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Commodus (177-192)
AR Denarius (18mm, 2.42g, 6h)
Rome, AD 183
Laureate head r. R/ Mars advancing r., holding spear and trophy.
RIC III 54; RSC 878. VF
Commodus was a Roman emperor who ruled from 176 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until his father's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination.
Commodus also had a passion for gladiatorial combat, which he took so far as to take to the himself, dressed as a . The Romans found Commodus's gladiatorial combats to be scandalous and disgraceful. According to , spectators of Commodus thought it unbecoming of an emperor to take up arms in the amphitheater for sport when he could be campaigning against among other opponents of Rome. The consensus was that it was below his office to participate as a gladiator. Popular rumors spread alleging he was actually the son, not of Marcus Aurelius, but of a gladiator whom his mother Faustina had taken as a lover at the coastal resort of .
