Did Commodus really fight a gladiator?
Commodus fought against professional gladiators as well as wild beasts. As Herodian wrote, “In his gladiatorial combats, he defeated his opponents with ease, and he did no more than wound them, since they all submitted to him, but only because they knew he was the emperor, not because
he was truly a gladiator.”
Was Commodus from gladiator a real emperor?
Commodus was a terrible ruler by virtually any standard. His fictionalized depiction as
a mad emperor in the film Gladiator actually plays down some of his less believable excesses while giving him a nobler death.
What killed Commodus?
Assassination
Commodus/Cause of death
Assassination of Commodus On 31 December 192 AD, Commodus's
concubine and conspirator Marcia poisoned Commodus's wine. The poison failed, so Narcissus entered Commodus's bedchamber.
Who actually killed Commodus?
Narcissus
The emperor was strangled in his bath by
Narcissus, a wrestler who was tasked with the deed by a small group of conspirators: the Praetorian Prefect, Aemilius Laetus; Commodus' chamberlain, Eclectus; and Commodus' mistress, Marcia.