“Gladiator II” entertains, but how much does it overdo it? A historian comments

In case you haven’t heard, Hollywood is at it again, giving viewers another helping of one of the cornerstones of ancient Roman society: gladiators.

As Russell Crowe famously asked the crowd at the Colosseum, “Aren’t you entertained?”

“Gladiator II” certainly tries, as director Ridley Scott attempts to recreate the magic of his award-winning 2000 box office hit. Irish actor Paul Mescal plays Lucius Verus, a young man who wants to carry on the legacy of Crowe’s character Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Although not as entertaining as its predecessor, “Gladiator II” offers a glimpse into one of ancient Rome’s most puzzling and outrageous vices and begs the question: Were the Romans as obsessed with gladiators as Hollywood portrays them?

The short answer is: yes. Gladiators were celebrities whose images and names adorned everything from baby bottles to dining room mosaics. Most gladiators were slaves, but free people (including women) also enlisted, drawn by the lure of popularity and the chance of support from powerful patrons.

A slave gladiator could earn his freedom through combat, but we know of several gladiators who preferred to remain enslaved in order to continue fighting in the arena. (Like today’s elite athletes, gladiators found it difficult to retire after many years in the spotlight.)

Despite her popularity, her status in Rome was controversial. The Christian writer Tertullian writes: “They glorify art, they degrade the artist.” A gladiator used his body to entertain others. The Roman mentality viewed this as slave-like and degrading, but it did not stop Emperor Commodus, the villain of the first “Gladiator,” from fighting in gladiator fights more than 700 times!

“Gladiator II” takes the spectacle of the arena to the next level, with a gladiator riding a rhinoceros and a sea battle in the flooded Colosseum where starving sharks prowl the water – scenes that are not The far removed from historical reality. Although we are not aware of anyone riding a rhinoceros, its presence at the games is well documented. And yes, the Colosseum was flooded to host naval battles, which sometimes featured sea creatures.

The more serious inaccuracies are related to the differences between the various fight shows. A typical day at the games began with hunts in the morning (Venations), where trained specialists (bestiarii) fought against wild animals. Then came the midday show, which focused primarily on the punishment of convicts: criminals (sometimes Christians) or prisoners of war, who were often executed by being fed to wild animals or forced to fight each other to the death in staged battles .

But it was all the old equivalent of tailgating: the real show was the afternoon gladiator fights, where there were only one-on-one fights and special rules.

Despite their lower status, Romans admired gladiators for their ability to face death fearlessly. A defeated gladiator knelt, grabbed his opponent’s leg, and craned his neck to receive the finishing blow.

The great Roman orator Cicero writes: “What mediocre gladiator ever groans, ever changes his expression? And which of them, even if he succumbs, ever constricts his neck when ordered to take the blow?” Gladiators did not flinch.

The public execution and humiliation of convicts was intended to instill terror in those who opposed the emperor’s power. The spectacle of Christians accepting death for their faith and often displaying the same courage as gladiators deeply impressed the Romans. The third-century Passion of Perpetua and Felicity recounts how, after being wounded, Perpetua asked to be brought back to the arena to receive the final blow like a true gladiator. This may be one of the reasons why the persecution of Christians spectacularly failed to deter new converts.

In his sloppy Hollywood ending, Lucius raves about “a home worth fighting for.” As in the first “Gladiator,” the sequel presents the conflict as one between good guys and bad guys, republic vs. empire, tyranny vs. democracy. When it comes to the historical period in which the films are set (third century), nothing could be further from the truth.

The love of freedom was a core value for the Romans (quite paradoxical for a slave-owning society) that they passed on to the Western world. But the Roman Republic, with its system of elected magistrates, was completely unsuited to administering an empire the size of Rome.

After about 60 years of almost continuous civil war, Augustus transformed Rome into a monarchy. After the death of Caligula (41 AD), there was an attempt to return to the republican system, but no one would have thought a return to the republic possible at the time of the “gladiator” emperors such as Marcus Aurelius and Caracalla.

Bad emperors like Caracalla and Nero were loathed by the senators but were very popular with the plebians, the common people. Thanks to their games and donations, the plebeians viewed them as champions of the oppressed. Challenges to the emperors typically came from high-ranking generals and members of the senatorial elite, not from the plebs.

What sets “Gladiator II” apart from the original is the quotations from ancient literature. In Virgil’s famous poem “The Aeneid,” the title character asks the Sibyl, a prophetess of the god Apollo, to let him descend into the underworld. She replies: “The gates of hell stand open day and night; | Gentle descent and easy path: | But to return and look at the cheerful sky, | Therein lies the task and tremendous work.”

The point is probably that in the world of gladiators it’s easy to die and the real job is to stay outside the underworld. Or perhaps the idea is that Lucius Verus is in some way a reincarnation of his father Maximus, returned from the dead to seek revenge on a corrupt emperor.