Anjie S: How Evil was Commodus?

The Bust of Commodus as Hercules portrait portrays Commodus as a very powerful and authoritative figure. His head and chest are encompassed with the skin of a lion perhaps as a symbol of protection by such a fierce animal. He has a club in his hand that was most likely used to scold or reprimand those who did not abide by his rule. In his left hand he has some golden apples which symbolize immortality. This is especially significant because Commodus thought he was the reincarnated Hercules, a divine Roman hero who was also the son of Zeus. Upon reading Lampridus's biography, I learned that Commodus wasn't at all what he was portrayed to be. He was a very vile man that abused his power and went on senseless killing sprees. He was a complete lunatic who even went as far as renaming certain months such as September to Hercules and insisting that his flatterers refer to them as their new names. The biography even stated "Even as a  child he was gluttonous and lewd. While a youth, he disgraced every class of men in his company and was disgraced in turn by them. Whosoever ridiculed him he cast to the wild beasts." It is clear that violence and anger took over Commodus's life and spoke to his soul.He thrived on being destructive.