Was commodus gay

Other LGBT Roman Emperors include Nero’s immediate successor Galba; the Flavian dynasty emperors Titus and Domitian; the “good emperors” Nerva and Trajan; Commodus (as featured in the movie Gladiator); and the notorious Elagabalus. Commodus (/ ˈkɒmədəs /; [5] Latin: [ˈkɔmmɔdʊs]; 31 August – 31 December ) was Roman emperor from to , first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from Galba is the closest thing to what we would today call “Homosexual”, and the reason he is touted as an example of a gay emperor is a sort of mistranslation by Suetonius.

Implying the other fourteen Emperors were gay. Although we can’t be sure about the inner workings of every Roman emperor’s bedroom, there are three famous examples of Emperors whose sexuality went beyond the societal norms of the day. Commodus (born August 31, ce, Lanuvium, Latium [now Lanuvio, Italy]—died December 31, ) was a Roman emperor from to (sole emperor after ).

how did commodus die

His brutal misrule precipitated civil strife that ended 84 years of stability and prosperity within the empire. Vespasian and Titus were on the disputed list because there is only modern speculation, and little or no evidence in historical sources. But I believe I may have marked Vespasian as disputed because of a rumour regarding Josephus, or possibly because of military service and the prevalence of military homosexuality during that period?

Julius Caesar is not on this list because he is not considered a roman emperor. The empire truly began with the formation of the Principate by Augustus. Caesar predates this. Similarly, there are a number of emperors after this list that engaged in sexual or romantic relationships with males Hadrian springs to mind , but I needed to narrow down the search and this time period has the greatest density.

Roman homosexuality was based of the Greek; there was a societal prevalence towards homosexuality that mimicked pedastry, where older men would have sexual relations with teenage boys. Vitellius is rumoured to have slept with the aforementioned Tiberius.