Honestly, abandoning the senate was rather smart, however, his mass killing and hysteria was not smart, in the end, he deserved to die by abandoning his father's conquests and wasting thousands of lives
Small pox plague is the main reason that set in motion other problems that caused 3rd century crisis. Having in mind who his father was if he couldnt do anything at least he shouldnt have made the situation worse
Yo can you guys please help me? My parents promise that if I can get 10k subs before Christmas they will get me a new Headset , and I really need a new one🥺. If y’all could help that would be great, but if you don’t that’s fine.🎄⛄
When almost two millennia later people still talk about how bad of a job you did... Edit: Somehow some American's that apparently think everything is about them took this comment personally and are discussing which of their recent presidents did a worse job..... Guy's, just wait a few thousand years, history will judge. If it even remembers your little squabbles....
It is a lot like the trump administration and his support of the treasonous co-conspiracy Republicans of the senate with co-conspirator McConnell, know that what ever they do, they will get away with it!
@@lastword8783 Don't know, they said the same thing ten years ago that Bush Jr. was one but history rehabilitated him well enough. And America would remember President Trump long after worthless UA-camrs are forgotten.
@wassim games Oh....that's why. If that is the case, how do you become a premium member channel and does premium membership require monetary contributions or anything that is similar to it?
I think it’s a narrative fiction. You’d see something like that in a movie. “Ha ha ha now I am going to kill you ha ha ha”. In real life it wouldn’t happen like that. All though who knows, maybe the guy was trying to send a message, say something like “senate sends his regards”.
It's like when you meet sweet, intelligent, successful parents that have an arrogant, dismissive, and incompetent child. How does such a fertile garden yield such bitter fruit?
It’s the problem with hereditary succession. It’s no coincidence that the zenith of Rome was stewarded by the 5 Good Emperors, all of whom were adopted as heirs based on their abilities and qualifications. As soon as that streak was broken by Commodus, things instantly went to shit. All of Rome’s worst emperors were the sons of emperors and many of the best were not.
My boy Commodus just wanted to watch some games and sip some wine. The only thing he was trying to slay was some snatch, not armies. The OG frat boy that became Emperor.
It seems comodus was at the end a tragic character. Despite his immense potential, he let himself be deceived on various occasions and poisoned by paranoia. Resulting in what would appear to be heinous acts,whilst giving his senatorial enemies plenty of material to use to ruin him and his memory. I wonder how he should have dealt with the corrupted senate to prevent such outcomes.
By Commodus, the Roman empire was basically like North Korea. It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you. Was Perennis really plotting to kill him? I don't know, but you get too close to the sun and you get burned.
Senator: "See, this they are preparing for you." Commodus: "It's treason then." *Screams like a madman and does a 360° spin towards the Senate with his sword in hand.*
Except the senate and his very sister tried to kill him, and the senate was hell bent on pushing Commondus to his limit; they even purposely declared they paid for the land that Commondus gave to his veteran solders just to spite him, and weaken the legitimacy of his reign.
Effectively, he failed to ensure that those who kept him in power were happy enough to ignore his quirks. Very few rulers survive if they don't keep enough of the aristocracy happy.
There's an awful lot of entitlement among the Senatorial class and Senatorial sources, so it's great to see a balanced video. No one person could cause the fall of the Roman Empire, but certainly Commodus' personal style of rule and personal preferences are a precursor to the end of the "Principate" and the start of the "Dominate". After all, the system of "Principate" could only work if there was a "Princeps", which Commodus clearly did not envision himself as. Indeed, the Senate certainly did nothing to make him feel like he belonged among them, so why would he embrace the Augustan style of "First Senator"? Why hold oneself as part of an institution who plotted one's death? The Senate were useless Plutocrats who did very little for Roman society, and other successful Emperors had ruled through freedmen (Claudius) and Prefects (Tiberius) to good effect. It's good to see them put in their rightful place - the trash - instead of held up as heroes.
Septimius Severus, The man who rose to the purple, and more importantly, retain power after the year of the five emperors is an interesting character. Would you guys do a video on him in the future?
@Russ Christiansen wasn’t he of Berber decent ? Berber are those original people of North Africa who lived side by side with the Phoenicians and now with the arabs.
@@alessandrogini5283 Ah yes, Majorian, One of the very few Emperors of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century worth the name. Arguably, the only one worth the title.
@Russ Christiansen Say what you will about Romans, at least during the golden age, if you had ability, and were of noble stock, you could wrise to the purple. Vespasian being one such exemplar.
I'm a historian and did some research on Commodus reign. There are some very nice books that tries to see his rule beyond the "good" or "bad" dichotomy that prevailed in an outdated historiography. I would recommend Oliver Hekster's "Commodus: An Emperor at Crossroads", Geoff Addams "The Emperor Commodus: God, Hercules or a Tyrant?" and John McHugh's "The Emperor Commodus: God and Gladiator". To summarize, Commodus bad reputation is due to senatorial texts that represents him in that way, but when we annalyse epigraphy, numismatics and other archeological findings, we see that Commodus also brought prosperity and peace for 12 years in the Roman Empire and tried to fight the effects of plague and war that characterized Marcus Aurelius reign by enforcing his connection to divinities such as Hercules. He didn't inherit a prosperous empire, but one that was marked by several problems in contrary to the overly idealized representations of Marcus Aurelius reign which, we know, had his life written by the elite senatorial order. Sorry for my grammar, english is not my native language.
