Roman Emperors in the time of Gladiator II: Commodus, Year of 5 Emperors, Caracalla & Geta, Macrinus

Roman Emperors in the time of Gladiator and Gladiator 2 Thank you to MagellanTV for sponsoring this video. Ridley Scott's epic historical sequel, Gladiator 2, promises to be a dramatic and spectacular, if not particularly accurate, rollercoaster ride through ancient Rome. And while there are already some excellent videos out there discussing the authenticity of battle scenes, dramatic deaths, and exactly which era saw the flooding of the Colosseum, I want to take a look at something different. The cast of characters and their real historic counterparts. Today let's explore the family trees which connect the key players, sort out who was real and who was fictional, meet a few fascinating women who did more than wait around to be rescued, and discover everyone's true fates, which were even more dramatic than Hollywood could come up with. Caution, there will be spoilers, but I won't give away the ending of the new film, only what really happened in history. Gladiator 1 is a pretty straightforward cast of characters. Emperor Marcus Aurelius, played by Dumbledore, Richard Harris, is dying at the beginning of the film. He passes over his long-maligned and mildly psychotic son, Commodus, Joaquin Phoenix, and instead names his favorite general, Maximus, Russell Crowe, as the next emperor. Reasonably miffed, Commodus murders his father and claims the throne for himself. He has Maximus arrested and his family murdered. The general is then sold into slavery and becomes a gladiator. He fights his way to fame on a mission of vengeance against Commodus. Meanwhile, the emperor sells his people's grain to fund gladiator tournaments in his own honor, turns Rome into a police state, and makes threatening sexual overtures towards his sister, Lucilla, Connie Nielsen. It is revealed that she previously had a relationship with Maximus, who fathered her son, Lucius, Spencer Treat Clark. During a final, dramatic showdown in the coliseum, Maximus kills Emperor Commodus and then dies of his wounds, while ordering the restoration of peace to Rome, freeing his fellow gladiators, and envisioning a reunion with his wife and son in the afterlife, aka Elysium. But what was the real story? During the 2nd century CE, an era known as Pax Romana or the Roman Peace, it was traditional for emperors to choose a worthy young man from the ruling class and adopt him as heir. Thus, Emperor Antonius Pius selected his nephew, Marcus Aurelius, who was an intelligent youth and a stoic philosopher. You've probably seen his quotes written over sunsets on Instagram. At 24, he married the emperor's 15-year-old daughter, Faustina the Younger. Emperor Antonius died in 161, and Marcus, by then 40, acceded the throne. Previous Roman emperors had ruled alone, but Marcus wanted to share the burden of administering a vast empire with his adoptive brother, Lucius Verus, so he insisted that they be named the first-ever co-emperors. At 32, Lucius married Marcus' 14-year-old daughter, Lucilla. She was a powerful and respected empress. She remained in Rome while her husband traveled around the empire. Still, they managed to have three children, though two died young. Marcus Aurelius did not conquer much of the Roman Empire, as the movie suggests. That was done long before his time. He and Lucius spent most of their reign defending the borders of the empire. In 165, Roman soldiers were laying siege to a city in modern-day Iraq when an airborne pestilence, possibly smallpox or measles, broke out. The disease spread through the well-connected empire and killed 5-10 million people, about 25% of the population. The Antonine Plague still bears the name of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. In the midst of the chaos and instability, German tribes invaded Italy. The joint emperors led an army north to subdue the rebels. While on campaign, Emperor Lucius died, possibly from the plague. Now widowed, Lucilla was quickly married off again to General Pompanius, who was twice her age. Still, she did her duty and gave birth to a son, Lucius. The real Emperor Marcus' succession plan was far different than the movie version. Unlike the four previous emperors, he did not make the sage decision to adopt the best man for the job. Instead, he went with dynamism and named his five-year-old son Commodus as Caesar, a title which distinguished him as heir to the throne. The emperor was confident that he could mold his child into an ideal leader. He hired the best scholars to tutor him, and took him on military campaigns to show him the ropes. When Commodus was 16, he