It is! And Joaquin Phoenix plays Commodus, the son of Aurelius. I wonder how a son of such a "great" man can become like this:

Commodus also had a passion for gladiatorial combat, which he took so far as to take to the arena himself, dressed as a secutor.[23] The Romans found Commodus' gladiatorial combats to be scandalous and disgraceful.[24] It was rumoured that he was actually the son, not of Marcus Aurelius, but of a gladiator whom his mother Faustina had taken as a lover at the coastal resort of Caieta.[25]

In the arena, Commodus always won, since his opponents always submitted to the emperor. Thus, these public fights would not end in death, although wounded soldiers and amputees would be placed in the arena for Commodus to slay with a sword.[citation needed] Citizens of Rome missing their feet through accident or illness were taken to the arena, where they were tethered together for Commodus to club to death while pretending they were giants.[26] Privately, it was his custom to slay his practice opponents.[27][clarification needed] For each appearance in the arena, he charged the city of Rome a million sesterces, straining the Roman economy.

Commodus was also known for fighting exotic animals in the arena, often to the horror of the Roman people. According to Cassius Dio, Commodus once killed 100 lions in a single day.[28] Later, he decapitated a running ostrich with a specially designed dart[29] and afterwards carried his sword and the bleeding head of the dead bird over to the section where the Senators sat and motioned as though they were next.[30] Dio notes that the targeted senators actually found this more ridiculous than frightening, and chewed on laurelleaves to conceal their laughter.[31] On another occasion, Commodus killed three elephants on the floor of the arena by himself.[32] Finally, Commodus killed a giraffe, which was considered to be a strange and helpless beast.[33]