A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

COMMODUS.
successor. The new prince from that time forward, as we infer from inscriptions and Fasti, laid
aside his foriner appellations, and, passing into the
gens Aelia, was styled L. AELIUS VERUS* CAESAiR,
being the first individual on whom the title of
Caesar was bestowed to indicate the next heir to
the imperial throne. Of the early life of Aelius
Caesar we know nothing except that he attracted
the attention and gained the favour of Hadrian by
his personal beauty and literary accomplishments,
although the son-in-law of Nigrinus, who was put
to death as a traitor. The precise date of his
adoption is a disputed point among chronologers
(see Tillemont and Eckhel), some, on the authority
of Spartianus, declaring for A. D. 135; while others
with greater probability conclude, from inscriptions
and coins, that it took place the year following.
He is set down in the Fasti as consul for A.D. 136,
under the name of Ceionius Commodus, which
seems to prove that the ceremonies of adoption had
not at all events been completed at the commencement of that year; while on the coins of his second
consulship, which belongs to A. D. 137, we find
him designated as L. Aclius Caesar, and invested
with the tribunicia potestas. Soon after his elevation, he was nominated governor of Pannonia,
returned from his province in the course of 137,
died suddenly on the 1st of January, 138, and
was interred in the mausoleum of HI-adrian.
Aelius Caesar, according to the testimony of his
biographer, Spartianus, was a man of comely features, graceful bearing, and noble aspect, but in
all other respects deeply stamped with the impress
of mediocrity. He displayed moderate abilities as
a statesman, governed his province respectably,
was considered a tolerably good general, and although somewhat addicted to the pleasures of the
table and other luxurious indulgences, maintained
a decent character in his private life and social relations. His health was so wretched, that Hadrian
is said to have speedily repented of the choice he
had made, declaring that he had leaned for support
upon a falling wall, and had thrown away the
large sums lavished on the soldiers and people in
largesses and shows in honour of the adoption.
Aelius Caesar left behind him one daughter, Fabia,
and one son, namely
4. L. CEIONIUS COMMODUS, who was born at
Rome on the 15th of December, A. D. 130. Upon
the adoption of his father by Hadrian, he passed
into the gens Aelia, and was entitled L. Ceionius
A elius Aurelius Commodus. Again, after the death
of his father, he was, in pursuance of the command
of Hadrian, adopted, along with M. Aurelius, by
Antoninus Pius on the 25th of February, A. D. 138,
and thus became L. Ceionius Aelius Aurelius Commiodus Antoninus. During the lifetime of Pius he
enjoyed no peculiar distinction except the appellation filius Augusti; in 156 he was quaestor, and
in the year following consul, an honour which he
enjoyed for a second time, along with his brother
by adoption, in 161. After the death of Antoninus Pius, which took place in March, 161, he
was invested with the titles of Caesar and Augustus, and by the favour of the new sovereign
admitted to a full participation in all the imperial

COMMODUS. 817
dignities. At the same time, M. Aurelius transferred to him the name of Veirts, which he had
himself borne up to this time, and the designation
of Commodus being altogether dropped, the younger
of the two Augusti was addressed as the emperor
L. AURELIUS VERUS. Ilis journey to the East;
his conduct during the campaign against the Parthians; his marriage with Lucilla, the daughter of
M. Aurelius; his return to Rome; the joint triumph of the two princes; their expedition into
Germany, and the sudden death of Verus at Altinum in the country of the Veneti, towards the close
of A. D. 169, in the 39th or 40th year of his age
and the 9th of his reign, are fully detailed in the
biography of M. AUREnaLIs, to which the reader is
referred.
It may be remarked, that there is some question
as to the various names enumerated above. In
opposition to the clear and explicit testimony of
Spartianus, Lampridius, and Capitolinus, it has
been doubted whether he was ever called Antoninus, because it never appears upon any public
monument of unquestionable authority. But if we
suppose it to have been assumed, as appears most
natural, at the period of his adoption by Pius, and
dropped after his elevation to the purple, the difficulty will be in a great measure removed, although
it must be confessed, that the Augustan historians
represent him as having received the designations
of Antoninus and Verus at the same time from M.
Aurelius.
(Dion Cass. Lxix. 17, 20, 21, lxxi. 1, &c.; Spartian. Hadrian. 23, Ael. Ver.; Capitolin. Ver. Imp.
Anton. Pius, 4, M. Aurel. 4, 5, 7, &c.) [W. R.]
CO'MMODUS, L. AURELIUS, son of M.
Aurelius and the younger Faustina (see genealogical table prefixed to ANTONINUS Pius), was born
at Lanuvium on the last day of August, A. D. 161,
a few months after the death of Antoninus Pinus,
and this was the first of the Roman emperors to
whom the title of Porpihyrogenitus could be correctly
applied. Faustina at the same time gave birth to
a twin son, known as Antoninus Geminus, who
died when four years old. The nurture and education of Commodus were watched and superintended from infancy with anxious care; and from
a very early age he was surrounded with the
most distinguished preceptors in the various departments of general literature, science, and philosophy. The honours heaped upon the royal
youth as he advanced towards manhood have been
accurately chronicled by his biographers. IHe received the appellation of Caesar along with his
younger brother Annius Verus on the 12th of October, A. D. 166, at the time when M. Aurelius
and L. Verus celebrated their triumph over the
Parthians; he was styled Germanicus on the ] 5th
of October, 172; in 175, on the 20th of January,
he was admitted a member of all the sacerdotal
colleges; on the 19th of May he left the city,
having been summoned in all haste to Germany in
consequence of the news which had arrived from
Svria of the rebellion of Avidius Cassius; on the
7th of July lihe was invested with the manly gown,
proclaimed Princeps Juventutis, and nominated
consul-elect; he then accompanied his father to the
East, and, during his absence from Rome, Sarmaticus was added to his other titles; on the 27th
of November, 176, he was saluted Imperator; on
the 23rd of December, lihe shared in the triumph
celebrated over thle Germans, and was assumed as
3o

* Spartianus in several passages gives him the
name of Verus and so Hadrian (ap. Vopisc. Saturn.
c. 8); but Cardinal Noris rejects Verus, because it
does not appear in inscriptions and Fasti.