Interesting, also Commodus's action of changing name of the empire and all seems a bit far fetched. Is there contemporary evidence to this or its all senatorial historians sayings only?
@@siddarth3955 Actually, he changed the name of the city of rome, the senate, the calendar and the legions. This may seen a bit off, but it was a common thing that emperors did in their time. Julius Caesar remade the calandar, Trajan renamed cities by his own name, Severus Alexander had legions named after him. What scared the senatorial elite was that Commodus did that in such a grand scale in so little time (2 years to be precise). There is a passage in Cassius Dio in wich he complains that Commodus is charging senators in gold coins (aureus) to pay for the games (great fortunes taxation maybe?). So yeah, they didn't had any motives to praise him and that shows in the documentation.
Your English is better than that of most Americans and you make great points... history changes drastically depending on the source... For example, Donald Trump can point to dozens of major accomplishments and very few real failures ... yet about 40% of America thinks he's the worse President ever. This is mostly due to the fact that 95% of American media is owned by Democrats but, that's another story.
THANK YOU I read those books and I'm glad you are pointing it out. Many sources were written by people who hated him, mostly the elite since he increased their taxes (normal since they were wealthier than the people). The Empire wasn't doing so well at the death of Marcus Aurelius, plague, and wars, unstable borders. Commodus ended some of those wars and fortified the borders of the Empire, I went in Aquincum in Hungary and there are pieces dedicated to Commodus specifically because the borders had become secure and more peaceful. And he was loved by the People, their Hercules, when he died, until Severus and Caracalla it was a whole mess and the economic and political situation worsened. Yes Marcus Aurelius was great but he did some shit and he wasn't perfect, just like his son wasn't an idiot monster and did some great things.
"Cleander also sold positions, promotions [...]. In our age, this kind of cronyism is rightfully decried as unaccaptle [...]" Actually... Does not seem unfamilar to my ears, also nowadays...
That is done to this day. All judge's, embassy appointments. It is done in all areas of government and business. (welcome to the Corporate board, retired government official) Nice political parties donations. Hahaha
Given the current regime occupying the White House, I would venture , "nepotism & cronyism" are not only the norm in American society today, but celebrated and embraced.
The Antonine Plague of that period had also weakened the empire economic and strengh wise, it is said that many legions were severely affected, some wipped out.
Once again a very scholarly and professional video! A critical examination of the sources may well rehabilitate the early rule of Commodus, but it's hard to argue that the madness in his last years was in line with previous emperors. That is a balanced story that seems to do justice to the past.
Would you be so kind as to make suggestions for articles or books that back up what he says that contradicts the more established about Commodus's early reign?
I knew the movie Gladiator wasn't meant to be historical, more a metaphor of 2005. However, I hadn't realized how different the historically likely Commodus was from the portrayed version.
I love the sponsor, I use it myself to organize a novel I am writing, your videos are a huge inspiration, the intrigue and stories are fantastic and the military history has helped me design fantastic armies based off various armies rooted in history.
This really turns another eye off the commodus most roman histories would tells us about. And it really shines a spotlight of attention and importance on "sources" when and most importantly about certain persons of historical notice.
Say what you will about this guy but he ranks as one of my top 5 favorite emperors of Rome simply for his tenacity to be the only Emperor to step into the Colosseum as a gladiator.
@@13Voorheespt2 All of that is probably false, the senate would spread such rumours about any emperor that threatened their authority just as they did to Caligula
I randomly watched Gladiator yesterday and ended up seeing a Marcus Aurelius quote in CyberPunk and a Commodus Documentary from you guys. This is great.
To those who loved Gladiator I'd really recommend to watch the 1964 movie "The Fall of the Roman Empire" in wich Christopher Plummer does an awesome job playing Commodus.
Talk of an end to a golden age with Commodus gets kind of upended by the fact that the Roman Empire had a tough time under Marcus Aurelius with wars and plagues. In fact, Marcus Aurelius had been almost permanently campaigning on the Danube during most of Commodus' lifetime, and would die of sickness - possibly from some plague, as would his co-Emperor, Lucius Verus, years earlier. So things had already gone down hill, with a pre industrial, agricultural based society. There just isn't enough information to understand how badly impacted the population was by those crises by the time Commodus came to power, but an experienced, shrewd ruler (or college of rulers, a junta) was likely needed. That being said, and taking accounts of the times with a big grain of salt, seems the consensus presented is that Commodus let slip the gains of the years of campaigning of Marcus Aurelius. Plans for Marcomannia and Sarmatia never came to pass. And in later years, Commodus apparently began to act erratically, and seriously mismanage power and governance of at least Rome, the metropolitan area.
People have goldfish memory. To this day, we don't blame people who try to maintain unsustainable policies. We blame the person who gets left with the hot potato when it decides to go off like a grenade.
@GothGirl Marseilles But is he the cause of the crash? Or is it the moron that put him in charge? ^^ Note that before Marcus Aurelius, roman empire was not a succession by dybasty, they choose their successors by adopting them ^^
Commodus didn't the golden age. His actions were not usually for his time except for the gladiatorial. The noble contribute significantly to the decline of Rome.
