Historical Truth of Gladiator

Of the many monumental constructions that the Romans built, one of the most well known is the Coliseum, where brave Gladiators would fight dangerous animals and even each other to entertain the people of Rome. When people see the great arena, it is easy for them to forget the countless men, women, and animals that died fighting each other for amusement. Most people don’t know what it took for them to fight and either win or die, or how many hours they must have spent training to have a chance at defeating their opponents. Who were these gladiators?

But Maximus is more than a general to Aurelius, he is the son he should of had and the needed successor to the emperor. Aurelius has known that his true son, the

This is actually factual as for gladiators were actually trained under their managers, tested and marked for purchases. The purposes of a gladiator were not to fight in wars or battles but to battle against each other, animals and beasts solely for public entertainment in the ancient Rome. The portrayal of gladiators’ status in the Roman society as well as their roles for bloody thirsty and violent entertainment in the film is displayed true to the ancient Rome.

The book The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss is an in depth look at one of Roman history’s most legendary events, the gladiator revolt led by Spartacus. Spartacus has become a legend, creating a storyline that has inspired many movies and television shows, such as Stanley Kubrick’s epic Spartacus in 1960, starring the legendary Kirk Douglas. Spartacus has inspired a perfect mix of men over time with various backgrounds and beliefs, from Stalin and Marx, to Voltaire, and even to Ronald Reagan. How though, did Spartacus create a massive revolt of slaves that would create a massive problem for the mighty Rome? Strauss attempts to create a chronology of the Spartacus War using his vast knowledge of the Italian landscape, ancient documents, and

The gladiator fights didn’t start off with two men fighting in an arena surrounded by people it actually originated as mandatory offerings or munera owed to important men at their funerals. Munera or duty was another name for gladiator fights because it was look at as more of a duties paid to dead ancestors. The men that were being honored had generally been public figures and the munera were intended to show their prestige and of that to their family to the people of Rome. Many historians believe that the games may have come from the Etruscans who were people that occupied ancient Italy. Paintings from tombs of Estruscan show their custom of celebrating the dead with funeral games which seemed to consist of different types of contest including combat. Others have suspected the gladiatorial games have been influenced from the area of Campania where Rome had fought three wars resulting in the exchange of customs. The original purpose of these combats that took place at funerals may be looked at as human sacrifice which meant that the blood spilled by these fighters benefited the spirit of the deceased. It wasn’t

It was a form of entertainment for the people to go to coliseums to watch the gladiators fight and kill each other. They would pay to watch slaves fight and see the death of a lot of them... Gladiators would be seen as club rites today. It was a part of the Romans daily life to go watch people die... In these days, that type of stuff would be unacceptable and very, very cruel. A lot of the Romans enjoyed too go watch the gladiators fight each other to death, but other thought it as supposed to be

Gore, drama, and action. These are what most people pay Hollywood to show them at the screens. The movie gladiator from the year 2000 is no different. The movie gladiator is a movie with contents that does not align itself historically. Rather it is tainted with a bit of historical accuracy resulting it to be more difficult to discern the accuracy of the movie as it is now ambiguous for which part of the movie is unreliable and reliable. Nevertheless, this paper will be contrast the content of the movie with the historical accuracy of some of the event, the people in the plot, and the gladiatorial combat in the movie, proving the lack of historical revelevancy.

The son of Marcus Aurelius,’ Commodus Antoninus, came to power in the wake of his father’s death in March of 180 CE. From the death of Marcus Aurelius came the end to the Five Good Emperors. Commodus’ reign lasted from 180 to 192 CE and he described it as a “golden age.” (cite) However, this was far from the truth. Commodus succumbed to the lure of self-indulgence and become a megalomaniac. Along with those two flaws, he also held deep antagonism against the Senate. (cite)

Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960) gives audiences a spectacular showing of two opposing ideologies coming head to head. In Spartacus, the Roman Empire faces one of the greatest threats to the empire it had ever faced. That enemy was named Spartacus. Spartacus was the unlikeliest of heroes. He was a simple slave who showed no extraordinary skills or talents, except for his fierce rebellious spirit. When push came to shove, that spirit did not allow Spartacus to stand by and do nothing as the Romans continued to do as they pleased with whomever they wanted. In a moment of rage, Spartacus kills the trainer of the gladiators and as consequence, inspires the other gladiators to fight back against the oppression they had been forced to live under.

