All language subtitles for Colosseum.S01E07.720p.WEBRip.x264-GalaxyTV Eng

[crowd roaring]

- This is madness.

You are not some slave.

You are not a prisoner.

Please reconsider.

[dramatic music]

- Watch your step.

♪ ♪

- Fighting next in the arena,

Lucius aurelius commodus,

The emperor of rome.

♪ ♪

- The colosseum is
the roman empire

Distilled to its most
basic essence.

♪ ♪

- It is a symbol of conquest.

♪ ♪

It is a symbol of dominance.

It's a symbol
of imperial power

Radiating throughout
the roman world.

♪ ♪

- Now.

♪ ♪

- Any emperor had
the colosseum at his disposal

To use as a tool to reassert
his power and authority.

♪ ♪

- The message
to the roman people

Is that life is a combat.

♪ ♪

- It was also
a judicial warning.

Do not test the power of rome.

It was
a death penalty offense.

♪ ♪

- If you live by the sword...

♪ ♪

You die by the sword.

♪ ♪

- It demonstrates the power
of the colosseum.

It made slaves into heroes

Upending the power structure
of rome.

♪ ♪

- The colosseum
will come to symbolize

The rise and fall of rome.

♪ ♪

- It's all there.

The blood, the glory,
the magnificence,

And the flaws that made rome

The greatest empire
that europe has ever seen.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
By 192 a.D.,

The colosseum
is over a century old.

♪ ♪

Emperor commodus
has a surprise.

He's the headline bout,
fighting as a gladiator.

♪ ♪

- Gladiators were at the lowest
stratum of free romans.

They had no legal personality.

They were in the same category
as prostitutes and pimps.

So for a roman emperor

To try to leverage
the popularity of gladiators

By becoming one is a shock.

♪ ♪

- For commodus, the colosseum
would become an obsession.

A place that would play
a pivotal role

In his rise and fall.

Narrator: After inheriting
a vast and powerful empire

From his father,
the great marcus aurelius,

Commodus is at odds
with the ruling class of rome,

The senate.

- The senators remained

The most
powerful body of people,

The very embodiment
of the elite of rome.

The senate would always be
the rallying place

Of opposition.

- The roman elite was ashamed
of commodus' actions.

They felt that to fight
as a gladiator

Was to willingly
debase himself.

This was the tipping point
in an already fractured

Relationship between the two
most powerful forces in rome,

The emperor and the senate.

- We know a lot about commodus

Because of the historian
cassius dio.

He was a roman senator.

Unlucky enough for commodus,
cassius dio

Was one of his mortal
enemies in the senate.

[both shouting]

The emperor and the senate
were on

An irrevocable
collision course.

Narrator:
One that began far

From the adoring crowds
of the colosseum.

♪ ♪

Under his father,
marcus aurelius, in 166 a.D.,

Rome is rocked by an invasion
from the germanic barbarians

On the northern frontier,
kicking off

What would become known
as the marcomannic wars.

- This was the first time
in centuries

That any foreign invader
had penetrated

Into the heartland
of the roman empire.

- I think a measure of the
importance of this crisis

Is that marcus aurelius
goes himself

To lead the troops into battle

And that he brings his
young son and heir with him.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
By 177 a.D.,

Commodus has spent five years
on the frontlines

With his father
defending rome.

- Roman military culture
was distinct

From roman civilian culture.

When somebody became
a roman soldier,

They were effectively
removed from society

For many years of their lives.

So for commodus to be exposed
to this world

Of the military camp
at a young age

Was a really formative
experience for him.

Narrator: But commodus'
interest in fighting

Was not just
on the battlefield.

He's more drawn
to gladiatorial combat,

A passion he's able to indulge
in even while away at war.

[soldiers shouting]

♪ ♪

- When they captured
any prisoners,

They would have them fight.

There's nothing they could do
with the prisoners

Except execute them,
so why not enjoy yourself?

♪ ♪

- Maybe soldiers, because they
were used to seeing blood,

Wanted to see something
a little more extreme.

So these were
bare-knuckle affairs

Full of bloody violence.