@@htoodoh5770 Yeah, of course you will not choose any freedman as a successor ^^ But chosing in your whole family gives a little more choice than your eldest son XD
He definitely wasn’t one of the better ones lol. The better ones know how to play the Roman political game like Trajan, Titus, and Claudius. If you’re no good at the game, you just avoid playing it by being out all the time like Hadrian lol. Although he definitely wasn’t as bad as what a lot of people think.
I'm on Commodus' side, the empire fell into chaos after his death because he was holding it together. He was able to repress the warring factions and the senate and after his death all of that boiled over the top.
This reads a lot like Nero's reign (unlike Caligula who was a complete psycho from the start). He starts off normally, with capable and trusted advisors but then betrayal (even from family members) and paranoia sweep in and basically he gets to a stand off with the senatorial class who despised him (and wrote the history afterwards). Tales of wild excentricity soon followed. They both seemed to be quite popular with the common folk too, although some aspects of Commodus reign like changing the name of Rome seem even more insane than Nero's historicallly confirmed antics
I think that if he was so badly described, it is just because he was the son of Marcus Aurelius and for that people were waiting from him to be as efficient and good as his father. I don't think that he was that bad in reality, paranoid yes, but not completely insane
How in the world did he find this many sets of identical twins from the same family line to be his advisors? They all look exactly the same despite the age difference. Amazing.
@@htoodoh5770 The joke is that Gladiator was a historical movie with Ridley Scott being a historian and that he wrote the film to portray the actual story.
@Bad Horse He murdered a lot of people yes, but to be fair a lot of them were actually trying to assassinate him first because they wanted to take power from him. I wouldn't say he messed up the war, the video explains that he actually defeated the germans before returning to Rome. About insulted the history and name of Rome... When did he actually did it? Like this video explain he actually invested money in public projects, and even if it's true that he invested a lot in public games, it was actually frequently done by many emperors to gain the heart of the peoples. It was probably a political move more than just a waste. The video also explained that he ruled the empire, but he also indulged in arena fighting where he seemed to have been pretty good. It was probably also a campaign of propaganda to show his strength valor to the people of Rome in a period of general peace for the empire. Yes, the senate didn't like it but the people of Rome should have appreciated the spectacle. Also, it seems that he had as his right hand's capable peoples in administration, even if they were a little too betraying and backstabbing between each other. He didn't do everything right, notably by pissing of the senate. But he didn't do everything wrong either.
@@kevinreiss-coint2353 The real problem is what he leaves behind. Rome enjoy such a heights for a long time and people get used to it. But then he destroyed the economy in a few years and what follow is a disaster. With out chad emperor Severus Rome probably fall after that.
@@simpiusmaximus4962 I think that the disaster that followed him has much more to do with the fact that had no heir at his death than anything else. It's a bad habit of the Roman empire to fall in disarray because of a lack of a clear heir for the title of Emperor. I don't think that he is actually responsible for the economic crash, Rome was habituated to fill its coffers with the result of the plunder of its campaigns, but in a period of peace, it was difficult to do that. One of Rome main problems was that it was overexpanded for a long time and didn't have the economy to protect all of its borders, but it was much the result of the actions of its predecessors rather than him. And he actually tried to find a way to resolve this crisis.
Hot take: even though regarded as one of the Five Good Emperors and appearing in everyone's top 10 Emperor list, it was Marcus Aurelius who marked the end of the golden era.
More great looking content. Would love to see some more videos featuring roman engineering in battles. Such as building the stone ramp to the top of a cliff.
@@osamabinladenmiliciano5.538 I mean, under democracy, it is _your_ life. Under any other system, it's either the state's life, or the king's life, or the demagogue's life, to do with whatever they please with it. If you have a disdain for Demagoguery, then fight _for_ Democracy, not against it.
Yo can you guys please help me? My parents promise that if I can get 10k subs before Christmas they will get me a new Headset , and I really need a new one🥺. If y’all could help that would be great, but if you don’t that’s fine.🎄⛄
@@darthvenator2487 Terrorists and Freedom fighters are just terms used by those in power. One himself is always a freedom fighter and those against oneself are always terrorists. That's why Osama Bin Laden in the West is propagated as a terrorist, while Bush fought for "freedom and democracy".
Being only a few hundred years before the end of the Western Empire, it makes you wonder what would have happened if any number of events had gone differently. Maybe Commodus would have become even greater than Marcus Aurelius in his old age or if he'd lived longer, maybe he'd have passed on the throne to a capable son who would have been like his grandfather. If things would have happened like this, maybe Rome would have been in better shape to face the 3rd century and repel invaders and maybe would have lasted a lot longer. Who knows..
Yeah, it's kind of unsettling hearing that someone I've been told all my life was a villain that destroyed Rome may have just been a weirdo. And that his enemies may have been the ones that truly did the damage but cast all the blame on him. I'm new to this channel. How reliable are they? I don't want to abandon conventional wisdom because of one UA-cam video.
@@ressljs This video is filled with assumption. If you say the source is biased but do not have another source to back up your thinking, then all you have is speculation, not history.
The emperor’s reputation would always be on the line if they try to mess with the senate. Same thing happened to Domitian. It almost happened to Hadrian but he was too loved by the entire population to suffer a reputation hit. Smart emperors try to placate the senate, like Trajan and Titus, resulting in impeccable legacies. Additionally, note that a lot of the source comes from Cassius Dio, which is of the senatorial class lol.