was elevated to co-emperor, but Marcus worried that the boy was immature and rash, and he tapped his most trusted politicians and generals to advise him. Among them was his son-in-law, Pompanius. Marcus had offered several times to name the general co-ruler to his son. Lucilla was eager for her husband to accept, as she wanted to be empress again, but Pompanius refused to take the honor for himself. He was an inspiration for the character of Maximus. But the wronged general, turned glorious gladiator, is in fact a fictional character, drawn from the stories of several men of the era. In his final years, Marcus became more aggressive against the Germanic tribes, hence the opening battle scene in the movie. While on campaign near modern-day Vienna, he died of natural causes at 58. His death marked the end of the Pax Romana, and of peace and stability in the Roman Empire. After him came some serious drama. 18-year-old Commodus was now emperor. He might have done alright if he had listened to Pompanius and the other hand-picked advisors, and pressed on to a likely glorious victory against the Germans. Instead, he heeded the pressure of his entourage, who complained that war was boring, and enticed the teenager with tales of the delights back in the capital. Commodus instructed his reluctant generals to throw in the towel, and he returned to Rome in a hollow triumph. He ignored his administrative duties in favor of living his best life, with parties, feasts, and the general debauchery you'd expect from an 18-year-old handed unlimited funds and power. He was popular with the people for arranging elaborate and ruinously expensive spectacles in the arena, but the ruling class were resentful of his ineptitude. There is no evidence that Commodus had a sexual relationship with his sister, Lucilla. In reality, she was 10 years his senior, and despised the little twerp. She was bitter about having to cede her role as Rome's foremost woman to her sister-in-law, Rutia Crispina, and she was concerned about her brother's increasingly erratic behavior. So she plotted with other leaders, and selected her nephew, Quintanius, to carry out the deed. The young man hid in the palace and waited for the emperor to appear. When he did, Quintanius burst out of his hiding place, brandishing a dagger and yelling, Here is what the senate sends to you. By taking the time to give his action hero speech, he bungled it. Commodus' guards moved faster and seized the would-be assassin. He was executed along with other conspirators. Commodus had his own sister exiled to the island of Capri. A few months later, he sent a centurion there to execute her. Lucilla would not live to be in the sequel. The near-miss drastically changed Commodus' personality. He took the assassin's heart and considered the senate to be his enemy. He found numerous ways to undermine their authority, and they, in turn, tried to assassinate him several times. Each plot was foiled and the conspirators were executed, their property seized to fund the emperor's lavish lifestyle. A soldier named Maternus from Gaul, modern-day France, deserted his legion and formed a band of outlaws. Much like Spartacus, they marched to Rome, pillaging villages and freeing slaves along the way. This inspiration for Maximus hatched an assassination plot. Romans were enjoying a spring festival, and true to form, Commodus threw a massive costume party. Maternus and his men dressed up as Patorian guards in hopes of getting within stabbing distance of the emperor, but he was betrayed and executed, while Commodus escaped yet again. Now truly paranoid, the emperor retreated to the safety of his private country estates, leaving his advisor Cleander in charge. He hoarded grain and sold military commands and senatorships, making himself the wealthiest man in Rome. When a famine hit, riots broke out. Commodus reluctantly returned to Rome, and Cleander would have preferred to be thrown under a bus. The emperor ordered him beheaded, and his entire family murdered. Then their bodies were thrown to the furious mob. The emperor decided he'd better stay in Rome and sort things out. He executed every senator and noble he considered a slight threat, then fully indulged his egomania. He realized that he was the reincarnation of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, so he renamed the capital Comediana in his own honor, and renamed the months of the year after his own lengthy imperial name. These changes didn't stick, as we're not currently in the month of Felix. Commodus decided that he was also the reincarnation of Hercules. He had statues made of himself wearing the Greek hero's signature lion