A lot of people have asked if I still have any Commodus denarii left. I have a few. They are generally VF, as you can see. This is the Emperor pictured in the movie, The Gladiator. He was the son of Marcus Aurelius and it is with him that they draw the line for the beginning of the decline and fall of Rome. Not shown in the movie was his wife, Crispina, whom he banished to the Isle of Capri and then had her executed.
His sister, Lucilla, also shown in the movie, was terrified of her brother. She did plot to kill her brother. That is true. She was also banished to Capri and then executed. The full version of the 1964 film The Decline and Fall is free on YouTube.
When Commodus was assassinated, the full corruption of the Roman Deep State, the Praetorian Guard, sprung forward. They actually auctioned off the throne to the highest bidder. That was Didius Julianus (193AD) who offered them 25,000 Sestertii per man. He lasted just 66 days on the throne. The Praetorians then abandoned him and he was beheaded.
Edward Gibbon wrote of Commodus in his monumental Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:
“Suspicious princes often promote the last of mankind, from a vain persuasion, that those who have no dependence, except on their favor, will have no attachment, except to the person of their benefactor.”
Edward Gibbon wrote of Commodus: Each
“distinction of every kind soon became criminal. The possession of wealth stimulated the diligence of the informers; rigid virtue implied a tacit censure of the irregularities of Commodus; important services implied a dangerous superiority of merit; and the friendship of the father always insured the aversion of the son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof; trial to condemnation. The execution of a considerable senator was attended with the death of all who might lament or revenge his fate; and when Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse”
(Book 1, Chapter 4).