♪ ♪

Soldiers,
when they forced prisoners

To fight to the death,
had a penchant

For watching them be beheaded.

Perhaps that was something
that commodus saw;

Perhaps that appealed to him.

♪ ♪

It's hard to imagine
a greater contrast

Between commodus
and his father.

♪ ♪

[soldiers cheering]

♪ ♪

- Halt.

♪ ♪

- Marcus aurelius is very much
a stoic philosopher.

For him, life was very much
about self-improvement.

The idea for him of this kind
of gladiatorial combat

Was that it was not
morally edifying

For the people of rome.

Marcus aurelius
can't have been unaware

Of the character defects
that were going

To plague commodus
later in life.

- The apple really did fall
pretty far from the tree,

Because commodus
went in exactly

The opposite direction
as his father.

That he relished the blood
and violence of the arena.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
Despite any misgivings,

Marcus aurelius
makes a bold decision.

- In 177, marcus aurelius
decides to name his son

As co-emperor
and the heir to the throne.

You know, one of the questions
that historians ask is that,

How could someone as wise as
marcus aurelius choose his son?

- Marcus aurelius realizes
that commodus is a flawed,

Spoilt, foolish person.

Earlier emperors who came
before marcus aurelius,

None of them had sons.

So they didn't have the problem
of what to do with the son.

Instead, they could choose
the best person to be emperor.

- In ancient times, childbirth
was incredibly arduous,

And there was an incredibly
high mortality rate.

Add to the fact that
the romans used

Huge quantities of lead
to sweeten the wine,

Which can lead to sterility.

Marcus is the first emperor

Since vespasian to actually
have a biological son,

And that son is commodus.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Three years after
naming commodus his co-emperor

And heir apparent,
marcus aurelius falls ill.

♪ ♪

- Now we play for more.
- Caesar. Caesar.

- What?
- It's your father. It's time.

♪ ♪

- Listen...

♪ ♪

To the senate.

Experience...

Is wisdom.

♪ ♪

- It's the 17th of March 180,
and marcus aurelius dies

Very possibly of the plague
that had dogged his army.

- He's succeeded by his
18-year-old son, commodus,

Who is faced with the burden of
finishing off this 14-year war

That devoured
his father's reign.

♪ ♪

- Commodus becomes the most
powerful man

In all the roman empire,

And it doesn't take very long
for commodus to show

That this is going to be
a very different reign

From the one of his father.

♪ ♪

- Commodus turns out to be
one of the worst emperors

In the history
of the roman empire.

If you're looking
for a dividing line

Between the glory
that was rome

And its long decline,

Commodus is it.

Narrator:
Commodus' next move

Will send shockwaves
through the empire.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Narrator:
After his father
dies,

New emperor commodus
has a different idea

On how to handle the war.

- Caesar, where are you going?

- Far away from here.

I'm going to rome.

♪ ♪

- Commodus does not want
to be out in the freezing mud,

Fighting,
living in a camp or in a tent.

He wants to be back in rome,
in the luxury,

Enjoy the fruits
of being an emperor.

- Rather than pursuing the war
with the germani

To its conclusion,

Which in roman eyes
would have to be a victory,

Commodus decided
to make peace with them.

This was a huge departure

Because in the roman
imagination,

Romans didn't make peace.

They won.

- Commodus may have thought
that in making peace

With the barbarians,
he'd resolved everything,

But history shows us
it was quite the opposite.

He allows them to settle
in what would be today hungary,

Pannonia back then,
which was part of the empire.

Nobody in their right mind
would have made the deal

That commodus makes
with the barbarians.

♪ ♪

- Almost immediately,
the relationship

Between commodus
and the senate

Is off to a bad start.

There's a wedge driven
between them

Right from the very beginning.

♪ ♪

- We were at war!

- And now we're not, cassius.

- You have put rome
in more danger.

- Tell me.

How is peace
more dangerous than war?

- From the senate's position,

It's just storing up
trouble ahead.

That they know these tribes
will come back in the future

Where they'll probably pose
an even bigger threat.

♪ ♪

- Finish signing these
for me, cleander.

♪ ♪

- Cassius dio is privy
to the inner workings

Of the empire.

