#studentHW – Page 7 – ARTH1103 Intro to Art History F2019

HW1#: How Evil was Commodus? – by Garnet Garcia

It was rather difficult to make it through most of the article, mainly because the things this man did was so unfathomably gruesome that I had to stop every now and then just to stomach what I had read. Is it the worst behavior I’ve ever seen? Probably not; I’ve seen similar displayed in movies and shows that aim to either reflect or exaggerate behaviors such as this one. However, there is something jarring about reading this as the behavior of an actual human being who lived as opposed to just watching some actor play out a character in Game of Thrones or Gladiator.

Vile is an accurate description, but the word that came to mind for me more often was deranged. It was said in class that he was not the worst of the emperors. That’s actually terrifying. There’s something exceedingly childish about his behavior; it’s as if someone gave a sociopathic 10-year-old all the power in the world and let him do what he pleased. The child has no conscious and only knows his selfish desires no matter how inhumane or insane. It says there was no respect for anyone no matter the ability or status, which means no matter who you were or what you did, you could easily be his next victim.

Olando Alexis: How Evil Was Commodus?

After reading the entire article on the life of Commodus I would have to say that Commodus bought a new meaning to evil. The fact that it started out in the womb made it worst. It was said that his mother had a dream about two serpents and that one was fiercer than the other. Commodus happened to grow up spoiled and also fouled mouthed as described in the article. Starting from a young age, the first time that it was noted that he was cruel was when he sent a serpent to burn into a furnace after his bath appeared to be too cool. It also intrigues me how he was able to put many people to death with just his will and status. The craziest part is that barely anyone dared to stand against him due to his status. I also think that those who were around him that had authority had a huge role in his evil intentions because they were al ridiculed and decided to go along with whatever was said by Commodus. another thing that surprises me is how he was able to murder people with no remorse. An example could be when he put servants to death just because they made a correctable mistake and when he would put others to death based on his opinion and because he felt as if they were threats or had some kind special quirk. He also treated the opposite sex as play toys or factors of pleasure. He had no care and was clearly unfit to rule a whole nation.

How evil was Commodus? by Musarat Merchant

I am utterly disgusted after read this article, this man is beyond the definition of “evil” in my opinion. Commodus has done the evilest things that one can ever imagine! First he thinks of him as a God and makes forces people to treat him like one. He is highly delusional about his pathetic self. If I was living in his reign of terror, I’d much rather prefer to die instead of living in a hell that he created for the people back in his day.
He brutally killed every other being for the most stupidest reasons. And many times he killed people just beacuse they were attractive or nobles. He named his minions after sexual parts of both men and women, which I think is very very disrespectful. I even hated the part where he slit opened someone’s stomach and gushed out the intestines. He has poked someone’s eye, he has cut people’s arms and legs, he has tortured bare breasts of women and what not. I wonder if there’s even a rank in the actual hell for a human being – such disgusting?

Tiffany E : How Evil was Commodus?

Commodus was a vile person. He wanted to gain power but the things he did was really cruel. He killed a lot of people just for fun and by their looks. For example, “he put a starling on the head of one man who, as he noticed, had a few white hairs, resembling worms, among the black, and caused his head to fester through the continual pecking of the bird’s beak – the bird, of course, imagining that it was pursuing worms.” He would also cut open a corpulent person down the middle of their belly so the intestines would be gushing out and murdered someone that looked noble and handsome. Commodus was evil and selfish, he wanted to show his power to everyone but he used his power in the wrong way because of all the people he killed. The bust of Commodus as Hercules portrait shows lion skin wrapped on his head and chest. It shows him holding a weapon in one hand and fruits in the other. The lion is a symbolism of power. According to the reading it says, “He engaged in gladiatorial combats, it is said that he engaged in gladiatorial bouts seven hundred and thirty-five times.” The weapon may represent his gladiatorial combats.

Ashley Triblet HW1# How Evil was Commodus?

The mother Faustina was pregnant and dreamt that she gave birth to two serpents. The dream indicated that she would give birth to twins. Their names were Antoninus and Commodus. One of her sons would be fierce. However, her horoscope prediction of Commodus was good but his brother Antonius only lived to the age of four years old. After Commodus died his brother began to follow the teachings of Marcus. Marcus told Antoninus to follow the belief of a great Latin Leader Antistius Capella which as an instructor of rhetoric. His teachings were cruel based and dishonorable, but this was the art of becoming an Emperor.

Commodus could sing, dance, whistle and play an instrument. He was so gifted that he was able to foresee his own future. At the age of twelve, he in a furnace ordered his slave (which was the bath keeper) to be thrown in a furnace because he made his bathwater too cold. And to cover this up, he threw a sheepskin cloth into the furnace to hide the odor. When Commodus was a child, Marcus and his brother Verus were given the name Caesar which meant authoritarian. When Commodus was 14 years old, he enrolled in th4e college of priests and was given a toga which was a distinctive garment.