head. Naturally, he knew the common people would want to see his prowess in the arena, so he became a gladiator. He faced off against human warriors who were first hobbled and then armed with wands and sponges, and he slew fierce animals who were kept in cages well out of striking distance. The emperor was never in any danger, as he thrilled the crowds with rigged displays of violence. In one instance, Commodus beheaded an ostrich, then pointed his bloody sword threateningly at the senators in the crowd. They had taken to chewing laurel leaves so as not to burst out laughing at the ridiculous emperor. On New Year's Eve 192, Commodus wanted to make his usual public appearance not from the palace, but from the gladiatorial barracks. He shared his brilliant idea with his mistress, Marcia, but she begged him not to disgrace himself in such a way. Disgruntled, he next told two of his surviving advisors, who, surprisingly, had the same reaction. Rather than heed their advice, the emperor spitefully added their names to a list of people to be executed in the new year. Marcia found the list with her name on the top, and shared it with the other advisors. They had little choice but to make a bid to save their own lives. While Commodus was enjoying a hot bath in preparation for his New Year's Rockin' Eve, Marcia brought him a goblet of wine, laced with poison. He became violently ill and vomited it up. In desperation, the conspirators bribed a wrestler named Narcissus, yet another Maximus proxy, to go into the bathroom and strangle the emperor. And so Commodus' 15-year reign of terror was brought to an end, not in a bloody duel in the Colosseum, but in a bloodless bathtub. As he had no heirs, his death meant the end of the Nerva-Antonin dynasty. Thus we also reach the end of the real-life parallel of the original gladiator movie, not with the dream that was Rome being realized, but with the chaos that was. THE YEAR OF FIVE EMPERORS This is all the drama that happened between the first film and the sequel, and is honestly probably too much, plotting and backstabbing, to fit nicely into a two-and-a-half-hour movie. But let's get into it with charts. Senators kept Commodus' death a secret until they had someone new lined up for the throne. Pertinax was born a commoner and rose through the military ranks during the Wars of Marcus Aurelius. When he was declared emperor, the people demanded Commodus' corpse, but as he'd already been buried, they had to settle for destroying his statues. Pertinax tried to be a good ruler and look after the welfare of Rome. He instituted numerous reforms, but he bit the hand that protected him, namely the Praetorian Guard. The emperor's powerful personal bodyguards had grown corrupt. Commodus bribed them regularly, but Pertinax wanted to do everything on the up-and-up. He ended their concessions, so they ended him on March 28th. For good measure, they cut off his head and stuck it on a spear. As the news of the emperor's assassination spread, two politicians had the same bright idea, pay the corrupt Praetorian Guard to declare them emperor. The two men started a bidding war for the throne. Didius Julianus won, with an offer of 25,000 cesterns per soldier, about $75,000 today. The guards then escorted him to the senate, waving banners and brandishing weapons. The senators feared that they were about to be murdered en masse, but knew that they would be hunted down if they didn't show up. Julianus gave a speech proclaiming himself the best fit to rule, and the hostage senators agreed. He went to the palace that night and had a feast while Pernaxus' headless corpse still lay on the floor. As the outrageous news spread, common people rioted and many were slain by the guard. In the provinces, three separate generals announced plans to march to Rome, and each of their armies proclaimed them the emperor. Piscinius Niger was governor of Syria, Clodius Albinus of Britannia, and Septimus Severus of Pannonia in Central Europe. The closest and shrewdest, Severus sent a message to Albinus, offering to name him Caesar if he stayed put, and he agreed. When Severus reached Rome, the common people supported him, the Praetorian guard who had grown soft with good living and threatening elderly senators were demolished by the disciplined provincial army. In a panic, Julianus went to the senate and begged them to name him co-emperor with Severus, but they were not inclined. Julianus was beheaded on June 1st, and Severus was declared emperor, but Piscinius was still on the way. The second half of 193 was dominated by war between the two claimants. Piscinius had a smaller army, but a bigger ego. He pictured