He's in close proximity
to the emperor himself,

And so his studies,
his observations,

His writings
are the incredible source

To go to for knowledge
of commodus.

Narrator: Cassius dio wrote
an 80-volume history of rome

That provides context

To the senate's frustrations
with commodus.

♪ ♪

From its founding in 753 b.C.

And for the next 700 years,

Rome was an empire
without an emperor.

- Back in the days
of the republic,

The senate really is
the ruling body.

They make laws,
set military campaigns,

And they also control finances.

The senate, by far,
is the most

Powerful body in the empire.

Narrator:
But everything changed

When julius caesar
launched a coup in 49 b.C.

And made himself
dictator of rome.

This is the start
of rome's age of emperors.

- But even under the emperors,

The senate counted
for a great deal.

They were an important
go-between

Between the emperor
and the roman people.

It was very important
for the emperor

To have the senators
on his side.

- Every one of these
senatorial families

Has holdings all over
the roman empire.

They're the equivalent of small
multi-national corporations.

They are wealthy in a way

That is impossible for us
to understand.

So even if the heart
of political power

Has moved elsewhere,

These are still tremendously
important people.

And so the senate
is dangerous.

Narrator: Several emperors
had previously been

Destroyed by their enemies
in the senate,

Including
the notorious leaders

Caligula, nero, and domitian.

- The history
of rome's emperors

Shows that it's pretty
dangerous to cross the senate.

But commodus had a plan,

And it really was
to ignore the senate

And to appeal directly
to the people.

- To win the people over,

Commodus has an incredible
tool at his disposal.

He has the games.

Narrator: Less than a year
into his reign,

Commodus throws lavish games

To celebrate the end of his
father's barbarian wars.

[crowd cheering]

♪ ♪

- Because it was such
an important event,

The imperial family,
such as his sister lucilla

Would be there,

And, of course,
the senate themselves.

So they would have been
witness to this event.

[fighters shouting]

♪ ♪

For the senate, they understand
that this is an absolute joke.

Triumphal games were put on
at the end of great wars

Fought for many years,

Wars that established
the power of rome.

This was the opposite of that,

And yet here he was,
parading himself

As some sort
of triumphant general.

Narrator:
But it's not the senate

Commodus is trying to impress.

- Emperors could communicate

With the people
in the colosseum.

In those days, you didn't see
the emperor very much

Except at triumphs
after great victories abroad

And in the colosseum,
where he appeared in his box.

And the crowd had a chance

To express what
they thought of him too.

♪ ♪

- The colosseum fostered
an active dynamic relationship

Between the people
and the emperor.

And one can imagine thousands
and thousands of people

Chanting what they want,

Encouraging the emperor
in what he's doing,

In sponsoring
and being generous

And putting on a show
for them.

- It was kind of
like a contract.

"I am giving these games
to you.

You need to honor me."

♪ ♪

And that's what
the games were for.

[crowd shouting]

♪ ♪

- He is incredibly intelligent

Because he creates
the perfect stage

To build his popularity.

♪ ♪

[crowd oohing]

♪ ♪

[crowd cheering]

Narrator:
The roman writer juvenal

Summed up how the emperor

Should win the support
of the people.

- Juvenal famously said
that bread and circuses

Were all that an emperor needed
to do to lead the roman people.

The bread was a reference
to the official roman dole

Or handout of wheat.

Along with keeping them full,

You needed to have games that
keep their attention away

From the problems
of daily life.

Karl marx's famous statement
about religion

As the opiate of the masses.

Well, circuses were the opiate
of the masses in roman times.

[crowd cheering]

Narrator:
While previous emperors

Only held games
to mark important milestones,

Commodus makes
an unprecedented move.

He holds near-continuous games

To cement his bond
with the people.

All: [chanting]
caesar! Caesar! Caesar!

- Do you hear that, cassius?
People love me.

- But the treasury can
only stretch so far.

♪ ♪

- I'll find the money.

♪ ♪

There are plenty of people
in rome who would happily give

To the glory of the empire.

♪ ♪

- Every single day of games

Costs an enormous amount
of money.

You have to fund
the import of, sometimes,

Tens of thousands
of wild animals.