During the Roman Republic and Roman Empire gladiatorial games where used to entertain the masses. Many movies depict gladiators as slaves fighting wild animals, criminals, or other gladiators. Hollywood also depicts gladiatorial fights as free for all’s. However this is not true, the games operated under strict rules. According to , the contest where between men of the same size and the same experience, there were referees that over saw and even stopped fights when one gladiator was seriously injured, and with the expense of training, housing and feeding, promoters taught the gladiators not to kill but only wound their competitors.

	After nineteen years of ruling Rome, Marcus Aurelius died on March 17, 180 in Vindobona, which is currently Vienna. He died of a plague while in the middle of yet another war to defend the territory of Rome. Aurelius was succeeded by his son, Commodus, who was the polar opposite of his father. Commodus was a corrupt and evil ruler. Apparently, his father was never aware of this fact, for Commodus fooled him into believing they were of the same mind when it came to ruling. Commodus was the first of the bad emperors to Aurelius’ last of the good emperors. This lack of an able ruler cemented the descent of the Roman empire.

During the Roman Empire many emperors ruled in their own ways. Some were considered to be one of the “Five Good Emperors, ” and the others didn’t last because they were assassinated. They either just cared about themselves or actually cared about the citizens of Rome. The movie Gladiator portrays Roman life and the gladiatorial games. Really though, how does the movie compare to the history of the Roman Empire? I am really interested in the actual history of the gladiators and the movie is one of my favorites. That’s why I chose to do my review on it and I came to find out that the movie didn’t give me the information on the real life and times of the gladiators.

After its debut in America on May 5th of 2000, the movie Gladiator has been a nationwide symbol of heroism(Imdb). The film was directed by Ridley Scott and the lead roles of the film were carried out by Russell Crowe as Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus(Imdb). The movie takes place during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire in the year 180 A.D. The Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, is dying and wishes to leave the Roman Empire under the control of Roman General Maximus Meridius. The Emperor’s son Commodus betrays Maximus, kills his father, and takes control of Rome. In betraying Maximus, Commodus has his family killed. Maximus knowing this returns to Rome as a gladiator under the alias “Spaniard” in search of revenge(Imdb). According to

In the movie Gladiator, Russell Crowe plays a battle hardened Roman General who, through a series of unfortunate events, becomes a gladiator. He starts out on the front lines of a battle against barbarians. The war against them has been going on for some time however this is the final battle that will end the war. The battle rages and the Romans come out victorious. The Caesar then emerges and praises Maximus (Russell Crowe) for his leadership. The Caesar then asks him if he will become Caesar after his death because his son Commodus is not fit to rule. Commodus hates his father’s decision and kills him so his wish will die with him. Commodus then orders Maximus to be killed, he escapes and rides as fast as he can back home but is too late. He comes home to find his wife and son burned alive. He is then captured and sold into slavery where he becomes a gladiator and moves up in the ranks as a skilled fighter. He makes friends with a black slave and they both move together up to larger arenas. He makes it to the Coliseum where he reveals himself to Commodus declaring he will have his vengence. Commodus accepts Maximus’ challenge after delivering a fatal wound to his back. He fights Commodus despite the injury and kills him but then dies himself.

The story is about Maximus, one of the leading generals in the Roman army. He led the Romans to victory in a decisive battle with the Barbarians that ended a long war between them. This victory helped him gain trust and favour from the old Emperor Marcus Aurelius, which is now old and near his end. Emperor Aurelius wishes to appoint Maximus as the temporary leader of Rome, even though he has a son, Commodus. Commodus, being told by his father that he would not be the appointed emperor, murders Marcus in a fit of rage and claims the throne. He then ordered the execution of Maximus to secure his claim to the throne. Maximus escaped execution, but he was unable to save his son and wife in Spain from the soldiers