Michael S. Davis
Ms. Sandra Floore
History 101-005
June 17, 2008
A Comparative Look at Commodus the Man and the Fictitious
Joaquin Phoenix, as Commodus in the movie “Gladiator,” was convincing as a portrayal of a man unfit to rule. This similarity however is quickly overshadowed by the many apparent disproportionate Hollywood-isms added to enhance the screenplay.
In the movie Commodus is depicted as a cruel, villainous son whose love and hatred of his father, Marcus Aurelius, resulted in the subsequent murder of his father at the hands of Commodus himself. In reality Commodus was nowhere near Marcus Aurelius when he died and quickly arranged for his father’s funeral as a good son would. In “Gladiator” Commodus dies in the Coliseum fighting a gladiator, but in reality he was never defeated due to the gladiators’ fear of their emperor. The reality is that he was strangled to death after he was nearly poisoned.
There are several depictions in the movie based on fact however. Commodus was popular with the mob that was Rome. He did fight gladiators in the Coliseum. He was an inept leader. He was by all appearances insane. But the similarities are not complete because even in their depiction of these ideas they alter historical accuracy. The type of “insanity” he had in the movie was one of a fearful, power-hungry despot. In real life he seems not to have had any issues with his status as emperor, but he enjoyed abusing his power to such an extent that you would think he was literally crazy. This may simply be the corrupting effect of power.
As a leader he treated everything as an inferior commodity to himself, the greatest “commodity.” He lived only for his selfish ambitions and this was ultimately his undoing. The movie as well as history bears this out.
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