♪ ♪

You have to hire gladiators,

Some of whom were
extremely high-priced help.

- In today's terms,
we're talking about an event

That would cost millions
of dollars per day,

And these games
could last for months.

The cost of the games
were unbelievable.

Narrator: But commodus has
a plan to pay for the games.

- Commodus directs
his attention toward the 1%,

The senatorial class,
and he imposes a new tax

On them to finance his games
in the colosseum.

- It's a way of reducing
the power of his enemy

And giving himself more money

To make himself more popular
with the people.

To commodus,
it's a win-win situation.

The senate were never going
to just lie down and take this.

When they could see
that their own interests

Are being threatened,
they're going to push back.

♪ ♪

- From the senate's
perspective,

Commodus was becoming
a real threat.

It was enough to prompt them
to act.

Commodus had to be dealt with.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[all grunting and shouting]

- Within the first years
of commodus' reign,

There's an attempt on his life.

- Who sent you?

Who sent you?

- He later finds out that
it's his own sister, lucilla,

Who's involved,
and a handful of senators.

- The idea apparently was that
she would substitute

Her own husband
and eliminate her brother

In order to make room
for her husband.

♪ ♪

- Bring me his head.

- There's no possible way
that a plot

On the emperor's life
did not include the senate.

They viewed him as dangerous,
they viewed him as somebody

That should have been
gotten rid of a long time ago,

And they were going to try
their best to do it.

♪ ♪

- His relations
with the senate

Have always been tense;

Now they become intolerable.

♪ ♪

- It's fair to say that any
semblance of a normal person

That remained in commodus left

The moment that the
assassination plot took place.

♪ ♪

- How dare you?

♪ ♪

Ugh!

[panting]

♪ ♪

- He was already
a very unstable

And violent and cruel person.

And I think this in many ways
validated his behavior

And sent him on a complete
mental downward spiral.

And at that point,
he was out for vengeance.

Narrator:
For help, commodus turns

To his elite unit
of the imperial roman army,

The praetorian guard.

- How he manages
to get rid of anyone

That he thinks
might have been involved

In the assassination attempt
is to use

The dreaded praetorian guards.

They were essentially
the mercenaries

That protected the emperor

And were there
to do his bidding.

People feared them,
the senators feared them,

And they had a right to do so.

- Praetorian guard were by law
the only forces

That could carry
serious weaponry

In the sacred heart of rome.

They're very skilled fighters,

And they are fiercely loyal
to the emperor.

♪ ♪

- Commodus unleashes
nothing short

Of pure bloody vengeance
on the senate.

Anyone he suspects
that was involved,

That will be involved,
that poses even

A minor threat to him,
in his eyes,

Absolutely has to go.

The praetorians
round up senators

And systematically torture
each and every one of them.

At which point, of course,
they give up more names.

The web becomes bigger
and bigger and bigger.

A huge amount of rome's
political class is wiped out.

Of course, one of the
side effects of this

Is that they,
being wealthy men,

They have lost all their
rights to all their wealth,

Their villas,
their businesses,

And quite conveniently,

Commodus takes it all
for himself.

Narrator: Cassius dio and
a handful of other senators

Escape the carnage
by fleeing the city.

- You can understand that this
shook the senate to its core

Seeing members of the senate
being put to death

As nothing more
than common criminals.

They knew that commodus
was not somebody

Who was mentally stable
or someone

That you would want
to mess with at all.

Narrator:
Even his own sister, lucilla,

Can't escape commodus' rage.

She is first exiled
to the island of capri

And then murdered
by her imperial guards.

♪ ♪

- Commodus decides that rome

Is no longer a safe place
for him to be,

And so he leaves the city
for his own safety.

Narrator:
But before he leaves,

Commodus makes a choice

That will deepen his rift
with the senate.

- Caesar?
- I'm leaving rome.

- I'll have our things
packed immediately.

- Not this time, cleander.

You're staying.

I'm leaving you
in charge while I'm gone.

- Me, caesar? But I--

- Dear cleander,
I'm relying on you.

- He delegates the running
of the city

And the day-to-day
affairs of rome

To one of his former slaves,
a freedman called cleander.

