Ahve, and welcome to Emperor of Rome, a podcast about the rulers of the ancient Roman Empire.

I'm your host Matt Smith, and with me today is Dr.

Rianen Evans, a senior lecturer in ancient Mediterranean studies at Latrobe

University. This is episode LXVI. I. Such was the end of Commodus.

Quite unquote, cheers for that one, Dio.

One thing you can say about the reign of Commodus is that it must have been an interesting time to live in Rome.

Between the spectacles in the Coliseum and the lowered life expectancy in the Senate,

it was just a matter of time before someone took a knife to Commodus.

Or as case may have it, poison followed by a wrestler.

After almost a century in power, it's time to put the Anton Anthony dynasty to an end.

Here's Rianna Evans.

Commodus seems to do everything wrong towards the end of his reign.

Our sources of course are very, very anti-Comodus.

But he is going on a killing spree. He's killing off lots of

senators for any kind of perceived wrong. He's also quite mercenary in that he said, particularly by the Historia Augusta, to be making money out of positions that he gives. So he's selling posts.

So the Historia Augusta, I quote, says, in his reign, many persons

obtained for cash, both punishment for others, and acquittal for themselves. So not only jobs, but also they're getting legal judgments.

What, so he's accepting payment for punishing other people?

Yeah.

Okay.

So if you've got an enemy, you say to Commodus, I want this person got rid of or fined or imprisoned and he is a ward of cash and

Commodus would do it for you, according to the Historia Augusta, which I always take with a little pinch of salt.

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