Gladiator College Essay Example

(Ward, 347 & 348). Aurelius came from a line of senators so one senator adopted the position and passed on the position of emperor.

Aurelius however did not choose to carry on this tradition of the succession. Instead, when it came to succession instead of picking a senator to replace him “he picked his son Commodus” (Ward, 351). The movie, however, shows that Aurelius wanted to pass down his position to Maximus. Maximus is another historical error made on the part of the movie writers. Maximus was someone who never actually existed in history. In this film I found more inaccuracies in the battles than in any other part.

According to the research I have done I found that the weapons the gladiators possessed were much more advanced than what they used historically. The movie shows the Romans to be using “fire-hurling catapults and mechanical dart launchers against the oncoming barbarians” (Able, 210) was for an extremely dramatic affect but was most likely not historically accurate. These weapons were much too far advanced for the Roman battlefields. The plot of this movie is surprisingly questioned the most about being historically true, Emperor Commodus actually fighting as a gladiator in the arena.

This actually did, in fact, happen, not only once but many times. The contests are believed to have been rigged, “with the opponents having been drugged in advance. ”(Able 212). In the movie we also see the Roman gladiator living conditions as bearable and the people able to get by. In the film, gladiators were put in schools, which were led by head gladiators or “gladiatorial managers” (Meijer 53). The managers

were private owners like Proximo was. It was their job to train, sell or hire out their gladiators to cities like Rome.

In the movie we see that the gladiators lived in little cells and traveled with their school. “They ate together and they only got weapons when they were in the arena” (Meijer 53). This is, in fact, historically accurate. The gladiators did actually belong to the gladiatorial managers and they trained everyday, just like in the movie. As the film comes to a close we see a final depiction of the fate a gladiator would have to face which decided whether he lived or died. I saw this in the scene where Maximus reveals who he is to Commodus, upset at seeing the man he thought was dead Commodus orders the death of Maximus.

The crowed boos the emperor and then Commodus, after a small hesitation, is forced to give the thumbs up to let the gladiators live. Had he given the thumbs down they would have died on the spot. This is how it was done historically too. “The emperor or the host of the gladiator games could order the death of a gladiator and often times the emperor sided with his people wanting to remain popular within their eyes” (Meijer 60 & 61). I found from the research I have done that gladiator was not a bad movie as far as historical accuracy.

Though some of the events (like the character of Maximus not actually existing) there are historical accuracies hidden within the film. The framework of this film was mostly accurate; Commodus was actually an immoral monster

of a man who was hated by the senate. He did mistreat the senate enough for them to plot along with his sister Lucilla to kill him. There is also a lot of truth in the way that the life of a gladiator is portrayed. Gladiators were men who were trained to die for the publics entertainment.

They not only fought other gladiators but animals too. They were sequestered from the rest of society and under the rule of a school manager who was responsible for their training and their lives in general. As a whole, this movie was fundamentally truthful, but had many false scenes weaved into it. I would not especially recommend this movie for someone who is trying to research the actual Roman empire as far as dates and characters and fine details. Over all this movie was extremely entertaining to watch and research the historical truth.