- A freedman
is a former slave.

They're an important part
of the population in rome.

It was possible for slaves
to buy their own freedom.

When they did, they still owed
loyalty to their former master,

Who is now
considered their patron.

♪ ♪

- Cleander being
a freed slave, you know,

Was just basically
from the bottom of society.

Now he's being imbued with this
power and responsibility

From the emperor himself.

It's putting him
above the senate,

And that, of course,

It's going to ruffle
feathers in the senate.

- Commodus insulted
and antagonized the senate,

And it became clear
that things

Between them and the emperor

Were careening
towards destruction.

Narrator: After handing over
the reins of power

To his former slave, cleander,

Commodus retreats to a villa
outside the city.

- Commodus now
leaves the city,

And he goes
to the villa dei quintili,

Which is on
the outskirts of rome.

This is a villa
that he confiscated

From some of the members
of the elite

Who he has killed.

♪ ♪

- From this moment on,
he becomes very paranoid.

You get the sense
he really doesn't

Trust those around him,

And he becomes more and more
extreme in his behavior.

♪ ♪

- You're from the senate.
- I'm from ravenna, caesar.

- Well, they sent you, then.
- You invited me, caesar.

- The atmosphere of conspiracy
and threats from the senate

Destabilized commodus
even further.

Some of our ancient sources
talk about the pleasure

He got
from humiliating others.

The higher status the folks,

The more that he took pleasure

In demeaning them
as much as possible.

♪ ♪

- The "historia augusta" says

That commodus inhumanely
killed great numbers.

He slew whoever
he wished to slay,

And he violated every law.

♪ ♪

- The relationship between
the emperor

And the senate was complicated
at the best of times.

It is very hard to sit
at the pinnacle of power

For any length of time aware

That there are people
who want to replace you,

Aware that there are people
who wish you ill

Without falling victim
to fear and paranoia.

♪ ♪

- Whenever you look
at the bad emperors,

I always think of the famous
maxim of, "power corrupts.

Absolute power
corrupts absolutely."

So many roman emperors
fell prey to paranoia

And increasing megalomania.

Caligula and nero are two
perfect examples of emperors

Who simply lost their minds

In the disintegration
of their reign

Because of their own
cruel behavior,

Because of their megalomania,

And because
of their systematic fighting

With the other
powerful figures in rome,

The roman senate.

♪ ♪

- Unlike caligula
and unlike nero,

There was no honeymoon period
for commodus.

Commodus was completely off
balance right from the start.

And things just got worse.

- Having come freshly off
a purge of the senate,

We now have a lot
of vacant seats

Which, of course, commodus is
going to use to his advantage.

So he orders cleander to
auction off the missing seats

To the highest bidder.

You can understand that this
shook the senate to its core.

- To be a senator
is not something

To be bought or sold.

To admit new ones
to their number

Who were getting there
solely by virtue

Of their moneygrubbing
as opposed

To their illustrious ancestry,

This was almost as offensive

As the attempts
on their life had been.

- The kind of people that are
gonna be taking the seats

In the new senate
didn't necessarily have

The right education
or background to be senators.

It really was,
if you had the money,

You're gonna become a senator
of the roman empire.

We normally accept that
there's a level of corruption

In ancient rome,
but this, I think,

Was a precedence
that had never been set.

A level of corruption
rome had never seen before

In its history.

♪ ♪

- While all of this
is going on,

Commodus stays safely
in his villa outside rome.

Commodus's villa contains
its own mini amphitheater,

And while he's there,
he decides

To train as a gladiator.

- There's no record of why
commodus decided to do this,

But we might say that
it had something to do

With his insecurity,
the desire to associate himself

With the symbol
of masculine virility.

- He becomes
even more paranoid.

And paradoxically,
he felt safer surrounded

By these trained killers
than he did with the senate.

- I need a real sword.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
Under the guidance

Of his personal trainer,
narcissus,

Commodus masters the art
of one-on-one combat.

♪ ♪

- Are we finished?

- According to commodus'
own boasts,

In six years,
he's bested 735 gladiators,

A number unheard of
in gladiatorial combat.

