[47] On other occasions, Commodus killed three elephants on the floor of the arena by himself,[48] and a giraffe.[49]. Laura is the archaeology/history and Life's Little Mysteries editor at Live Science. [65], In 216, Caracalla pursued a series of aggressive campaigns in the east against the Parthians, intended to bring more territory under direct Roman control. The revolt in Brittany was put down by two legions brought over from Britain. [80] Alongside this, these contemporary sources present Caracalla as a "soldier-emperor" for his preference of the soldiery over the senators, a depiction that made him even less popular with the senatorial biographers. [89] An example of this hostility is found in one section where Dio notes that Caracalla is descended from three different races and that he managed to combine all of their faults into one person: the fickleness, cowardice, and recklessness of the Gauls, the cruelty and harshness of the Africans, and the craftiness that is associated with the Syrians. 1. According to Cassius Dio, Commodus once killed 100 lions in a single day. Caracalla's reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples. He thought of himself as the reincarnation of Hercules, frequently emulating the legendary hero's feats by appearing in the arena to fight a variety of wild animals. This great empire flourished through innovation and incorporation of the diverse cultures they conquered, such as the adoption of Latin and gladiatorial combat. "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families", Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, "The Tribunician Day during the Early Empire", "The Transmission of the Powers of the Roman Emperor from the Death of Nero in A.D. 68 to That of Alexander Severus in A.D. 235", "Tulane University "Roman Currency of the Principate", "Intrigue, Insanity, and the Reign of Commodus", "History Behind The Game Ryse: Son of Rome", "Box Set Binge: Roman Empire: Reign of Blood, The Path and Deutschland 83", "Imperial Elements in the Formula of the Roman Emperors during the First Two and a Half Centuries of the Empire", Ser. after the Second Punic War. He was assassinated in A.D. 69, a year of low rainfall on the Roman frontier, where the troops were stationed. She also reports on general science, including archaeology and paleontology. The emperor had a particular fondness for Hierocles, a charioteer whom he called husband. Elagabalus kept many other lovers besides Hierocles, however, and would deliberately allow himself to be discovered with other favorites in the hope of being punished with a beating from Hierocles. After repeated attempts on Commodus' life, Roman citizens were often killed for making him angry. [33] A fragmented inscription found in the church of Sant' Agata dei Goti in Rome records the construction, or possibly restoration, of a temple dedicated to the god Serapis. Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161. 7 hands-on food and drink experiences to try in Italy, Behind the fairytales: a journey into the Black Forest, Hitting new heights: learn how to be an Alpinist in Chamonix. The edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla's adopted praenomen and nomen: "Marcus Aurelius". That summer Caracalla began to attack the countryside east of the Tigris in the Parthian war of Caracalla. He sold (and bestowed entry to) Senate seats, army commands, governorships, and increasingly, suffect consulships, to the highest bidder. The two brothers fought until Geta was killed and Bassianus succeeded to the throne, after which he ruled until he was overthrown and killed by Carausius. After these attempts on his life, Commodus spent much of his time outside Rome, mostly on the family estates at Lanuvium. In the same year Pertinax unmasked a conspiracy by two enemies of Cleander, Antistius Burrus (one of Commodus' brothers-in-law) and Arrius Antoninus. Around this time, Bassianus had inherited his familys position as high priest and was worshipping the god Elah-Gabal in his home city in Syria. They were sometimes referred to as the "shadow emperors." Honorius did not even live in Rome but had a palace at Ravenna. This was done through the granting of citizenship. For centuries, becoming emperor of the Roman Empire was an enticing prospect, and numerous people . [81] The Baths of Caracalla are presented in classical literature as unprecedented in scale, and impossible to build if not for the use of reinforced concrete. [7] When Caracalla was murdered, Julia Domna was in Antioch sorting out correspondence, removing unimportant messages from the bunch so that when Caracalla returned, he would not be overburdened with duties. After this had succeeded, Caracalla felt the need to repay the gods of Rome by returning the favour to the people of Rome through a similarly grand gesture. On 15 October 184, at the Capitoline Games, a Cynic philosopher publicly denounced Perennis before Commodus. He tended throughout his reign to leave the practical running of the state to a succession of favourites, beginning with Saoterus, a freedman from Nicomedia who had become his chamberlain. Here, BBC History Revealed recount some of the unusual ways that Ancient Rome's rulers have met their ends. [27] However, few of those that gained citizenship were wealthy, and while it is true that Rome was in a difficult financial situation, it is thought that this could not have been the sole purpose of the edict. The young Roman