HW #1

How evil was Commodus? At the age of 12 teachers began to educate Commodus, however he wasn’t Interested in knowledge Instead he wanted power. He ordered the bathkeeper to be cast into the furnace, because his bath was to cold. As for the slave who was order to commit this Incident was forced to lie in order to make him believe that the cause of the stench was vapour. As Commodus got older his behavior has gotten worse towards the years. Such as gathering women so he could purchase them. He would eventually kill his sister than banish his wife from her house, than would kill her. His abuse of power would eventually concern other person which would result him to be sentence to death.

After peace was made in Pannonias the attempts such as gathering more crops in Rome that were mention, would eventually be turn down by the generals were declined. Commodus himself was lazy to sign multiple documents, because not because there was any real shortage of crops, but merely because those people who then ruled the state were plundering the food supply. As for those who plundered on every hand, Commodus afterwards put them to death and confiscated their property.

Karen Orellana: How Evil Was Commodus?

After reading the following sections I have come to the conclusion that Commodus had an obsession with Hercules and craved power and authority. He did some really awful and cruel things just so he could gain power. Commodus would torture people and do it for his own amusement. There were several acts that showed how cruel of a person he was he shot hundreds of animals with arrows because in his opinion they were useless. Another explain as it states in the passage is that “he put a starling on the head of one man who, as he noticed, had a few white hairs, resembling worms, among the black, and caused his head to fester through the continual pecking of the bird’s beak — the bird, of course, imagining that it was pursuing worm”. He also had handsome men killed. I would say that Commodus was a evil, angry, corrupt human begin. His actions were so inhumane. The sculpture below is called The Bust of Commodus as Hercules. Just by the look of it you can tell that the sculpture signifies power. In the sculpture he holds some fruits in one hand and something that looks like a club on the other hand. The sculpture also wearing a lions head as a headpiece. The lion to me represents power and authority.

Fareez Mohammed: How Evil was Commodus?

The Bust of Commodus As Hercules is a sculpture that showcases Commodus strive for power. Commodus was a Roman Emperor who took part in the gladiatorial games in Roman. In this sculpture, Commodus has a loin pelt draped over his head and shoulder symbolizing power. In his right hand, he is holding a wooden stick that looks like a baton and in his left hand, he is holding an apple. Commodus muscular arms is another representation of power and stature. Commodus thinks he is the true Hercules and believes he is one of the strongest heroes in Greek. Commodus is a malicious person because of all the wicked deeds he committed. For example, he killed many of his people for his amusement. He was a powerful ruler and wanted people to worship him like a God. Commodus was an emperor that sought power and respect. I believe that Commodus is an egotistical person because he is cocky and full of himself. He sought power by degrading his people. I believe a true hero is a person who cares for his subjects and does not demand their devotion to make themselves feel validated. After learning the history of this sculpture I now see it as a symbol of oppression.

How Evil was Commodus?

The Bust of Commodus as Hercules felt fitting within Commodus’s eyes, as it showed authority and power, perhaps even some form of respect, with the Lion skin placed over him, the club in his left hand. Not to mention that Hercules himself was half-human and half-god, after reading the Life of Commodus, Commodus himself, had sacrifices made to him as if he was god, despite being fully human and despite seeming to be of cruel and treacherous rule. While in some cases it can also connect to Hercules as it’s said that Hercules had a bad temper that caused unnecessary terrible actions on his part, but is mainly known for what he has done to seem Heroic. Commodus on the other hand from what has been read and seen throughout the trailer, has no heroic merit to him, having only power and money to satisfy him. Humiliating, murdering and torturing those around him and with poor reasoning as well. But thanks to the power he had, like he was part god, he had control and he decided the fate of those around him. He determined them and yet still had the ideal to feel like a great figure to be seen like Hercules, with pride and honor, but with a cruel dark personality.

Sabiha Begum: How evil was Commodus?

The picture of this sculpture is a bust of Roman Emperor Commodus, styled as if he were similar to Hercules. Lucius Aurelius Commodus, born 161 A.D was a Roman emperor who ruled along with his father Marcus Aurelius and after the death of his father in 177 A.D. Based on the reading in Life of Commodus in Lampridius’s biography, at his young age Commodus is portrayed first just as a typical spoiled dishonorable, and cruel and lewd individual. In his biography, he portrayed the first act of his cruelty when his bath was drawn too cool, he ordered the bathkeeper to be cast into the furnace. Following this, there are many examples that prove that Commodus was indeed an evil and unbelievably wicked emperor. According to Historia Augusta, Commodus pretended that he was going to Africa, so that he could get funds for the journey, then spent them on banquets and gaming instead. “He allowed statues of himself to be erected with the accoutrements of Hercules and sacrifices were performed to him as to a god”. He disgraced every class of men in his company and was disgraced in turn by them. For fun, he would do despicable things such as placing a starling bird on a head of one man who had a few white hairs, resembling worms, and caused his head to fester through the continual pecking of the bird’s beak. He would murder many people, just because of the fact that they were handsome, pluck out the eye or cut off the foot of many others. It is also claimed that he often mixed human excrement with the most expensive foods, and he did not refrain others from tasting them.

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