Commodus: An Emperor at the Crossroads (Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology) [Hardcover]

Olivier Hekster (Author), O. Hekster (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9050632386
• ISBN-13: 978-9050632386
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,686,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Would Be a Good Book at a Lesser Price, February 17, 2012

By 

Stuart McCunn (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Commodus: An Emperor at the Crossroads (Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archaeology) (Hardcover)

This is, as far as I know, the only biography of Commodus in existence in English. It is rather unfortunate then that the author describes his book as not a biography but a look at the way he was presented. In the end that isn't too big a difference since there isn't near enough information for a conventional biography anyway. Besides, Commodus' self-presentation is half the story. Why did this man dress up as Hercules and fight in the arena? That is the question that any biography of Commodus must answer.

The first part of this book is a conventional historical narrative of the events of Commodus' life. He was the first emperor born in the purple, which probably accounts for a lot of his problems. Hekster views this as foreshadowing the rise of the numerous child emperors during the first half of the third century. He also emphasizes that the non-dynastic nature of the second century emperors was overstated. Marcus Aurelius was a relative of Hadrian who had no sons, and Antoninus Pius was a stopgap measure. For Pius, the adoption of Marcus gave him legitimacy while for Hadrian Pius gave Marcus time to come of age before becoming emperor. Unsurprisingly Hekster views Commodus' supposed failings in the north to be political propaganda from his enemies. After all, he may have ended the war without fighting any further battles but that frontier was to remain safe until the time of Valerian and Gallienus. The reason for the hatred against him was that Commodus removed senators from his circle of advisers. None of this is any great surprise, but it's nice to see it gone into in detail.

The second part deals with how Commodus displays himself. Chapter four is called 'Images of Divinity' and deals with his assumption of the attributes of Hercules. Hekster points out that Hercules was a very dangerous figure to imitate since his traits could be considered good or bad depending on who viewed them. Chapter four is called 'An Emperor in Display' and deals with his fighting in the arena. He considers this a way for the unmartial Commodus to display his valor to the Roman people. Martial virtue was an important requirement of an emperor so Commodus needed to demonstrate it in some way. It also emphasized his personal valor at the expense of the senate and more traditional system. Unlike in a normal gladiatorial bout, people had to side with the Emperor when he was fighting. It was a superhuman form of display.

English is not Hekster's first language and it shows, but he can occasionally turn a pretty good phrase. "Only a few forms of representation cannot be parodied. Portraying oneself as Hercules is not one of them," was probably my favorite. It is worded poorly with a double negative, but beneath it there lies a witty statement. His last lines rather sum up his opinion of the public take on Commodus: "Some people clearly understood what the emperor was trying to do. They just did not agree."

This book is a fine, if unambitious look at an infamous emperor. There is a slight problem of audience however. The book doesn't dig too deeply into events which suits a more public audience, but at the same time it includes many quotes in untranslated German. His Greek and Latin quotes include both the original text and a translation, so I'm not sure why he didn't bother translating the German text. Which is a shame because with a few simple changes and a different (cheaper) publisher this could have been a successful and popular book. As it is it seems rather disappointingly shallow for such an obscure book. It is worth a read, but certainly not the price.