Commodus

Commodus was Roman emperor from AD 180 to 192 and is usually treated as the point at which the empire's fortunes turned. Born in AD 161, he was the son of Marcus Aurelius and the first emperor in nearly a century to be a reigning emperor's biological son — the previous four had been adopted on merit, and the contrast was drawn immediately. He was made co-emperor at sixteen and succeeded at eighteen, while campaigning on the Danube. Against his father's policy and his generals' advice, he made peace with the Marcomanni and Quadi and returned to Rome, abandoning the attempt to annex territory beyond the river. An assassination attempt in 182, involving his sister Lucilla, marked the beginning of the killings. He withdrew from administration and left government to a succession of favourites — the praetorian prefect Perennis, then the freedman Cleander, who sold offices openly and was handed to a mob in 190 — while confiscating senatorial estates to pay for games and donatives. He identified himself with Hercules, appearing in a lion skin with a club, renamed the months after his own titles, and refounded Rome as Colonia Commodiana. He fought in the arena, which was the most shocking thing about him to Roman eyes: gladiators were legally infamous, and an emperor performing as one degraded the office. He is reported to have killed animals from a platform and taken an enormous fee from the public purse for each appearance. On 31 December 192 his mistress Marcia, his chamberlain and the praetorian prefect poisoned him, and when that failed had his wrestling partner Narcissus strangle him in the bath. Civil war followed within months.

• Lived: 161 CE – 192 CE
• Nationality: Italian
• Roles: ruler