♪ ♪

- The records claim that
these bouts were full

Of dismemberments
and other acts of violence.

These weren't mere
sparring matches.

♪ ♪

- [screaming]

- I guess his gladiator days
are over.

- There was no way commodus
was going to lose.

His opponents were made
to fight with a wooden sword,

Which, of course, he wasn't.

So it's not really
a fair fight,

But we wouldn't expect
any less from him.

♪ ♪

- In the course of six years
spent much of it

In seclusion at his villa,

Learning the arts
of the gladiator,

Feeding his fantasies of power,

The city that he was supposed
to be ruling

Was slipping closer
and closer to an abyss.

Narrator: The enormous cost
of running continuous games

And the widespread corruption
spearheaded by commodus

Brings rome's economy
close to collapse.

Such is the extent
of the crisis

That food supplies
for the roman people run out.

- The economy's failing.

There's unrest
amongst the people.

There is death in the streets.

Rome is at a moment
of disaster.

And there was a very serious
threat at that point

That rome itself
could be finished,

All because of the actions
of one very selfish individual.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Six years
into emperor commodus' reign,

Tensions are rising in rome.

- There's a famine of the kind
that rome hasn't suffered

For hundreds of years,
and this is joined

By a resurgence
of the antonine plague.

So a major pestilence
strikes the city as well.

It is mayhem in the city,
and thousands of people a day

Are dying from hunger
or from disease.

Narrator: It's the worst
famine since 436 b.C.,

When thousands of people
threw themselves

Into the tiber river

To escape the agony
of starvation.

♪ ♪

- If there's a famine

And suddenly,
the food supply dries up,

It's the emperor
who's responsible.

So suddenly, for commodus
to be overseeing a city

Where there isn't
enough to eat,

Puts him in an incredibly
vulnerable position.

[people shouting]

- The city was always capable
of exploding into violence,

Which it did.

So during a riot, the roman
people would arm themselves

With whatever
they found to hand.

So those might be knives.

Those might be rocks.
Those might be table legs.

There's a famous case
from the second century b.C.

Where a very famous
roman politician

Was beaten to death
with pieces of furniture.

- This is a major crisis
in rome

And a kind of shocking
experience for people.

I think that certainly
the cause of the famine

And of the general
social unrest

That happened in rome
under commodus

Was due to bad government,

Putting corrupt people
in charge,

His taking his eye
off the ball massively

By being a gladiator
rather than a ruler,

And a general sense of,
you know, lack of faith

That the empire
is in good hands.

- Tens of thousands
of people died,

And the people are angry,
and they riot and even go out

As far as his villa
outside rome.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
His lieutenant, cleander,

Is forced to flee the mob
running for his life.

- Commodus.

- Cleander, why aren't you
in rome?

- Cleander paid the price

Because commodus did not think
twice about putting the blame

On him to save himself.

- It is you they want.

♪ ♪

And so I must give my people
what they want.

♪ ♪

You must attend to them.

See him out.

♪ ♪

- Commodus.

♪ ♪

- There is dissent
in the city,

The economy's failing,

And commodus realizes
he has to do something.

He can't continue in the path
he has been, he can't hide.

So he has to take
some drastic measures,

And he has something in mind.

♪ ♪

- He debases the coinage,
which means

That he lowered the silver
content in each coin.

Therefore, meaning that
the same amount of silver

Could go further.

Now, superficially,
it gave him more money

To buy food
and spend on games.

But in reality, it will
have generated inflation.

It would be a disaster
for the city's finances.

♪ ♪

- Cassius dio says
that commodus

Found a kingdom of gold

And he left it
one of iron and rust.

♪ ♪

- Commodus knew with all the
pressures on the roman system

He was losing the goodwill
of the roman people,

And he had to do something big.

♪ ♪

- Commodus thought to himself,

"I'll just give them
more circuses."

♪ ♪

Narrator: This time, commodus
has a shocking surprise.

- The highlight of these new
games is gonna be something

Which the roman people
have never seen before.

The emperor himself
is going to take center stage

And fight as a gladiator.

♪ ♪

[crowd shouting]

- Commodus, this is madness.