himself as the next Alexander and set up his capital in Byzantium. Severus slashed away at his support. Finally, in May 194, he was defeated in battle and beheaded. His cranium was sent back to Byzantium to encourage the city to surrender. Severus was now secure on the throne. Albinus was minding his own business, governing Western Europe and picking out drapes to install in the palace. But Severus had two sons, Caracalla and Gita, and he wanted to leave the throne to them. He sent assassins to kill his rival, but they failed and clued Albinus in that all was not cool with the succession. This led to open warfare, which culminated in the massive Battle of Laudanum in modern day France. The sides were well matched with 150,000 soldiers each. A long stalemate and massive casualties ensued, but eventually Severus triumphed. Albinus escaped the battlefield, but in defeat he took his own life. Severus took his spiked head back to Rome, making it clear that he finally reigned supreme. If you want to learn more about the Roman Empire, then check out the documentary I, Caesar, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. Get the highlights of the ancient drama with a fascinating look at the public and private lives of six key men who ruled ancient Rome. Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero, Hadrian, Constantine, and Justinian. You can watch this and so many other educational and entertaining documentaries on MagellanTV. This platform is dedicated to delivering the finest documentaries from around the world. They have an incredible collection highlighting whatever you're interested in, including scientific discoveries, nature, art, culture, crime, and beyond. And I love their collection of history documentaries. Click the link in the description to get a 30-day free trial to watch I, Caesar, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, and the rest of MagellanTV's extensive collection of over 4,000 documentaries. And now we jump back into the This film begins some 16 years after the original. We find Lucilla's son, Lucius, recast as Paul Mascow, has been living in North Africa under an assumed name for his protection. Roman General Acacius attacks his city, kills his wife, and enslaves him. Then, just like his secret father, Maximus, he becomes a gladiator. He is bent on revenge against Acacius, who happens to be his mother's new hubby, and the deranged twin emperors, Caracalla and Gita. I won't spoil what happens next in case you haven't had a chance to see the new film yet. But let's explore what happened in real history, which you've had 2,000 years to see. Lucilla, the only female lead in both movies, is in fact long dead by the events of the sequel. She was not fortunate enough to have been married to Pedro Pascal, aka Marcus Acacius, who is an entirely fictional character. Her real son, Lucius, was never a serious contender for the throne, and therefore never had to be secreted away from Rome. He served as a consul and a loyal supporter of Emperor Severus. The emperor did indeed attack North Africa and the Middle East during his 18-year reign, though the film attributes this to the reign of Caracalla and Gita for simplicity. Severus spent his final years in Britannia, waging war against the Caledonians in modern-day Scotland. He vowed to leave not one person alive, not even babies in the womb, until he ruled all of Britannia. He brought his two sons, whom he'd named co-emperors, to show them how it was done. But while camped in modern-day York, the emperor caught an infectious disease and died at 65, cutting his campaign of cruelty short in the year 211. Caracalla and Gita's joint reign began very much as Commodus' did, with the old emperor dying in a war camp in a far-flung province, and his son – sons – giving up a war their army was winning, and making their way back to Rome to live large and botch things up. It would have been cool to see a Roman-era Scotland, but I guess Ridley Scott decided it would be too similar to the original. Caracalla and Gita were not twins, but 23 and 22 when they acceded the throne together. They hated each other. Their mother, Julia Domna, who had been an important advisor to their father, tried to keep the peace. On the journey back to Rome, they refused to share meals or sleep in the same lodgings, for fear that the other would try to have them poisoned, smothered, or stabbed. Their mother vetoed their idea to bisect the empire and each go their own way. Once installed in the capital, the feuding siblings split the palace down the middle. They would only meet in the presence of their mother, and both lived in terror of the other. With