Emperor Alexander Severus secured the imperial throne after the assassination of his cousin Elagabalus by the Praetorian Guard in 222 CE. On 20 January 175, Commodus entered the College of Pontiffs, the starting point of a career in public life. This in effect made the antoninianus equal to about 1.5denarii. A Syrian oracle had once warned Elagabalus that he should expect a short life and violent death. (Read about garum, the funky fish sauce of ancient Rome. On coins, the stone figure is adorned with crowns and garlands and escorted by an eagle, symbol of his celestial power. The ancient sources portray Caracalla as a tyrant and as a cruel leader, an image that has survived into modernity. [38] Popular rumors spread alleging he was not actually the son of Marcus Aurelius, but of a gladiator his mother Faustina had taken as a lover at the coastal resort of Caieta.[39]. All rights reserved. 26. level 1. Other victims at this time were the praetorian prefect Julius Julianus, Commodus' cousin Annia Fundania Faustina, and his brother-in-law Mamertinus. Valerian (253-260) Valerian was a man whose reign (and reign of terror) got out of hand. At the outset of his reign, Commodus, aged 18, inherited many of his father's senior advisers, notably Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus (the second husband of Commodus' eldest sister Lucilla), his father-in-law Gaius Bruttius Praesens, Titus Fundanius Vitrasius Pollio, and Aufidius Victorinus the Prefect of the City of Rome. It is widely accepted, and clearly most likely, that Caracalla ordered the assassination himself, as the two had never been on favourable terms with one another, much less after succeeding their father. [22], Caracalla then persecuted and executed most of Geta's supporters and ordered a damnatio memoriae pronounced by the Senate against his brother's memory. Notorious for hedonism and sacrilege, the excesses of Elagabalus were too much, even for the Roman Empire. Commodus subsequently accompanied his father on a lengthy trip to the Eastern provinces, during which he visited Antioch. In Emesa, modern-day Homs in Syria, a conical black mono- lith called Elah-Gabalgod of the mountainwas venerated. According to one account, he captured the attention of the Roman soldiers stationed there. Intrigues and conspiracies abounded, leading Commodus to revert to an increasingly dictatorial style of leadership, culminating in his creating a deific personality cult, including his performing as a gladiator in the Colosseum. In 187, one of the leaders of the deserters, Maternus, came from Gaul intending to assassinate Commodus at the Festival of the Great Goddess in March but was betrayed and executed. These tendencies now increased to megalomaniacal proportions. [64][65] He began openly mimicking Alexander in his personal style. "Vitellius was an acclaimed emperor by his troops," Christian said. In November 192, Commodus held Plebeian Games, in which he shot hundreds of animals with arrows and javelins every morning, and fought as a gladiator every afternoon, winning all the fights. [67] In the following winter, Caracalla retired to Edessa, modern anlurfa in south-east Turkey, and began making preparations to renew the campaign by spring. Die ''Terme Taurine'' von Civitavecchia ein rmisches Heilbad. One such notable event was the attempted extermination of the house of the Quinctilii. The ancient historian elaborated that Livia put her husband, Emperor Augustus, under her control, and banished or had killed every potential heir to the throne in order to promote her own son . [7] On 8April 217 Caracalla was travelling to visit a temple near Carrhae, now Harran in southern Turkey, where in 53BC the Romans had suffered a defeat at the hands of the Parthians. Bassianus was presented to the centurion Publius Valerius Comazon and his troops. [89] An example of this is his presentation of the Edict of Caracalla; the motive that Dio appends to this event is Caracalla's desire to increase tax revenue. To strengthen his claim to the throne, Julia spread the rumor that he was Caracallas illegitimate son. In 192 AD, several senators, led by Praetorian prefect Quintus Aemilius Laetus, recruited Narcissus . Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus, Italics indicates a junior co-emperor, underlining indicates an emperor variously regarded as either legitimate or a usurper. In 216, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire. [52][53], Another purpose for issuing the edict might have been related to the fact that the periphery of the empire was now becoming central to its existence, and the granting of citizenship may have been simply a logical outcome of Rome's continued expansion of citizenship rights. He never had intercourse with the same woman twice except with his wife, the Augustan History relates, and he opened brothels in his house for his friends, his clients, and his slaves.. [21], On 4February 211, Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (present day York, England) while on campaign in Caledonia, to the north of Roman Britain. The artworks may have served as a warning that absolute monarchy could become the horror of tyranny and that disaster could come about if the regime failed to reform. Maximinus I. Notorious for hedonism and sacrilege, the excesses of Elagabalus were too much, even for the Roman Empire. [46] Dio notes that the targeted senators actually found this more ridiculous than frightening, and