ENFJ 4w3 Characters

Commodus is open with his emotions and takes each slight by his father and every criticism of his character deeply to heart (“I had none of the virtues on your list!”). His bitter resentment at being unloved and disapproved of causes him to lash out against his father, to betray anyone who disagrees with him, and to try and control his sister (hoping to force her into loving him). His tremendous desire to be loved by the people of Rome sways his decisions (giving in to their demands to appease them in the arena). Commodus knows what they want and how to gain their approval – through free food and endless blood sport. He knows that “Rome is the mob”; control them and you control Rome. He too has an idealistic sense of what Rome represents, but to him it is not a symbol of “light” (as to Maximus), but of violence and power. Commodus dreams prior to his father’s death about his future as an emperor, and once he obtains it, develops greater visions – for an arena, for endless games, for prestige and adoration. He has an instinctive knack as to who is scheming against him, and how to stop them. Commodus is intelligent, but also reckless. He tempts fate by standing near to soldiers about to be executed. He enjoys fighting in the area and training with the men. He pursues sensual pleasures and takes great enjoyment out watching the brutal games. He is opportunistic, easily able to turn a situation to his advantage, and somewhat pleasure-seeking. He hopes to incite Maximus to early violence by taunting him, by testing him to find out what he will do. He finds his way easily around problems, by coming up with cunning and creative ways to obtain his heart’s desire, from blackmail to murder. Commodus thinks over his life and his emotions and comes up with his own list of virtues to tell to his father, including ambition. He clearly has given thought to what inspires the mob and how to control them and win them over to his side.

Enneagram: 4w3

Commodus suffers from the intense agony of never living up to his father’s potential, dwelling on his own suffering, and using that as a justification to desire the adoration of others; he tries to force them to love him, rather than win them over, because he has given up on that. He takes his father’s rejection personally and kills him because of it, then is resentful of his father’s relationship with his general enough to have his family slain and him executed, or so he thought. Oftentimes, Commodus breaks down in tears and/or seems unable to move past his father’s disappointment in him, even though the emperor is now dead. But he uses this also as fuel to make his bid for power; he tells his father that he has his own list of virtues, ambition being at the top of the list. Commodus knows what the people want, and allows it to sway some of his decisions (he intends to have Maximus killed in the arena, but when the crowd turns against him, he changes his mind and shows angst over his inability to get rid of him without making him a martyr). In the end, his suffering and sense of being a special, misunderstood man who deserves the accolades and worship of the people causes him to take on Maximus to soothe his own pride, and he winds up dead.