tensions untenable, Caracalla asked Julia to arrange a meeting where the two brothers could hash things out without armed guards looming. Julia agreed and Gita honored the truce and came to his mother's chamber unprotected. But Caracalla, who had obviously been lying, arrived with his bodyguards, who promptly stabbed his little brother to death. He died in his mother's arms. Caracalla next had Gita's statues destroyed, his coins melted down, and his name struck from records. He even forbid his mother to shed tears for her son. Caracalla next ordered the massacre of 20,000 of his brother's supporters, including Lucilla's son, Lucius, who was never a glorious gladiator, but was slain at the age of 34. Caracalla, much like Commodus, had little interest in the drudgery of governing. He left his mother in charge and enjoyed himself. One edict he did bother to issue was the Constitutio Antoniniana, which granted citizenship to all freeborn inhabitants of the empire. There were several reasons for this, but namely, it glorified the emperor in the eyes of the gods and increased the number of taxpayers who were contributing to his luxurious lifestyle. He built the lush baths of Caracalla in Rome. The massive bonuses he gave the army to ensure their loyalty caused inflation and debased the coinage. Fancying himself yet another reincarnation of Alexander, Caracalla went on an imperial tour in search of military glory. To emulate his hero, he armed and organized his army in a Macedonian-style phalanx, which had been obsolete for centuries. Though his vanity cost the lives of countless poorly equipped soldiers, he still managed to defeat some Germanic tribes and eastern kings. He then got word that the people of Egypt were making fun of him, so he sailed to Alexandria and informed the leaders that he wished to organize a new phalanx. He requested that they send their strongest young men for the honor of joining the emperor's army. The Alexandrian youths assembled, and their parents came to witness their elevation. Caracalla walked among the men, inspecting them and dishing out praise. Then he left with his bodyguards and ordered his soldiers, who had surrounded the complex, to slaughter the city's unarmed boys and their horrified parents. It is said that the Nile ran red with their blood. Several days of looting and plundering followed. Next, the emperor headed for Parthia in the Middle East, where he offered to marry King Artabanus' daughter. The two rulers met for peace talks, but, true to form, Caracalla did not honor the truce and attacked. Artabanus managed to escape, but the Roman army ravaged the Parthenian border before retreating to camp for the winter. In the early spring of 217, the emperor was preparing to renew his attack on Parthia when he went to visit a temple. On the journey, he stopped to urinate. While his pants were down, a Roman soldier, pissed off about being passed over for a promotion, stabbed Emperor Caracalla to death. He was 29. When his mother learned of his assassination, she took her own life. The assassin was killed on the spot, but the man who convinced him to do it, Macrinus, was proclaimed emperor. This character, played by Denzel Washington, was never an enslaved gladiator. Instead, he came from an equestrian family from North Africa. He was of Berber heritage and likely did have dark skin and a pierced ear. The movie version of Macrinus turns out to be a villain, but in real life he tried to restore the economy and stabilize the empire. His reign was short-lived, however. Before he had a chance to get back to Rome, Caracalla's aunt, Julia Mesa, instigated a rebellion and had her 14-year-old grandson, Eligabalus, who may have been Caracalla's illegitimate son, declared emperor instead. Macrinus was captured and executed after just one year on the throne. Eligabalus, who did not appear in the gladiator movies, is most famous for their unconventional sexual behavior. You can learn more in my trans and non-binary royals video. And so the Roman Empire went on. In reality, no one was trying to restore Rome to the glory of democracy or fight for freedom. They were mostly climbing over one another for personal gain and glory. If only real history included glorious and profound Hollywood endings. Want even more tea on history? Check out the HistoryTeaTime Podcast. You can now follow HistoryTeaTime on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. If you enjoyed this video, please like, subscribe, comment your thoughts, and check out my other history videos. You can also join my Patreon to support my work and get early access to all of my multi-part series. Thank you for watching!