chewed on laurel leaves to conceal their laughter. There does not appear to have been any intentional mutilation of Caracalla in any images that were created during his reign as sole emperor. Heres how paradise fought back. [23], Caracalla and Geta ended the Roman invasion of Caledonia after concluding a peace with the Caledonians that returned the border of Roman Britain to the line demarcated by Hadrian's Wall. The Iseum and Serapeum in Alexandria were apparently renovated during Caracalla's co-rule with his father Septimius Severus. [13], In 205, Caracalla was consul for the second time, in company with Geta his brother's first consulship. [80] Dio explicitly presented Caracalla as an emperor who marched with the soldiers and behaved like a soldier. Julius Caesar was assassinated by about 40 Roman senators on the "ides of March" (March 15) 44 B.C.E. [66] As a consequence, the phalangarii of Legio II Parthica may not have been pikemen, but rather standard battle line troops or possibly triarii. He was not an inspired combatant. Livius in The Fall of the Roman Empire and Maximus in Gladiator kill Commodus in single combat, Livius to save Lucilla and Maximus to avenge the murder of his wife and son, and both do it for the greater good of Rome.. She has won multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly newspaper near Seattle. [9], Caracalla was born in Lugdunum, Gaul (now Lyon, France), on 4April 188 to Septimius Severus (r.193211) and Julia Domna, thus giving him Punic paternal ancestry and Arab maternal ancestry. Under the African emperor Septimius Severus and his wife, the Syrian Julia Domna, Rome enjoyed a long period of stability from 193 to 211. The section on the teenage emperor was supposedly written by one Aelius Lampridius. In 186, he further reduced the purity and silver weight to 74percent and 2.22grams respectively, being 108 to the Roman pound. In that study, researchers analyzed thousands of fossilized tree rings from France and Germany and calculated how much it had rained there (in millimeters) every spring for the past 2,500 years. But this gave way to growing tensions during the reign of his successor Caracalla. [13] By 205 Caracalla had got Plautianus executed for treason, though he had probably fabricated the evidence of the plot. Dissatisfaction with this state of affairs led to a series of conspiracies and attempted coups, which in turn eventually provoked Commodus to take charge of affairs, which he did in an increasingly dictatorial manner. In A.D. 41, a cabal of Praetorian Guards the . [92], Caracalla has had a reputation as being among the worst of Roman emperors, a perception that survives even into modern works. [17][28] Caracalla needed to gain and keep the trust of the military, and he did so with generous pay raises and popular gestures. Why were so many Roman emperors assassinated? Quadratus and Quintianus were executed. [34] As mentioned above, he ordered many statues to be made showing him dressed as Hercules with a lion's hide and a club. Commodus was inaugurated in 183 as consul with Aufidius Victorinus as colleague and assumed the title Pius. Despite being emperor, he continued in his role as high priest throughout his reign. [38], Caracalla also erected a temple on the Quirinal Hill in 212, which he dedicated to Serapis. [27], Cassius Dio, a first-hand witness, describes him as "not naturally wicked but, on the contrary, as guileless as any man that ever lived. [31][32] Caracalla responded to this insult by slaughtering the deputation of leading citizens who had unsuspectingly assembled before the city to greet his arrival in December 215, before setting his troops against Alexandria for several days of looting and plunder. [75] Between 209 and their father's death in February211, both brothers are shown as mature young men who were ready to take over the empire. Young Bassianus did bear a striking family resemblance to Caracalla, although he was, in fact, just a cousin. For the felid species, see, Eighteenth-century artworks and the French Revolution. Macrinus, in an effort to placate the Senate, instead ordered the secret removal of statues of Caracalla from public view. This area once comprised the Roman frontier, where military troops were stationed. Learn about the rise and fall of this ancient civilization and how its influence still endures today. For starters, it's relatively simple to find a correlation between two things using statistics, he said. In 217 a soldier assassinated Caracalla, and a usurper, General Macrinus, took his place. Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161. How U.S. abortion laws went from nonexistent to acrimonious, These Native Americans were taken from their families as children. Lounging in a golden robe . Who said nothing worth having comes easy? According to Cassius Dio, Perennis, though ruthless and ambitious, was not personally corrupt and was a generally good administrator.[23]. 3. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Claudius admired how well Vitellius played dice. Severus . [16], On 23 December 176, the two imperatores celebrated a joint triumph. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (/krkl/)[3] was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD. Just as impressive were the elaborate processions in which chariots pulled by elephants, tigers, and lions scaled the Vatican Hill, trampling any tomb that lay in their path. Elagabalus, who would wear nothing but Chinese silk next to his skin, was adamant in his wish to die in style. [24], Thus, he presented himself as the fountainhead of the Empire, Roman life, and religion. [35] They were the second largest public baths built in ancient Rome and were complete with swimming pools, exercise yards, a stadium, steam rooms, libraries, meeting rooms, fountains, and other amenities, all of which were enclosed within formal gardens. [13], When the inhabitants of Alexandria heard of Caracalla's claims that he had killed his brother Geta in self-defence, they produced a satire mocking this as well as Caracalla's other pretensions. She convinced him to adopt his 12-year-old cousin Alexander as successor, who rapidly became popular across Roman society. [25][26] Those killed were Geta's inner circle of guards and advisers, friends, and other military staff under his employ.[25]. Lucilla was over ten years his senior and held the rank of Augusta as the widow of her first husband, Lucius Verus. Caracalla. [27], Another purpose for issuing the edict, as described within the papyrus upon which part of the edict was inscribed, was to appease the gods who had delivered Caracalla from conspiracy. In the view of Cassius Dio, his accession marked the descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust".[22]. In 27 BCE the Senate awarded him the honorific Augustus ("the illustrious one"), and he was then known as Gaius . Valentinian got so mad at some Quadi Envoys that he had an aneurysm and dropped dead. (Read about the power and influence of Rome's Vestal Virgins. It's just one of many potential forcing variables that can cause this to happen.". [94] The Roman historian David Magie describes Caracalla, in the book Roman Rule in Asia Minor, as brutal and tyrannical and points towards psychopathy as an explanation for his behaviour. Commodus also had a passion for gladiatorial combat, which he took so far as to take to the arena himself, dressed as a secutor. [13] He spent the winter of 214/215 in Nicomedia. Other Greco-Roman historians 200 BC), the Hebrew appellation Kush, Kushite became in Greek Aethiopia, Aethiopians, appearing as Ethiopia, Ethiopians in the English King James Version. After Nero's death, Rome was plunged into chaos. "For me, [the rainfall-assassination hypothesis] adds another layer of complexity and nuance to our understanding of the political history of the Roman Empire, especially in the third century," Conant told Live Science. Yes, really. Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA) Maximinius Thrax ruled briefly as the Roman emperor from 235 CE to his death in 238 CE. [17] On 1 January 177, Commodus became consul for the first time, which made him, aged 15, the youngest consul up to that time (the minimum age for the consulship was around 30). He then returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph for the conclusion of the wars on 22 October 180. [37], At the outset of his reign, Caracalla declared imperial support for Serapis, the god of healing. At the urging of his mistress Marcia, Commodus had Cleander beheaded and his son killed. Heres how it works. The historian Herodian, a contemporary, described Commodus as an extremely handsome man. Caracalla's likeness was readily available to the painters due to the distinct style of his portraiture and his unusual soldier-like choice of fashion that distinguished him from other emperors. Disdaining the more philosophic inclinations of his father, Commodus was extremely proud of his physical prowess. On 31 December, Marcia poisoned Commodus' food, but he vomited up the poison, so the conspirators sent his wrestling partner Narcissus to strangle him in his bath.[26]. land of the Afri [27][28] During the campaign of 213214, Caracalla successfully defeated some of the Germanic tribes while settling other difficulties through diplomacy, though precisely with whom these treaties were made remains unknown. [12], In early 195, Caracalla's father Septimius Severus had himself adopted posthumously by the deified emperor (divus) Marcus Aurelius (r.161180); accordingly, in 195 or 196 Caracalla was given the imperial rank of Caesar, adopting the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Caesar, and was named imperator destinatus (or designatus) in 197, possibly on his birthday, 4 April, and certainly before 7 May. When he fought fellow gladiators, they would purposely submit. [57] This new currency, however, had a silver purity of about 52% for the period between 215 and 217 and an actual size ratio of 1antoninianus to 1.5denarii. He did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. Which emperor killed the most? He lavished many benefits on the army, which he both feared and admired, in accordance with the advice given by his father on his deathbed always to heed the welfare of the soldiers and ignore everyone else. The latter eventually would be used as a conventional title by Roman emperors, starting about a century later, but Commodus seems to have been the first to assume it.[33]. [17][24] Caracalla and Geta considered dividing the empire in half along the Bosphorus to make their co-rule less hostile. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna. acc. He was renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus at the age of seven as part of his father's attempt at union with the families of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. Updated on January 31, 2019. "Vitellius was an acclaimed . Elagabaluss body was tossed into the Tiber where it was carried by the waters from the Cloaca Maxima sewer, passing into history as the stereotype of the decadent Roman emperor. [6][62][63], After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with emulating Alexander the Great. His recorded actions do tend to show a rejection of his father's policies, his father's advisers, and especially his father's austere lifestyle, and an alienation from the surviving members of his family. [12] He thus technically became a part of the well-remembered Antonine dynasty. Inside South Africas skeleton trade. The emperor now changed his name to Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus. 40.11.1a", "Imperial Elements in the Formula of the Roman Emperors during the First Two and a Half Centuries of the Empire", "The Spread of Roman Citizenship, 14212 CE: Quantification in the Face of High Uncertainty", M. Nummius Umbrius Primus Senecio Albinus, L. Fulvius Gavius Numisius Petronius Aemilianus, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caracalla&oldid=1148900156, Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, This page was last edited on 9 April 2023, at 00:15. [50] The provincials also benefited from this edict because they were now able to think of themselves as equal partners to the Romans in the empire. [95][96] The historian Clifford Ando supports this description, suggesting that Caracalla's rule as sole emperor is notable "almost exclusively" for his crimes of theft, massacre, and mismanagement. But, given the promise of this preliminary research, it's worth the effort to dig into this hypothesis to determine whether climate data actually jibes with assassination dates, from the empire's start in 27 B.C. He was originally named Bassianus, after his maternal grandfather, who had been high priest of the Syrian sun god Elagabalus. Can we do the same? 6. [18] Described as ambitious,[19] Julia Domna surrounded herself with thinkers and writers from all over the empire. Unlike Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian would die of natural causes in 79 CE.He and his sons, Titus and Domitian, formed what would become known as the Flavian Dynasty. In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth started the legend of Caracalla's role as king of Britain. This was most likely done to cast Serapis into the role of Caracalla's protector from treachery. Cleander fled to Commodus, who was at Laurentum in the house of the Quinctilii, for protection, but the mob followed him calling for his head. His chief interest was sport: he took part in horse racing, chariot racing, and combat with beasts and men, mostly in private but occasionally in public. Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10. [93] Gibbon compared Caracalla to emperors such as Hadrian who spent their careers campaigning in the provinces and then to tyrants such as Nero and Domitian whose entire reigns were confined to Rome and whose actions only impacted upon the senatorial and equestrian classes residing there. It may be the solution to overfishing. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. However, while the new study lays a "good groundwork" for the rainfall-assassination hypothesis, the researchers have a long way to go to support this idea, Manning said. What was Lucius Septimius bassianus nickname? [58][59][60] The reduced silver purity of the coins caused people to hoard the old coins that had higher silver content, aggravating the inflation problem caused by the earlier devaluation of the denarii. According to a new study, we can blame it on the rain. There he served as high priest of the sun god Elah-Gabal, a local form of the god Baal. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. "And a hunt was staged in which . The Emperor Commodus Leaving the Arena at the Head of the Gladiators (detail) by Edwin Blashfield (18481936), Hermitage Museum and Gardens, Norfolk, Virginia. In December, he announced his intention to inaugurate the year 193 as both consul and gladiator on 1 January. What is the narcissist thinking during silent treatment? Later that year he adopted as his full style Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Herculeus Romanus Exsuperatorius Amazonius Invictus Felix Pius (the order of some of these titles varies in the sources). Last fall, Manning and his colleagues published a study in the journal Nature (opens in new tab) on how volcanic activity may have led to the drier conditions that doomed the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, Live Science previously reported. In A.D. 303, however, the emperor Diocletian and his junior co-emperor Galerius, both former soldiers who viewed Christianity as a threat to traditional Roman beliefs, initiated what has become . Bust of Caracalla, Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome, 28 January 198 8 April 217 (alone from 4 April 211). [13], Caracalla's father appointed Caracalla joint Augustus and full emperor from 28 January 198. He visited Antioch for centuries, becoming emperor of the Roman pound gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla 's appointed. From 28 January 198 now changed his name to Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus and a usurper, general,! As an emperor who marched with the soldiers and behaved like a soldier assassinated Caracalla, and religion may an. 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