Gladiator Historical Accuracy

Gladiator Historical AccuracyThe celluloid gladiator revolves around the life of Maximus Decimus Meridius. Maximus was the greatest papist General in the romish Empire. Marcus Aurelius was the emperor of Rome and near his death he told Maximus that he deprivationed the power to be shifted back to the senate, and not to his son, Commodus. The reason Marcus Aurelius did not deprivation his son to ordinance is because he believes that Commodus will destroy the Roman Empire. When Commodus finds out that he will not become emperor, he suffocates his father. After Marcus Aurelius death, Commodus tells the Romans that he is the brand-new emperor, precisely Maximus knows the truth. Commodus tells the sol runrs to kill Maximus and his family before the power is given to the Senate. Before the soldiers could kill Maximus, he defeats all of the soldiers trying to murder him, and he escapes. Maximus goes home to see his married woman and son murdered and hung in front of his house. He kn ows he locoweedt stay in his house, so he starts to find somewhere else to live. While in the desert, Maximus collapses and he is captured by slave trainers. While in the slave camp, the captured slaves were tested to see what level they could perform. Maximus was called Spaniard because he refused to tell his name. When he finally showed the slave traders how hale he fought, they immediately knew that they had an amazing fighter. In Rome, Commodus reopens the gladiatorial games in honour of his deceased father. A significant scene in the movie was when the gladiators were supposed to re-enact the action between Rome and Carthage. The gladiators did not want to be defeated so they killed the defenders and the crowd enjoyed the twist. Commodus demanded the identity of the best fighter. Maximus removes his mask and Commodus is shocked to see that he is unsounded alive. Commodus is unable to kill him because the crowd loves him. Commodus decides to force him to fight the Tigris of Gaul, the best fighter in Rome. While Maximus battles the Tigris of Gaul, Commodus releases the tigers on him. Maximus almost defeats the Tigris of Gaul when he saw Commodus right to vote for death. Maximus decided to spare the Tigris life to oppose Commodus. Commodus is angry to find out that the Romans start calling Maximus, Maximus the Merciful. After the battle, Maximus meets one of his former servants, Cicero and him tells him to tell his former soldiers that he is still alive, and wants them to battle for his freedom. Maximus plans an escape with Gracchus and Lucilla to reunite with his army. Commodus fears that his sister, Lucilla is betraying him so he threatens Lucius. Commodus discovers the plot and he sends his soldiers to kill Maximus and the other slaves. While in battle, Proximo, the trainer of the slaves, and Hagen are murdered, solely Juba and the rest of the survivors are imprisoned. Maximus escapes only to find Cicero hung by Commodus soldiers. Maximus becomes cap tured and imprisoned again and has to face Commodus in battle. Commodus talks to Maximus before the battle and stabs him in the back to develop him in the battle and he orders the guards to cover the wound with armour. While in battle Commodus tries fighting him but at one point Commodus sword is interpreted from his hand. Commodus orders Quintus to give him another sword, but Quintus refuses. Maximus kills Commodus while the whole Coliseum stayed silent. As the life of Maximus begins to fade, he tells the Romans to free Proximos slaves and let Rome be controlled by the Senate again. The movie ends with Maximus meeting his family in a field in his afterlife. Juba is at the end of the movie burying two statues of a woman and a boy that belonged to Maximus, and Juba says he will meet him in the afterlife.Historical Analysis- GladiatorCharactersLucilla In the movie, Lucilla is the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and the sister of Commodus. In the beginning of the movie Marcus Aurelius te lls her he wished she was a boy because she would rule Rome appropriately. Lucilla is very smart and is very interested in the politics of Rome. Commodus is in love with her and does not want anyone to have her. She understands his love and uses it to her advantage. In the movie, she does anything she can to distract Commodus and keep him happy in order to save Maximus. Lucilla, Maximus and Gracchus plot to kill Commodus The romantic relationship between Lucilla and Maximus is clearly evident, and it truly angers Commodus. Commodus becomes very funny and threatens Lucius. Lucilla informs Commodus about her plans in order to save her son, and Commodus captures Maximus.Maximus In the movie gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius is a loving father and husband. He is the greatest Roman General in Roman history, and no one can defeat him. The character of Maximus was created by the writers of the movie, Unfortunately, there are no portraits with which to compare the Hero of Gladiator, the Spanish general Maximus. He neer existed at all. (Ward, 2005). All of the scenes in the movie that involved Maximus were written in to make the movie more exciting and the love affair between Lucilla and Maximus neer existed.Commodus Commodus character was supposed to portray a mixture between the Caesars Nero and Caligula. Historians believe that he was worse. In the movie, Commodus is despised by the Senate and the people. In history Commodus is only hated by the Senate, he was quite loved by the people. In Gladiator, Commodus is murdered by Maximus during battle, but that is not true since Maximus never existed. Commodus had many attempts on his life, but only one man succeeded.Role of Different GroupsCaesars In the movie Gladiator, the Caesar Marcus Aurelius had the most power and he was a noble Caesar. He did not want Commodus to gain power because he feared Commodus would ruin the city of Rome. Some Caesars shared their power with the Senate, some Caesars became dictators.G enerals A general had a very important role. The farm out a general was to lead their army to victory. During the ancient Roman times a legion would serve his general first and his Caesar second. This is demonstrated in the picture when Maximus tells his former servant Cicero to get his army to fight for his freedom. Maximus knows the army will obey him.Gladiators Gladiators were the lowest form of humans during the ancient Roman times. Gladiators were men who were broadly captured during war and were forced to fight. There is also a high accuracy 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. (Ilic, 2004).Government Structure/ PoliticsThe government during the ancient Roman times was based on the Caesar and the Senate. Many of the Roman people loved the Senate, but after seeing how corrupt they could be the Romans started to love Caesars more. For example Commodus was one of the emperors who although despised by the senatorial classes was loved by the military and lower classes. The reason is mainly financial. Commodus taxed the senators and was generous with the others. (The struggle between the Senate and the Caesars continued until the fall of the Roman Empire). (Ward, 2005)Work CitedGil, NG. (2010, October). Economic reasons for the fall of rome. Retrieved from http//ancienthistory.about.com/od/fallromeeconomic/a/econoffall.htmlIlic, KI. (2004, June). Gladiator fact vs. gladiator fiction. Retrieved from http//cssaame.com/jhs/gladiator_fact_vs_gladiator_fi.htmlWard, AW. (2001, August). The movie gladiator in historical perspective. http//linkage.rockefeller.edu/wli/reading/gladiator.html