Great content as always! One thing I've noticed is that the Latin speech sound effect in the background has the tendency to obfuscate your own words sometimes. Maybe you could turn this down in future videos?
"Our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust, as affairs did for the Romans of that day." Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book LXXII.
What do you think? Was there any merit in the actions of emperor Commodus?
I think that after all, he wasn't that bad. Basically rendering the senate useless was, imo, a good thing due to corruption inside.
Honestly, abandoning the senate was rather smart, however, his mass killing and hysteria was not smart, in the end, he deserved to die by abandoning his father's conquests and wasting thousands of lives
Small pox plague is the main reason that set in motion other problems that caused 3rd century crisis. Having in mind who his father was if he couldnt do anything at least he shouldnt have made the situation worse
Yo can you guys please help me? My parents promise that if I can get 10k subs before Christmas they will get me a new Headset , and I really need a new one🥺. If y’all could help that would be great, but if you don’t that’s fine.🎄⛄
Honestly, it should be Cleander that should be hated
This is why you never tell the assassin who he is working for
It reminds me of the meme where the assassin pours poison in the wine uses his finger to stir it then sucks it
@@jacobperschbacher3928 I think I seen that too
Unless of course you want to promote a certain agenda. Getting rid of Senators, for example.
@@Rjd575 Next level plays. 200 IQ
@@jacobperschbacher3928 lmaoo thats one way to hide the evidence
"He removed senator's from the power structure.."
He *was* the Senate.
Darth Commodus
He’s too dangerous to be left alive
He wasn't the Senate. He only has control of the Senate and the courts.
He removed part of himself then 😆
Legend is he was a Sith Lord.
So Commodus is basically a Warband character...
Lol
despite losing war, we feast!
@@prussianrocket2702 calm down Harlaus
@@prussianrocket2702 butter for everyone!
No he was an early viking
These videos specifically on a certain emperor are really nice. Maybe even do more people like Theodoric of the Visigoths.
Ostro not visi.
@@Biggvs_dickvs no, Ostrogoths were under Attila, but Visigoths, like Theodoric were under Aetius during Battle of the Catalaunian Plains
I Was talking about Theoderic (Amal) while you guys where talking about Theoderic (Balth/balt).
Just a misunderstanding.
@@Biggvs_dickvs which one sacked rome?
@@OCinneide Alaric
When almost two millennia later people still talk about how bad of a job you did...
Edit: Somehow some American's that apparently think everything is about them took this comment personally and are discussing which of their recent presidents did a worse job.....
Guy's, just wait a few thousand years, history will judge. If it even remembers your little squabbles....
"What we do in life...echoes in eternity." -Maximus
@@00784865 that's a quote from the meditations
It is a lot like the trump administration and his support of the treasonous co-conspiracy Republicans of the senate with co-conspirator McConnell, know that what ever they do, they will get away with it!
@@lastword8783
Don't know, they said the same thing ten years ago that Bush Jr. was one but history rehabilitated him well enough. And America would remember President Trump long after worthless UA-camrs are forgotten.
@@drewdowns7128 yea i know it from the movie Gladiator, so thanks for telling me.
Commodus:"Am I not merciful?"
Narcissus:"No, you are not."
Are you not entertained, my Almighty Algorithm?
Woah...how come you have commented 16 hours ago when the video was just uploaded around 25 mins?
@wassim games Oh....that's why. If that is the case, how do you become a premium member channel and does premium membership require monetary contributions or anything that is similar to it?
Claudius: "See? This is what they're preparing for you!"
Me: "OMG, less talk and more stabbing, your idiot!"
Less talking, more raiding!
@@JamesJJSMilton It's almost harvesting season
Commodus: "Nope"
I think it’s a narrative fiction. You’d see something like that in a movie. “Ha ha ha now I am going to kill you ha ha ha”. In real life it wouldn’t happen like that. All though who knows, maybe the guy was trying to send a message, say something like “senate sends his regards”.
Out for a stroll are we?
It always amazed me how one of the greatest Emperor's of Rome would immediately be followed up by one of the worst
It's like when you meet sweet, intelligent, successful parents that have an arrogant, dismissive, and incompetent child. How does such a fertile garden yield such bitter fruit?
Yep, that Hadrian guy, right?
It’s the problem with hereditary succession. It’s no coincidence that the zenith of Rome was stewarded by the 5 Good Emperors, all of whom were adopted as heirs based on their abilities and qualifications. As soon as that streak was broken by Commodus, things instantly went to shit. All of Rome’s worst emperors were the sons of emperors and many of the best were not.
@Hannibal B True
@Hannibal B- From JFK to LBJ
My boy Commodus just wanted to watch some games and sip some wine. The only thing he was trying to slay was some snatch, not armies. The OG frat boy that became Emperor.
Toga! Toga! Toga!
"But it was me, CASSIUS DIO!"
MVDA MVDA MVDA MVDA MVDA. M-V-D-A!!!
VRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Oho, you're approaching me?
V seconds left
IV seconds left
III seconds left
II seconds left
“I reject my Romanity!”
It seems comodus was at the end a tragic character. Despite his immense potential, he let himself be deceived on various occasions and poisoned by paranoia. Resulting in what would appear to be heinous acts,whilst giving his senatorial enemies plenty of material to use to ruin him and his memory.
I wonder how he should have dealt with the corrupted senate to prevent such outcomes.
