Commodus

The first fact about Commodus is a source warning. Cassius Dio Book 73 in Loeb English at https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html (opens in a new tab) is a senator who says he watched the arena. The Loeb scan at https://archive.org/details/diosromanhistory09cassuoft (opens in a new tab) is the same tradition. Herodian in public English at https://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodian-s-roman-history/ (opens in a new tab) is a second Greek narrative, also hostile. Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Commodus (opens in a new tab) and Livius at https://www.livius.org/articles/person/commodus/ (opens in a new tab) are the independent summaries. The Capitoline Hercules bust at https://museicapitolini.org/en/opera/busto-di-commodo-come-ercole (opens in a new tab) is stone, not a joke. British Museum coin types at https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection (opens in a new tab) are a non-literary check. The Historia Augusta Commodus life at https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Commodus*.html (opens in a new tab) is a late compilation of low reliability — colour, not tape. 182 purge, prefect-falls, grain-riot favourite, living Hercules, arena, Colonia Commodiana, then a palace murder. What the score must not say: that HA is a daybook; that damnatio is his statute; that Severus’s later rehabilitation is his affiliation; that Dio’s beast-counts are a census; that the 180 peace is proved cowardice rather than a dated halt. Confidence is high on 180, 192, and the Hercules object; medium on purge totals; low on HA. Related people are Marcus, Lucilla, Faustina the Younger, Perennis, Cleander, Marcia, Laetus, Pertinax. 17 March 180 is not 31 December 192. Renaming is not damnatio. 0178-01-01 (offset, driver humanitarian-access): Commodus is present on Marcus’s late Danubian campaigns as received — official Britannica — Commodus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Commodus (opens in a new tab)); independent Livius — Commodus (https://www.livius.org/articles/person/commodus/ (opens in a new tab)). 0180-03-17 (cost, driver democratic-resilience): Commodus becomes sole emperor on Marcus Aurelius’s death, 17 March 180 — official Britannica — Commodus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Commodus (opens in a new tab)); independent Cassius Dio Book 73 (Loeb English) — Commodus (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html (opens in a new tab)). 0180-10-01 (offset, driver humanitarian-access): Commodus concludes a settlement on the Danube and returns to Rome, ending Marcus’s last war as received — official Britannica — Commodus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Commodus (opens in a new tab)); independent Herodian, Roman History — Livius English (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodian-s-roman-history/ (opens in a new tab)). 0185-01-01 (cost, driver institutional-corruption): The praetorian prefect Tigidius Perennis is removed and killed about 185 as received — official Cassius Dio Book 73 (Loeb English) — Commodus (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html (opens in a new tab)); independent Herodian, Roman History — Livius English (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodian-s-roman-history/ (opens in a new tab)). 0190-01-01 (cost, driver institutional-corruption): The chamberlain Cleander is killed in a 190 grain-riot crisis as received — official Cassius Dio Book 73 (Loeb English) — Commodus (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html (opens in a new tab)); independent Herodian, Roman History — Livius English (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodian-s-roman-history/ (opens in a new tab)). 0191-01-01 (cost, driver political-polarization): Court portraiture presents Commodus as Hercules, as in the Capitoline bust type — official Capitoline Museums — Bust of Commodus as Hercules (MC1120) (https://museicapitolini.org/en/opera/busto-di-commodo-come-ercole (opens in a new tab)); independent Britannica — Commodus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Commodus (opens in a new tab)). 0192-01-01 (cost, driver social-cohesion): Hostile sources print Commodus’s public appearances as gladiator and beast-hunter in the arena — official Cassius Dio Book 73 (Loeb English) — Commodus (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html (opens in a new tab)); independent Herodian, Roman History — Livius English (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodian-s-roman-history/ (opens in a new tab)). 0192-01-01 (cost, driver political-polarization): Commodus renames Rome Colonia Commodiana and recasts institutions and months under his name as received — official Cassius Dio Book 73 (Loeb English) — Commodus (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html (opens in a new tab)); independent Britannica — Commodus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Commodus (opens in a new tab)). 0193-01-01 (cost, driver political-polarization): The senate condemns Commodus’s memory after his death; that damnatio is aftermath, not his act — official Britannica — Commodus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Commodus (opens in a new tab)); independent Historia Augusta, Commodus — LacusCurtius (unreliable late compilation) (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Commodus*.html (opens in a new tab)). Later Loeb, UNESCO, and encyclopedia pages are evidence, not additional acts. Portrait URL is a Wikimedia photograph of the Capitoline Commodus-as-Hercules bust; a later museum image of a court marble is not a sitting photograph. Country is stored as Roman Empire. Role is stored as Roman emperor, sole rule 180–192.