5. Commodus loved his sister (too much, some critics say), but he didn’t hesitate to have her killed when she conspired against him
From the very moment, Commodus was declared co-ruler with their father Marcus Aurelius, his sister Lucilla had been baying for blood. She believed that her own husband, Lucius Verus, should have been named the old man’s heir. When he wasn’t, Lucilla vowed revenge. Even when Lucius Verus died suddenly in 169, she bore a grudge. Combined with her ongoing feud – and jealousy of – Commodus’ wife, Lucilla was intent on revenge. In 182, she recruited her own nephew, a man called Claudius Pompeianus Quintianus to hide behind a pillar in the Colosseum and then stab Commodus to death.
Commodus was successfully lured to the arena under false pretenses and was exposed. But instead of simply stabbing the Emperor, the would-be assassin decided to first cry out: “This is what the senate has sent you!” This hesitation gave the Emperor’s elite Praetorian Guard enough time to react. The assassin was killed and Lucilla’s involvement in the plot was uncovered. She was sent to Capri to live in exile, along with her daughter. But Commodus soon felt he was being too merciful. Weeks later, he dispatched a loyal centurion to the island to murder both mother and daughter.