Please reconsider.

- Don't worry, cassius.

I've given this
plenty of thought.

- You are not some slave.

You are the emperor of rome.

- One of the big draws
of becoming a gladiator is,

We forget how much power,
how much adulation,

How much excitement
they caused.

♪ ♪

Gladiators, they're titans.
There's a godlike status.

Women desire them.
They're imposing.

They're talented.
They're skilled.

They're the greatest fighter
possible.

How can people not love him?

The truth is,
it's quite the opposite.

The commodus that was the son
of marcus aurelius was dead.

The new commodus
that comes back to rome,

He comes back as a monster.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
After six years of absence,

Emperor commodus
returns to rome

To fight as a gladiator--

But not just any gladiator.

♪ ♪

- Commodus had
one final twist,

That he was going
to dress himself as hercules

To associate himself
with this god

Who embodied strength
and power.

- Commodus wanted to be seen
as a god in his own lifetime.

But there's also
an added irony.

Hercules is himself
a problematic figure

Who was known
for his drinking,

His descent into madness,
and also his cruelty.

♪ ♪

- It's extraordinary
for an emperor

To take to the sands himself.

This is not something
that's expected of elites,

Let alone the emperor.

♪ ♪

Gladiators use their bodies
to please the masses.

So they are like prostitutes.
They are like actors.

♪ ♪

- It would have been hard
for the ruling class

To accept any
of commodus' actions.

They were cultured people.
They were educated people.

And so the fact that one
of them would degrade himself

To that degree that he's going
to present himself

In the same profession
of the scum of the scum.

♪ ♪

Narrator:
According to cassius dio,

Commodus charges
the bankrupt roman treasury

One million sesterces
for his appearance,

Almost $10 million dollars
in today's money.

♪ ♪

All: [chanting]
caesar! Caesar!

♪ ♪

- After the games,
commodus embarks

On a still grander project.

He intends to rebuild rome
with himself at the center.

♪ ♪

- He renames rome
colonia commodiana,

The colony of commodus.

And we wouldn't believe
that this was true

If it were not for the fact
the coins of commodus' era show

That this was the case.

He really did name it
after himself.

- Commodus goes
into overdrive.

The romans are gonna be
called commodiani.

The senate is going
to be called

The fortunate
commodiani senate.

He fills the city
with statues of himself

Dressed as the god hercules.

- One was a giant figure
of an archer

Looking very much
like the emperor himself

With a arrow aimed

Right at the front door
of the roman senate.

And if there was ever
a louder political message,

Well, I'm not aware of it.

- That could not be tolerated

Even by commodus'
world-weary contemporaries.

♪ ♪

Narrator: When commodus
announces yet another games

With himself as the star,
the senate know they must act.

♪ ♪

- Commodus meets his end
at the hand

Of his gladiatorial trainer,
at the hands of narcissus,

Acting on the orders
of the senate.

♪ ♪

- There's a sort of
poetic irony that in the end,

It was the very figure
that he so admired,

So wanted to be,
that put an end to his life.

♪ ♪

The gladiator.

♪ ♪

- The death of commodus turns
out to be a tipping point

For rome's empire.

The so-called peace treaty
that he signed

With the germanic tribes
came back to haunt him.

- The barbarians he'd settled
inside the roman empire turned

And invaded Italy once again.

And the roman empire which
had been drained financially

By commodus' expenditures,
could do very little about it.

♪ ♪

Commodus, after his death,

Suffers what's known
as the damnatio memoriae.

This means that
every reference to commodus

Was literally wiped out.

So inscriptions with commodus'
name were rubbed out,

Documents with his name
and about him were destroyed.

- It does show how strong
the sentiment was

That people just wanted
to forget him.

He was a blot on the empire.

♪ ♪

- There is a sacred aspect
to the colosseum,

And he trampled all over it.

He made it into a circus.

He ridiculed it,
and ultimately,

He took away the power that

The colosseum had
in many ways.

♪ ♪

The reign of commodus
is probably

Best summed up by cassius dio
when he says that

Commodus was a greater curse
to the romans

Than any pestilence
and any crime.

♪ ♪