Official Name: IMPERATOR MARCUS AURELIUS COMMODUS ANTONINUS AUGUSTUS
Birthdate: August 31, 161 CE.
(Historia Augusta, Life of Commodus, 1)
Birthplace: Lanuvium, Italy.
(Historia Augusta, Life of Commodus, 1)
Reign: Commodus was named emperor in 176 CE, at the age of 15, on the orders of his father Marcus Aurelius. Commodus ruled jointly with his father for a period of four years. When Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180 CE, Commodus became sole emperor.
(Herodian 1.5.1) (Historia Augusta, Life of Commodus, 2.4)
Marriages:
Bruttia Crispina (178-191 CE)
(Cassius Dio, Roman History, 73.4)
Death: Commodus died on December 31, 192 CE in Rome. He was strangled to death by Narcissus, his wrestling partner.
(Historia Augusta, Life of Commodus, 17) (Cassius Dio, Roman History, 73.22)
![](https://ancientromelive.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Copy-of-ARL-Watermark-Portrait.png)
Bust of Commodus, Palazzo Massimo, Rome, September 2019
![](https://ancientromelive.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Copy-of-ARL-Watermark-Portrait-2.png)
Bust of Commodus, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, January 2020
![](https://ancientromelive.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Copy-of-ARL-Watermark-Portrait-3.png)
Bust of Commodus, Musei Capitolini, Rome, April 2019
177
(Historia Augusta, Life of Marcus Aurelius, 22)
192
(Cassius Dio, Roman History, 73.18-19)
192
(Historia Augusta, Life of Commodus, 8-10)
192
(Historia Augusta, Life of Commodus, 17-19)
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Cite this page as: Darius Arya, The American Institute for Roman Culture, “Commodus,” Ancient Rome Live. Last modified 12/11/2022. https://ancientromelive.org/Commodus/
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