By Commodus, the Roman empire was basically like North Korea. It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you. Was Perennis really plotting to kill him? I don't know, but you get too close to the sun and you get burned.
Дион Кассий это объяснил небольшим умом императора.
“Nothing happens to anyone that he is not fitted by nature to bear.” - Maximus
"What we do in life...echoes in eternity."
Senator: "See, this they are preparing for you."
Commodus: "It's treason then."
*Screams like a madman and does a 360° spin towards the Senate with his sword in hand.*
Except the senate and his very sister tried to kill him, and the senate was hell bent on pushing Commondus to his limit; they even purposely declared they paid for the land that Commondus gave to his veteran solders just to spite him, and weaken the legitimacy of his reign.
@@Dorkeydaze The joke.
Your head.
@@admiralsquatbar127
What a brilliant rebuttal!
This doesn't sound too far fetched knowing Commodus is a gladiator fighter.
@@Dorkeydaze it is
Effectively, he failed to ensure that those who kept him in power were happy enough to ignore his quirks. Very few rulers survive if they don't keep enough of the aristocracy happy.
There's an awful lot of entitlement among the Senatorial class and Senatorial sources, so it's great to see a balanced video. No one person could cause the fall of the Roman Empire, but certainly Commodus' personal style of rule and personal preferences are a precursor to the end of the "Principate" and the start of the "Dominate". After all, the system of "Principate" could only work if there was a "Princeps", which Commodus clearly did not envision himself as. Indeed, the Senate certainly did nothing to make him feel like he belonged among them, so why would he embrace the Augustan style of "First Senator"? Why hold oneself as part of an institution who plotted one's death?
The Senate were useless Plutocrats who did very little for Roman society, and other successful Emperors had ruled through freedmen (Claudius) and Prefects (Tiberius) to good effect. It's good to see them put in their rightful place - the trash - instead of held up as heroes.
This!! 🙌🏼
Nice one
Septimius Severus, The man who rose to the purple, and more importantly, retain power after the year of the five emperors is an interesting character.
Would you guys do a video on him in the future?
@Russ Christiansen wasn’t he of Berber decent ? Berber are those original people of North Africa who lived side by side with the Phoenicians and now with the arabs.
@@hassanbassim4007 no he was half Punic; colonists from modern day Lebanon. He was also half Roman.
Also Alexander Severus and Majoran deserve an own video
@@alessandrogini5283
Ah yes, Majorian, One of the very few Emperors of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century worth the name.
Arguably, the only one worth the title.
@Russ Christiansen
Say what you will about Romans, at least during the golden age, if you had ability, and were of noble stock, you could wrise to the purple.
Vespasian being one such exemplar.
-> Stares down at UA-cam Algorithm.
*"Am I not merciful?"*
-> Grabs UA-cam Algorith.
*"AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!?"*
Algorithm: *"Nope"*
I'm a historian and did some research on Commodus reign. There are some very nice books that tries to see his rule beyond the "good" or "bad" dichotomy that prevailed in an outdated historiography. I would recommend Oliver Hekster's "Commodus: An Emperor at Crossroads", Geoff Addams "The Emperor Commodus: God, Hercules or a Tyrant?" and John McHugh's "The Emperor Commodus: God and Gladiator". To summarize, Commodus bad reputation is due to senatorial texts that represents him in that way, but when we annalyse epigraphy, numismatics and other archeological findings, we see that Commodus also brought prosperity and peace for 12 years in the Roman Empire and tried to fight the effects of plague and war that characterized Marcus Aurelius reign by enforcing his connection to divinities such as Hercules. He didn't inherit a prosperous empire, but one that was marked by several problems in contrary to the overly idealized representations of Marcus Aurelius reign which, we know, had his life written by the elite senatorial order. Sorry for my grammar, english is not my native language.
Interesting, also Commodus's action of changing name of the empire and all seems a bit far fetched. Is there contemporary evidence to this or its all senatorial historians sayings only?
@@siddarth3955 Actually, he changed the name of the city of rome, the senate, the calendar and the legions. This may seen a bit off, but it was a common thing that emperors did in their time. Julius Caesar remade the calandar, Trajan renamed cities by his own name, Severus Alexander had legions named after him. What scared the senatorial elite was that Commodus did that in such a grand scale in so little time (2 years to be precise). There is a passage in Cassius Dio in wich he complains that Commodus is charging senators in gold coins (aureus) to pay for the games (great fortunes taxation maybe?). So yeah, they didn't had any motives to praise him and that shows in the documentation.
@@pedrovieiramarquesdeolivei4142 Oh cool cool but he does seem to have been popular amongst the masses except for a few elites...
Your English is better than that of most Americans and you make great points... history changes drastically depending on the source... For example, Donald Trump can point to dozens of major accomplishments and very few real failures ... yet about 40% of America thinks he's the worse President ever.
This is mostly due to the fact that 95% of American media is owned by Democrats but, that's another story.
THANK YOU I read those books and I'm glad you are pointing it out. Many sources were written by people who hated him, mostly the elite since he increased their taxes (normal since they were wealthier than the people). The Empire wasn't doing so well at the death of Marcus Aurelius, plague, and wars, unstable borders. Commodus ended some of those wars and fortified the borders of the Empire, I went in Aquincum in Hungary and there are pieces dedicated to Commodus specifically because the borders had become secure and more peaceful. And he was loved by the People, their Hercules, when he died, until Severus and Caracalla it was a whole mess and the economic and political situation worsened. Yes Marcus Aurelius was great but he did some shit and he wasn't perfect, just like his son wasn't an idiot monster and did some great things.
