How did the Roman Emperor Commodus contribute to the Fall of Rome?
Commodus’ accession to power, ended a spell of 80 years in Roman history which had brought men to the throne by merit rather than by birth. The last man to take the throne merely by right of birth had been Domitian. If Commodus merely had not lived up to the gruelingly high standards of his father, the world would have most likely forgiven him. But rather than just failing to be a brilliant emperor, 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 honour, and who slaughtered his way through the circuses in ludicrous displays of ‘manliness’. Despite his initial promises to the army to continue Marcus Aurelius’ attempts of expanding the empire into the territories conquered from the Quadi and Marcomanni, Commodus soon after surrendered all his father had achieved in his wars. Indeed, Commodus’ thoughts tha
Commodus’ accession to power, ended a spell of 80 years in Roman history which had brought men to the throne by merit rather than by birth. The last man to take the throne merely by right of birth had been Domitian. If Commodus merely had not lived up to the gruelingly high standards of his father, the world would have most likely forgiven him. But rather than just failing to be a brilliant emperor, 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 honour, and who slaughtered his way through the circuses in ludicrous displays of ‘manliness’. Despite his initial promises to the army to continue Marcus Aurelius’ attempts of expanding the empire into the territories conquered from the Quadi and Marcomanni, Commodus soon after surrendered all his father had achieved in his wars. Indeed, Commodus’ thoughts tha
