![Downvoting Roman / Commodus Thumbsdown Downvoting Roman / Commodus Thumbsdown](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/square/000/008/997/Naamloos-1_bewadfafaerkt-1.jpg)
Downvoting Roman / Commodus Thumbsdown
Part of a series on Reddit. [View Related Entries]
![0ec.png "INTRODUCING [NEW MEMEI" LET ME SHOW YOU A CLASSIC](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/527/0ec.png)
About
Downvoting Roman / Commodus Thumbsdown is an Advice Animal style image macro series featuring a stillshot of actor Joaquin Phoenix[1] as Emperor Commodus in the 2000 epic film Gladiator. The image depicts a stone-faced Commodus giving a thumbs down and the overlaid text usually conveys dissatisfaction towards a post on a website or forum where a voting system is present, especially on Reddit.
Origin
The still photo is from a scene in the 2000 film Gladiator.[2] After the main character, Maximus Decimus Meridius, defeats his opponent in battle, Emperor Commodus gives a thumbs down in a dramatic gesture of disapproval, thereby requiring Maximus to kill his opponent. The first instance of the image macro was posted to the Advice Animals subreddit[11] on July 6th, 2011 but did not receive any points. However, another instance posted the next day[12] received 2735 up votes and 698 points, reaching the frontpage of Reddit.
![f05.jpg PICTURE ON NO-PICTURE DAY? NO UPVOTE DAY! quickmeme.co](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/255/322/f05.jpg)
![0f8.jpg IT'S YOUR WEDDING DAY? HOW SWEET HERE, HAVE SOMETHING BLUE kmeme.com](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/255/321/0f8.jpg)
Spread
Downvoting Roman has also been featured on The Bigster[9] and Slacktory[13] and has a Facebook fan page.[10] Additional instances can also be found on Tumblr[6], MemeRush[7] and Troll.me.[8] As of September 2013, Downvoting Roman has more than 24,000 results on Quickmeme[3], nearly 1,200 results on Memegenerator[4] and more than 2,000 results[5] on the AdviceAnimal subreddit.
Notable Examples
![283.jpg [FIRST POST! FIRST DOWNVOTE.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/969/283.jpg)
![efb.jpg WHO THE F--- WOULD DOWNVOTE THIS? DOWNVOTE](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/513/efb.jpg)
![647.jpg REPOST quickmeme.com](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/254/509/647.jpg)
![86e.png NICE OPINION TOO BAD ITISN'T THE SAME AS MINE](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/524/86e.png)
![4ac.png "HATERS GONNA HATE" SURE DO](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/529/4ac.png)
![eda.png "KARMA DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING! IAGREE](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/546/eda.png)
![b94.jpg ICANHASCHEEZBURGER? YOUCANHASDOWNVOTE vickmeme](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/967/b94.jpg)
![727.jpg PARANOID PARROT THINKS HE'S NEXT HE'S RIGHT qwickmeme](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/987/727.jpg)
![b3f.png "THIS" THIS.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/531/b3f.png)
Derivatives
The Downvoting Roman series has also spawned some derivatives, including an animated GIF version of Commodus giving a thumbs down, as well as a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic version[14] which was created specifically as a reaction image for the My Little Pony subreddit on December 29th, 2011. The My Little Pony derivative received 3985 up votes and 1441 points overall.
![a70.gif](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/517/a70.gif)
![70f.gif](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/254/519/70f.gif)
Another well-known GIF derivative depicts a different scene from the movie, in which Emperor Commorus reluctantly gives a thumbs up after folding under pressure from the audience. This image has been used on Reddit as a way of begrudgingly giving an upvote.
![bdb.gif MAKE GIFS AT GIESOUP COM](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/304/375/bdb.gif)
![27f.jpg](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/256/402/27f.jpg)
Search Interest
Search queries for "downvoting roman" saw an initial spike in early June 2011 when the first Advice Animal threads began appearing.
External References
[1] Wikipedia β Joaquin Phoenix
[3] Quickmeme β Downvoting Roman
[4] Memegenerator β Downvoting Roman
[5] r/AdviceAnimal β Downvoting Roman
[6] Tumblr β Tagged: Downvoting Roman
[7] MemeRush β Downvoting Roman
[8] Troll.me β Downvoting Roman
[9] The Bigster β The Best Of Downvoting Roman
[10] Facebook β Downvoting Roman
[11] Reddit β Downvoting Roman on NO-PICTURE day.
[12] Reddit β Downvoting Roman is an old softie.
[13] Slacktory β Ron Paul Downvoting Roman
[14] Reddit β Animated Downvoting Roman Pony
Top Comments
Vinyltavia, The Lurky Horse
Feb 21, 2012 at 08:06PM EST
iBlewupthemoon
Sep 05, 2013 at 07:46PM EDT