"Cleander also sold positions, promotions [...]. In our age, this kind of cronyism is rightfully decried as unaccaptle [...]"
Actually... Does not seem unfamilar to my ears, also nowadays...
That is done to this day. All judge's, embassy appointments. It is done in all areas of government and business. (welcome to the Corporate board, retired government official) Nice political parties donations. Hahaha
I'm pretty sure they're saying that stuff like that was Approved of to a greater extent. As in seen as something Admirable.
Given the current regime occupying the White House, I would venture , "nepotism & cronyism" are not only the norm in American society today, but celebrated and embraced.
"Am I Not Merciful!"
-Emperor Joaquin
The Antonine Plague of that period had also weakened the empire economic and strengh wise, it is said that many legions were severely affected, some wipped out.
Commodus: Who told the senate this lies?
Cassius: It's was me Dio!!!
Claudius: "You sly dog, you got me monologuing!”
"HES SPENDING MONEY HES CORRUPT REEEE" says the aristocratic class famed for lavish parties
Well here in Italy we never stopped this noble thing of corruption 😂
@@CandorHispanus why’d you bold “their”
thats not particularly true nor does it combat what i said.
This is why I hated the Senate more than the emperors and take their horrors about their rulers with a grain of salt.
@@onehope6448 Italian's are just the best at it
4:25 "When you shoot, shoot, don't talk."
Enemies everywhere . Poor choice of associates , no discernment .
tragic is the emperor
@Red Eagle oh shut up
The truth is everybody would be envious and annoyed by his success and way of doing things. And in the end, it would get him killed.
Sounds like a description of DJT's term in office ...
Once again a very scholarly and professional video! A critical examination of the sources may well rehabilitate the early rule of Commodus, but it's hard to argue that the madness in his last years was in line with previous emperors. That is a balanced story that seems to do justice to the past.
Would you be so kind as to make suggestions for articles or books that back up what he says that contradicts the more established about Commodus's early reign?
I knew the movie Gladiator wasn't meant to be historical, more a metaphor of 2005. However, I hadn't realized how different the historically likely Commodus was from the portrayed version.
I love the sponsor, I use it myself to organize a novel I am writing, your videos are a huge inspiration, the intrigue and stories are fantastic and the military history has helped me design fantastic armies based off various armies rooted in history.
When you invested all points in strength and charisma but none in luck and intelligence.
Maybe he had ptsd from when they first tried to kill him🤷♂️
Ya dude never got past that.
@@SomeDude518
Was the same goes for Tsar Ivan The Terrible? Watching his mother killed can't be good for mental health.
@@thanakonpraepanich4284 Louise XV also watch peasants barge in to his bed room.
@@thanakonpraepanich4284 yes but killing your own son is not normal under any circumstance
Especially since his own sister was part of it
This really turns another eye off the commodus most roman histories would tells us about. And it really shines a spotlight of attention and importance on "sources" when and most importantly about certain persons of historical notice.
Say what you will about this guy but he ranks as one of my top 5 favorite emperors of Rome simply for his tenacity to be the only Emperor to step into the Colosseum as a gladiator.
he tortured and clubbed cripples to death in the arena,dressed in his Hercules costume,pretending those he killed to be giants.
And stabbed by Maximus the Merciful.
@@13Voorheespt2 All of that is probably false, the senate would spread such rumours about any emperor that threatened their authority just as they did to Caligula
@@circleancopan7748Lmao I see what you did there, nice reference
Thank you. I love the Roman history lessons. Much appreciated.
'Wake me up when Hercules ends'
I love that Greenday song
Your channel has grown so much, I remember seeing this channel when it had 500k subscribers.
I randomly watched Gladiator yesterday and ended up seeing a Marcus Aurelius quote in CyberPunk and a Commodus Documentary from you guys. This is great.
Commodus : I wonder, did your friend smile at his own death?
Maximus : You must know. He was your father.
To those who loved Gladiator I'd really recommend to watch the 1964 movie "The Fall of the Roman Empire" in wich Christopher Plummer does an awesome job playing Commodus.
Jesus loves you
This is one of your best videos ever! Although a lot of his story was know to me, you never fail to add new information to one's knowledge.
Talk of an end to a golden age with Commodus gets kind of upended by the fact that the Roman Empire had a tough time under Marcus Aurelius with wars and plagues. In fact, Marcus Aurelius had been almost permanently campaigning on the Danube during most of Commodus' lifetime, and would die of sickness - possibly from some plague, as would his co-Emperor, Lucius Verus, years earlier. So things had already gone down hill, with a pre industrial, agricultural based society. There just isn't enough information to understand how badly impacted the population was by those crises by the time Commodus came to power, but an experienced, shrewd ruler (or college of rulers, a junta) was likely needed.
That being said, and taking accounts of the times with a big grain of salt, seems the consensus presented is that Commodus let slip the gains of the years of campaigning of Marcus Aurelius. Plans for Marcomannia and Sarmatia never came to pass. And in later years, Commodus apparently began to act erratically, and seriously mismanage power and governance of at least Rome, the metropolitan area.
People have goldfish memory. To this day, we don't blame people who try to maintain unsustainable policies. We blame the person who gets left with the hot potato when it decides to go off like a grenade.
