Essay On The Movie Gladiator

Drusilla Culp
Gladiator vs. Ancient Times The movie Gladiator follows the fictitious character of Maximus through his experiences in the gladiatorial games. While highly researched, the film of course differed from history in ways such as the historical accuracy to the family, Commodus, as well as the weaponry used by gladiators. Marcus Aurelius was an emperor from 161 to 180 CE as well as a philosopher. He really did wage battles along the frontier as depicted in the film, and is remembered by historians of his time as a skilled leader. His full name was Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, and he would've been called by these names not the antiquated "sire" and "my lord" like in the movie. His work, The Meditations, remains a highly popular classic in philosophy. A fact not told in the movie, was that his adoptive brother Lucius Verus, was made co-emperor with Marcus as during the time of the Republic, the Empire was ruled by two consuls with equal power and the senate. This was to guard against dictatorship. So, it is a possibility that Marcus really did have Republican inclinations, as said in the movie, or this could've been a move to avoid the same death as Caesar. Though Rome was ruled by both Aurelius and Verus, Aurelius was considered the true ruler of Rome. The death of Aurelius is unsure as the official report is
Some of the masks such as the one the retired gladiator wore is inaccurate. As well as Maximus's second battle was including a tiger, when most likely your first battle would be with an animal as the bestiae was the lowest level of gladiator. However the short sword or gladius Maximus used was very accurate as that was also used lots for the military. Another discrepancy of the movie is the inclusion of a two sided crossbow, something that did not exist in gladiatorial times as a simple bow often shown through the movie was the main