COMMODUS
166
COMMON
with prosody, he tries to write in dactylic hexameter,
and succeeds in only 03 out of more than 2000 verses.
However, tiis shortcomings are somewhat atoned for
by his use of parallelism, rhyme, and the acrostic,
and the regular division of his verses; moreover, in
spite of its defects, his work is decidedly energetic.
He has well-defined formulae, he conjures up magnifi-
cent pictures, and among the many artists and writers
who have attempted a portrayal of the end of the
world, Commodianus occupies a prominent place.
His works have been edited by Ludwig (Leipzig,
1877-7S) and by Dombart (Vienna, 1877, in "Corpus
scriptorum eccles. latinorum", XV). The poem
against Marcio, attributed by P'>nif> critics to Com-
modianus, is the work of ;iii iiiil::' ir.
ScHANZ, Geschichte dcr ronn , ■ ■ I r m the Handbuch
der klassischen Altertumswissi n , /, ^i i, M iLLr;u i Munich, 1905), VIII. pt. Ill, 427-36; .Mon( i m ,, /; ■ . , ; ". , , ,;,. i'^/rigue c/ircftcnne (Paris, 1905). Ill, iM ^, ii ' /^ nn-
modian von Gaza, ein arelatcnsischer /..■ " 1 ' '/.-
des fUnften Jahrhunderls (Paderbom, liini'.i iIh' lin n^ nuiilipil in this title is very uncertain, see Revue cnliquc d'liistoire et de litterature (Paris, 1907), II, 199.
Paul Lejat.
Commodus (ilARCus AureliusCommodtjs Antoni- nus), Roman Emperor, b. 161 ; d. at Rome, 31 Decem- ber, 192. He was the son of Marcus Aurelius and Annia Faustina, and was the first among the Roman emperors to enjoy the distinction of being born in the ])urple. His reign, ISO- 193, was the turning-point in the greatness of Rome. Some his- torians have at- ti mpted to exon- iiate Commodus tiom the charge oi innate deprav- itv and to attrib- ite the failure i)t his career to w e ikness of char- acter and vicious associates. It is, how ever, undeni- able that a con- dition, which re- sulted in the slow but inevitable de- struction of the Roman power, was brought about by the lack of cajjacity and evil life of Commodus, coupled •with the overcentralization in Roman administration by which, since the time of .\ugustus, the most absolute power in the State and religious affairs had been gradu- ally vested in the person of the emperor. Everystage in the career of Commodus was marked by greed and suspicion, producing, as might be expected in those times, wholesale confiscation and numerous murders. One result of his cruel policy was to divert attention for a time from the Christians and to lead to a partial cessation of jjersecution. No edicts were issued against the Christians who, though persecuted by the proconsuls in some provinces, enjoyed a period of respite and comparative immunity from pursuit. Then; were many Christians at the court of Commo- dus and in the person of Marcia, the concubine or morganatic wife of the emperor, they had a powerful advocate through whose kind offices on one occasion many Christian prisoners were released from the mines in Sardinia. Commodus was murdered by stranghng, one of the conspirators being Marcia. There is no evidence that the Christians were in any way coimected with his death.
The works of Dig Cassius. Herodian, Aurelius Victor,
and Edthopius, and the Scriplores HistoricB Augusta! are the
principal pagan sources. Tertdllian, Hippolytus. and Eu-
SEBius are the principal Christian sources. The Roman histo-
ries of Gibbon, Merivale, Duruy, and Schiller should also
be consulted.
Patrick J. Healy.
Common. See Breviary.
Common Law. See L.\w.
Common Life, Brethren of the, a community founded by Geert De Groote, of rich burgher stock, b. at Deventer in CTclderland in 1340; d. 1384. Having read at Cologne, at the Sorbonne, and at Prague, he took orders and obtained preferment — a canon's stall at Utrecht and another at Aachen. His relations with the German GoUesfreunde and the writings of Ruysbroek, who later became his friend, gradually inclined him to mysticism, and on recovering from an illness in 1373 he resigned his prebends, bestowed his goods on the Carthusians of Arnheim, and lived in solitude for seven years. Then, feeling himself constrained to go forth and preach, he went from place to place calling men to repentance, proclaiming the beauty of Divine love, and bewailing the relaxa- tion of ecclesiastical discipline and the degradation of the clergy. The effect of his sermons was marvellous ; thousands hung on his lips. "The towns", says Moll, "were filled with devotees; you might know them by their silence, their ecstasies during Mass, their mean attire, their eyes, flaming or full of sweet- ness. " A little band of these attached themselves to Groote and became his fellow-workers, thus becoming the first "Brethren of the Common Life". The re- former, of course, was opposed by the clerks whose evil lives he denounced, but the cry of heresy was raised in vain against one who was no less zealous for purity of faith than for purity of morals. The best of the secular clergy enrolled themselves in his brotherhood, which in due course was approved by the Holy See. Groote, however, did not live long enough to perfect the work he had begun. He died in 1384, and was succeeded by Florence Radewyns, who two years later founded the famous monastery of Wiadesheim which was thenceforth the centre of the new association.
The Confraternity of the Common Life resembled in several respects the Beghard and Beguine communi- ties which had flourished two centuries earlier and were then decadent. The members took no vows, neither asked nor received alms; their first aim was to cultivate the interior life, and they worked for their daily bread. The houses of the Brethren were more closely knit together, and the brothers and sisters alike occupied themselves exclusively with literature and education, and priests also with preaching. Wlien Groote began, learning in the Netherlands was as rare as virtue ; the University of Louvain had not yet been founded, and the fame of the schools of Li^ge was only a memory. Save for a clerk here and there who had studietl at Paris or Cologne, there were no scholars in the land; even amongst the higher clergy there were many who were ignorant of Latin, and the burgher was quite content if when his children left school they were able to read and ■WTite. Groote determined to change all this, and his disciples accom- plished much. Through their unflagging toil in the scriptorium and afterwards at the press they were able to multiply their spiritual writings and to scatter them broadc:ist throughout the land, instinct with the spirit of the "Imitation". Amongst them are to be found the choicest flowere of fifteenth-century Flemish prose. Tlie Brethren spared no pains to obtain good masters, if necessary from foreign [larts, for their schools, which became centres of spiritual and intellectual life; amongst those whom they trained or who were associated with them were men like Thomas .\ Kcmpis, Dierick Maertens, Gabriel Biel, and the Dutch Pope Adrian VI.