@@hypothalapotamus5293 Yeah. People have biases with the current propaganda.
My god. You made him look veeeeery very cool. I loved it. Very nice. Great recuperation of Commodus! Great video!!!!
"Did Commodus End the Golden Age of Rome?"
"Yes. Next question, please!"
@GothGirl Marseilles But is he the cause of the crash? Or is it the moron that put him in charge? ^^
Note that before Marcus Aurelius, roman empire was not a succession by dybasty, they choose their successors by adopting them ^^
@@krankarvolund7771 most adopted successor were related to the emperor.
Commodus didn't the golden age. His actions were not usually for his time except for the gladiatorial. The noble contribute significantly to the decline of Rome.
@@htoodoh5770 Yeah, of course you will not choose any freedman as a successor ^^
But chosing in your whole family gives a little more choice than your eldest son XD
@@krankarvolund7771 Just make sure you made clear or else they will be disputes and pretenders.
Commodus was actually not a terrible emperor. He was just an unpopular one that had many enemies and that drove him to become paranoid.
Seems he was one of the better, but a little too much overall.
He definitely wasn’t one of the better ones lol. The better ones know how to play the Roman political game like Trajan, Titus, and Claudius. If you’re no good at the game, you just avoid playing it by being out all the time like Hadrian lol. Although he definitely wasn’t as bad as what a lot of people think.
Kings and generals are to conquer YT with these vicious videos! Keep going, brothers 👊
can you do a video on Kushitic queen Amanirenace's battles with romans?
Have you considered creating a playlist that did these Roman History videos in historical chronological order? I think that'd be petty awesome
These profile videos are great, I'd love to hear about more emperors, perhaps even some Cartheginian or Gaulic leaders too!
I'm on Commodus' side, the empire fell into chaos after his death because he was holding it together. He was able to repress the warring factions and the senate and after his death all of that boiled over the top.
Kings and Generals is the best! Love your Roman stuff still the most! Keep up the good work.
Can you do one detailing the United States-Barbary pirate conflict?
Always glad to see notifications about your channel. Keep up the good work
This reads a lot like Nero's reign (unlike Caligula who was a complete psycho from the start).
He starts off normally, with capable and trusted advisors but then betrayal (even from family members) and paranoia sweep in and basically he gets to a stand off with the senatorial class who despised him (and wrote the history afterwards). Tales of wild excentricity soon followed.
They both seemed to be quite popular with the common folk too, although some aspects of Commodus reign like changing the name of Rome seem even more insane than Nero's historicallly confirmed antics
Commodus literally did the same thing as Constantine and Diocletian but way in advance, hoes mad
Yeah true
*senate mad
Last time I was this early, Rome was still a city state.
love the Rome content. Please keep it coming. This channel is an absolute treasure.
I think that if he was so badly described, it is just because he was the son of Marcus Aurelius and for that people were waiting from him to be as efficient and good as his father. I don't think that he was that bad in reality, paranoid yes, but not completely insane
Great documentry! Thanks, king and Generals team.
How in the world did he find this many sets of identical twins from the same family line to be his advisors? They all look exactly the same despite the age difference. Amazing.
Come on! I thought the historian Ridley Scott had already debunked all of this nonsense.
Strength and honor.
Who is Ridley Scott? I only know the film director Ridley Scott.
@@htoodoh5770 The joke is that Gladiator was a historical movie with Ridley Scott being a historian and that he wrote the film to portray the actual story.
@@arandomoctopus2532 you are a liar. Christian Bale is Moses.
The Chinese have a saying: "Even heroes die in the beds of beauties"
OOF
@@ktheterkuceder6825 that poor weak-hearted fella
I'm addicted too anything this channel makes brilliant content but why is your version so different too other historians
When you put it like that, Commodus seems pretty based, ngl
That ostrich head thing was such a chad move, spitting in the face of the senate
Great video, how sad Commodus was "removed" from power only to see the roman empire decline further.. such a shame!
Actually Commodus don't seem to be asso bad emperor.
Gladiator made him look like that
@@byzantinetales And the roman senate.
@Bad Horse He murdered a lot of people yes, but to be fair a lot of them were actually trying to assassinate him first because they wanted to take power from him.
I wouldn't say he messed up the war, the video explains that he actually defeated the germans before returning to Rome.
About insulted the history and name of Rome... When did he actually did it?
Like this video explain he actually invested money in public projects, and even if it's true that he invested a lot in public games, it was actually frequently done by many emperors to gain the heart of the peoples. It was probably a political move more than just a waste.
The video also explained that he ruled the empire, but he also indulged in arena fighting where he seemed to have been pretty good. It was probably also a campaign of propaganda to show his strength valor to the people of Rome in a period of general peace for the empire. Yes, the senate didn't like it but the people of Rome should have appreciated the spectacle. Also, it seems that he had as his right hand's capable peoples in administration, even if they were a little too betraying and backstabbing between each other.
He didn't do everything right, notably by pissing of the senate. But he didn't do everything wrong either.
@@kevinreiss-coint2353 The real problem is what he leaves behind. Rome enjoy such a heights for a long time and people get used to it. But then he destroyed the economy in a few years and what follow is a disaster. With out chad emperor Severus Rome probably fall after that.
