy failed and the incident aroused an insane paranoia in Commodus, who began seeing plots and treachery everywhere. Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161. Commodus reign is commonly regarded as the beginning of the Roman Empires decline, and he is a natural choice for the primary antagonist of Gladiator. A small group of conspirators, including the emperors chamberlain and mistress, Marcia, decided to kill him. While the films fictional account maintains that the killing of Commodus was motivated by the nature of the emperors actions, it is more personal and emotionally charged in the film than in history. 180-192 AD. His brutal misrule precipitated civil strife that ended 84 years of stability and prosperity within the empire. [40][41] For each appearance in the arena, he charged the city of Rome a million sesterces, straining the Roman economy. "Exsuperatorius" (the supreme) was a title given to Jupiter, and "Amazonius" identified him again with Hercules. Die ''Terme Taurine'' von Civitavecchia ein rmisches Heilbad. He kept most of the advisers from his fathers regime in place and the first three years of his reign ran as smoothly as that of his father with the added benefit that Rome was no longer fighting any wars. His father was the philosopher-king, Marcus Aurelius, who Upon his death, the Senate declared him a public enemy (a de facto damnatio memoriae) and restored the original name of the city of Rome and its institutions. Commodus brought an end to his father's campaign against the Germans. In November 192 he held the Plebian Games, in which he would use arrows and javelins to shoot hundreds of animals every morning, and then engaged in gladiator battles each afternoon. Commodus was inaugurated in 183 as consul with Aufidius Victorinus for a colleague and assumed the title Pius. Roman Emperor Lucius Aurelius Commodus was a corrupt ruler who was not well-received by the Roman people during his reign. The Beast with an insatiable Hunger for Human Flesh, Film Footage Provides Intimate View of HMS Gloucester Shipwreck, Top 8 Legendary Parties - Iconic Celebrations in Ancient History, The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth Behind the Black Legend (Part II), The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth behind the Dark Legend (Part I), Bloodthirsty Buddhists: The Sohei Warrior Monks of Feudal Japan, Legends Of The Oracle Of Delphi At The Centre Of The World. They then returned to Rome in the autumn of 176. The gladiator who defied an emperor. [33] Cassius Dio and the writers of the Augustan History say that Commodus was a skilled archer, who could shoot the heads off ostriches in full gallop, and kill a panther as it attacked a victim in the arena. Meanwhile, Commodus was lapsing into insanity. Non-military citizens who had lost their feet due to injury or illness would be tied together for Commodus to club to death. Updates? Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164. It is of particular interest that Aurelius craved succession by one of his sons so much because there hadnt been an emperor who had been succeeded by his own son since Titus succeeded Vespasian in 79. Sources diverge on the origins of the conspiracy, with some claiming Lucilla was jealous of Commodus wife Crispina (incest between Commodus and Lucilla is suggested in Gladiator) while others maintain she saw the first warning signs of her brothers mental instability. His family is murdered, and he becomes a slave, and then sold off to become a gladiator. On 31 December 192 AD, Commodus's concubine [2] and conspirator Marcia poisoned Commodus's wine. The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites around the French village of Carnac, in Brittany, consisting of more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. The movie doesn't answer this, and we never got to see "Gladiator 2." Marcus Aurelius was the first emperor since Vespasian to have a legitimate biological son, though he himself was the fifth in the line of the so-called Five Good Emperors, also known as the Adoptive Emperors, each of whom had adopted his successor. A more fun alternative would be having Maximus and the Senate recover control of Rome, while Maximus gets to experience a new family life with Lucilla (Connie Nielson) and her son Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark). Classic Villain: Commodus, representing Ambition and Envy. They then sent in an athlete to strangle the 31-year old emperor in his bath. The emperor eventually decided to abandon the reins of the empire and chose to give himself up to chariot-racing and licentiousness and performed scarcely any of the duties pertaining to his office. He appointed a series of his favorites to manage the administration of his empire, each of whom seemed crueler and more incompetent than the last. Far from celebrating his descent from Marcus Aurelius, the actual source of his power, he stressed his own personal uniqueness as the bringer of a new order, seeking to re-cast the empire in his own image. Its protagonist, Maximus, is entirely fictitious. Now at the zenith of his power, Cleander continued to sell public offices as his private business. Ser. Aurelius pushed for Commodus to be a leader from a very young age. Wikimedia CommonsEmperor Commodus lust for power is widely credited with bringing an end to the fabled Pax Romana. Pescennius Niger mopped up the deserters in Gaul in a military campaign, and a revolt in Brittany was put down by two legions brought over from Britain. Commodus hired a wrestler to train him to be even better in the arena. The fall of Perennis brought a new spate of executions: Aufidius Victorinus committed suicide. 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