Latest / Marcus Aurelius: Rome's Philosopher King — Fexingo History / Marcus Aurelius and the Education of Commodus
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- Lucas: So Luna, we've spent a lot of time on Marcus Aurelius himself—the philosopher, the general, the administrator. But I think we've barely touched on something that haunts his legacy: the education of his son Commodus. Luna: Right, the one who turned out to be... not exactly a philosopher himself. Lucas: Exactly. Commodus is famously the gladiator-emperor, the one who wanted to rename Rome Colonia Commodiana. But the story of how he was raised—the tutors Marcus chose, the curriculum, the pressures—is really a tragedy in its own right. And it tells us a lot about the limits of even the best education. Lucas: Marcus had a very clear model for what an imperial prince should learn. He himself had been educated by some of the finest minds of the day: Cornelius Fronto, the greatest orator of his time, and Herodes Atticus, the wealthy Athenian sophist. He studied law with Lucius Volusius Maecianus and philosophy under Junius Rusticus. Luna: So he was assembling an all-star team for Commodus too? Lucas: He tried to. The most famous tutor he appointed was Alexander of Cotiaeum, a highly respected grammarian from Phrygia. Marcus actually wrote a letter preserved in his correspondence to Fronto praising Alexander's character and learning. He was the first major teacher for Commodus, starting when the boy was about seven. Lucas: But there were others. A man named Anicetus, a rhetorician, was brought in to teach him public speaking. And then there was the most intriguing figure: Galen, the great physician, who was summoned to court not just to treat the imperial family but specifically to oversee Commodus's health and regimen. Luna: Wait, Galen wrote about Commodus's health? That's fascinating. Lucas: He did. Galen mentions in his medical works that Commodus had a constitutional weakness—he was prone to fevers and perhaps had some kind of chronic condition. Galen prescribed a strict diet and exercise regimen. But it's an open question how much a 12-year-old prince actually followed a doctor's orders. Lucas: The curriculum itself was rigorous. Commodus studied Greek and Latin literature, rhetoric, philosophy, and law. Marcus personally wrote a letter to his son's tutor—likely Alexander—laying out his expectations. He wanted Commodus to learn not just the words but the inner meaning of Stoic ethics. Luna: Did Commodus show any early promise? Lucas: The sources are mixed. Cassius Dio, writing decades later with hindsight, says that Commodus was naturally decadent and cruel from childhood. But that's probably retroactive character assassination. The Historia Augusta, for all its unreliability, mentions that Commodus was handsome, athletic, and an excellent archer. He certainly wasn't stupid—he just despised intellectual work. Lucas: There's a telling anecdote from the historian Herodian: when Commodus was about fifteen, he was forced to attend a philosophical lecture by his father. He reportedly yawned and fidgeted the whole time, then asked Marcus why he had to listen to old men babbling. Marcus, by all accounts, was deeply disappointed but remained patient. Luna: What about companions? Did he have friends his own age? Lucas: That's a crucial point. Marcus tried to surround Commodus with virtuous young companions—sons of senatorial families, carefully chosen. But the Historia Augusta suggests that his entourage included some unsavory characters: freedmen, athletes, and gladiators who indulged his baser instincts. The emperor's control over his son's environment was far from absolute. Lucas: There's also the matter of Marcus's own absences. During the Marcomannic Wars, when Commodus was between 10 and 15, Marcus was away on the Danube frontier for years at a time. Commodus remained in Rome with his mother Faustina the Younger, who herself had a controversial reputation. Luna: So he was essentially being raised at court without his father's direct presence. Lucas: Exactly. And the court of the 170s was not a Stoic monastery. It was a place of enormous wealth, intrigue, and flattery. Everyone around a young emperor-in-waiting had an agenda. One of the key figures was a freedman named Saoterus, who later became Commodus's chamberlain and was notoriously corrupt. Lucas: We should also mention that Marcus had high hopes for Commodus's formal education to culminate in the study of philosophy. He even appointed a Stoic philosopher, Apollonius of Chalcedon, as a tutor. But Apollonius reportedly quit in frustration, complaining that Commodus was unteachable. Luna: I've heard that Marcus himself wrote about Commodus in Meditations. Does he? Lucas: He doesn't name him directly, actually. There's a famous line in Meditations 1.17 where Marcus thanks the gods that he was not 'brought up with any concubine' and that he 'did not touch either Benedicta or Theodotus' when he was young. But there's no mention of his son. Some scholars think this omission is deliberate—a painful subject he couldn't bring himself to write about. Lucas: The tragedy is that Marcus knew he was raising a potential problem. Cassius Dio records that Marcus once said of Commodus, 'I fear that he will become another Nero.' That's a remarkable admission from a father who was himself a philosopher. Luna: Did Marcus consider adopting someone else? Earlier emperors had done that. Lucas: That's the great counterfactual of his reign. Marcus himself had been adopted by Antoninus Pius, who was adopted by Hadrian. The adoptive system had produced four excellent emperors in a row. But Marcus broke with that tradition. He had Commodus proclaimed Caesar at age six, consul at fifteen, and co-emperor at sixteen. By the time Commodus turned 18, he was sole emperor. Lucas: Why? Well, partly because Commodus was his only surviving son. Marcus had 13 children with Faustina, but only Commodus and five daughters lived to adulthood. The rest died in infancy or childhood. By 169, Commodus was the sole male heir. Adoption would have meant passing over his own blood. Lucas: There's also the political reality: the army and the Praetorian Guard expected a dynastic succession. The stability of the empire depended on clear lines of inheritance. Marcus may have felt he had no choice, or he may have genuinely believed that his education and example could shape Commodus into a good ruler. Luna: But it didn't work. What went wrong? Lucas: I think the most honest answer is that education—no matter how excellent—cannot remake a person's fundamental character. Commodus had his own temperament, his own desires, and he was surrounded by people who encouraged those desires. Marcus could write Meditations, but he couldn't force his son to read them. Lucas: There's a poignant detail from the end of Marcus's life. When he was dying in 180 AD, probably from the Antonine Plague, he was in military headquarters in Vindobona—modern Vienna. He summoned Commodus and his closest advisors. According to the Historia Augusta, he said, 'Go to the gods, for I am already leaving you.' And then he added a plea: 'Take care of my son, for he is weak.' Luna: Weak, not evil. That's a very Stoic way to put it. Lucas: It is. Marcus saw his son's flaws as a kind of illness, not a moral failing. But within a few years of Marcus's death, Commodus had abandoned the Marcomannic Wars, made a humiliating peace with the barbarians, and returned to Rome to pursue his own pleasures. The philosopher king was replaced by the gladiator emperor. Lucas: So when we look at the education of Commodus, we see the limits of even the best intentions. Marcus gave his son the finest tutors, the most careful curriculum, and a personal example of virtue. But he could not give him the desire to be good. And that, I think, is one of the deepest ironies of his reign. Luna: It makes you wonder what Marcus would have written in Meditations if he had known how it would turn out. Lucas: He probably would have written the same thing—but with even more urgency. The Meditations are, after all, a kind of training manual for the soul. Maybe he was writing them partly for Commodus, hoping his son would someday read them and understand. But if he did, Commodus gave no sign of it.