@@simpiusmaximus4962 I think that the disaster that followed him has much more to do with the fact that had no heir at his death than anything else. It's a bad habit of the Roman empire to fall in disarray because of a lack of a clear heir for the title of Emperor.
I don't think that he is actually responsible for the economic crash, Rome was habituated to fill its coffers with the result of the plunder of its campaigns, but in a period of peace, it was difficult to do that. One of Rome main problems was that it was overexpanded for a long time and didn't have the economy to protect all of its borders, but it was much the result of the actions of its predecessors rather than him. And he actually tried to find a way to resolve this crisis.
What a good video man, excelent narrations and a lot I didn't knew. Thanks.
Ah yes, Congress. Opposite of Progress.
*oof*
Con =/= opposite of pro in this case. Like concert or conference.
oh shoott
Yes, because a dictatorship is a grand improvement. 🙄
@@dubuyajay9964 it is
Legend has it that he had a new and innovative throne built which supported on-spot pooping. He named it after himself. Commode
Hot take: even though regarded as one of the Five Good Emperors and appearing in everyone's top 10 Emperor list, it was Marcus Aurelius who marked the end of the golden era.
The Netflix series "Roman Empire", season 1, I think does a nice job at humanizing Commodus and making his actions understandable.
More great looking content.
Would love to see some more videos featuring roman engineering in battles. Such as building the stone ramp to the top of a cliff.
Was taking a shit when i stumbled upon this video, perfect time to whip! Although the content and production is amazing.
Claudius: "See? This is what they're preparing for you!"
Lil Wayne: Real G's moves in silence like lasagna.
How can people thumb down such high quality videos???
This video makes me feel much better about living in a democracy!
Not perfect, but we have it better than anyone before us
Democracy leads to Caesaerism (demagoguery) I wouldn’t trust it with my life.
Republic
@@osamabinladenmiliciano5.538 I mean, under democracy, it is _your_ life.
Under any other system, it's either the state's life, or the king's life, or the demagogue's life, to do with whatever they please with it.
If you have a disdain for Demagoguery, then fight _for_ Democracy, not against it.
Yo can you guys please help me? My parents promise that if I can get 10k subs before Christmas they will get me a new Headset , and I really need a new one🥺. If y’all could help that would be great, but if you don’t that’s fine.🎄⛄
Awesooome narration as always please do a biography on Vespasian my favorite roman emperor a great story!
I find emperors like Commodus and Domitian who were despised by senators really better than they are actually portrayed, especially Domitian.
Sure pal and Osama bin Laden wasn't a terrorist.
@@darthvenator2487 Terrorists and Freedom fighters are just terms used by those in power. One himself is always a freedom fighter and those against oneself are always terrorists. That's why Osama Bin Laden in the West is propagated as a terrorist, while Bush fought for "freedom and democracy".
Thank you , K&G .
You can get all the Lucius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Felix you want but Maximus Decimus Meridius is still more badass( even if it fictional)
i think the real commodus can go toe to toe with maximus in one v one gladiatorial combat without wounding him beforehand
A cameo from Lucius Vorenus at 3:52
It's hard to picture that both the reigns of Nero and Caligula were part of the golden age of Rome
I love the history of the Roman Empire.
Please make more documentarties of Rome.
Being only a few hundred years before the end of the Western Empire, it makes you wonder what would have happened if any number of events had gone differently. Maybe Commodus would have become even greater than Marcus Aurelius in his old age or if he'd lived longer, maybe he'd have passed on the throne to a capable son who would have been like his grandfather. If things would have happened like this, maybe Rome would have been in better shape to face the 3rd century and repel invaders and maybe would have lasted a lot longer. Who knows..
Thank you for another very interesting video!
Short answer: yes
Long answer: still yes
Kings and Generals have me very entertained today
Feels more like the senate screwed rome over if anything lol.
Ye definitely lol
Yeah, it's kind of unsettling hearing that someone I've been told all my life was a villain that destroyed Rome may have just been a weirdo. And that his enemies may have been the ones that truly did the damage but cast all the blame on him. I'm new to this channel. How reliable are they? I don't want to abandon conventional wisdom because of one UA-cam video.
@@ressljs highly reliable so far. I have not seen anything particularly biased or really bad in anyway.
@@ressljs This video is filled with assumption. If you say the source is biased but do not have another source to back up your thinking, then all you have is speculation, not history.
The emperor’s reputation would always be on the line if they try to mess with the senate. Same thing happened to Domitian. It almost happened to Hadrian but he was too loved by the entire population to suffer a reputation hit. Smart emperors try to placate the senate, like Trajan and Titus, resulting in impeccable legacies. Additionally, note that a lot of the source comes from Cassius Dio, which is of the senatorial class lol.
Great content as always! One thing I've noticed is that the Latin speech sound effect in the background has the tendency to obfuscate your own words sometimes. Maybe you could turn this down in future videos?
I'm sure his gladiator fights were guaranteed. This is the Emperor of Rome, it's all about control at all times.
Holy shit, I just watched the Netflix series about Rome and Commodus, love the timing!!
Wow the senators must've been so fed up of Commodus bragging his physically superior body
The first ever to use "Post Physique"
Wonderful video!
"Our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust, as affairs did for the Romans of that day."
Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book LXXII.
Brutal and cut throat .... great video!
Funny how those Roman aristocrats were never fond of parting with a single denarii.
Great video as always.
Ah yes, Commodus, the man whom they name The Commode after
props to your artists