The Warrior King

Although most Roman gladiators were slaves and prisoners of war, forced into the bloody arena against their will, a handful of respectable Romans actually chose to participate in gladiatorial combat. The most famous of these voluntary warriors was the megalomaniacal Roman emperor, Commodus (162–192 A.D.).

The only surviving son of Marcus Aurelius, Commodus became ruler of all Rome in 180 A.D. Handsome, courageous in battle and gifted with youth (he was only 18 when he assumed the imperial throne), the young emperor was expected to accomplish great things. But Commodus quickly grew bored with affairs of state. Turning the reigns of government over to a series of corrupt lieutenants, he devoted himself to a life of extraordinary debauchery. He became famous for his harem of 600 concubines and young boys. He threw wild orgies and engaged in extravagant acts of self-aggrandizement, such as renaming the months of the year after his own imperial titles. Eleven years into his reign, Commodus demanded that the senate deify him as a living god and began wearing a lion skin and carrying a club, claiming he was a reincarnation of the Greek hero Hercules (above).