Commodus

About Commodus

Commodus, who reigned as Roman Emperor from 177 to 192 CE, is ranked by MIT’s Pantheon project as the 118th most historically important figure globally. His significance stems primarily from his disastrous reign, which is often cited by historians as a major turning point marking the beginning of the decline of the Pax Romana. A notorious figure, he frequently participated in gladiatorial combat, identifying with Hercules and scandalously treating the Roman Empire as his personal domain.

Despite this high historical ranking, Commodus currently experiences a notable internet attention surplus. With 1.4 million annualized Wikipedia views in 2025, he is overrepresented online, showing a +2x "Attention Gap" relative to his historical importance. To put this into perspective, his views only slightly trail those of Pol Pot (#710 importance) who garnered 2.4 million views, and he receives significantly more attention than far more consequential figures like Charles, Prince of Wales (#63 importance, 324K views).

This overattention is currently waning, however. The 2025 data shows a steep -32.8% year-over-year decline in interest, which is further reflected in a significant -52% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of the year, suggesting his cultural footprint on the modern internet is actively diminishing.