Is "Gladiator" Realistic

How realistic is the movie Gladiator?

The box office hit Gladiator is driven by a Hollywood plot but retains a large amount of factual information. A lot of the characters names they used did exist but were not historically correct. The story-line of the movie was one created for the movie however it is quite realistically portrayed.

The basic plot starts with the Spaniard general of the Roman army, Maximus, leading his loyal troops to a heroic victory. The emperor Marcus Aurelius, who is approaching his death, asks Maximus to be his successor instead of his son Commodus. Commodus kills his father in reaction to the news and asks Maximus to serve him. When Maximus declines his offer and plots his death Commodus commands the death of Maximus and his family. He fights through his execution in attempt of saving his family but he arrives too late. Badly wounded he passes out is taken by slave traders. He is sold along with other slaves to Proximo to fight in the gladiator games.

Eventually they make it to the coliseum and Maximus becomes more popular with each victory he has. Commodus can’t kill Maximus because Rome loves him so much, even though he knows that Maximus will kill him in revenge of his family and Marcu

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By 192, he was said to have become convinced that he was Hercules reincarnated and had Rome renamed as Commodianus. He hated the senate and took every opportunity to kill senators and seize their property. There was a Roman general named Maximus in the third century but he wasn’t Spanish or a gladiator. A successful gladiator could win his freedom from the emperor.

This story, of course has a love story, intense action, and a secret plot considering it’s a Hollywood film. Commodus did not actually murder his father, he died of a disease, possibly small pox. Although 1 out of 10 gladiators died in battle.

The gladiator matches themselves weren’t as brutal as the movie shows them to be. Overall, I would say that the facts are remotely accurate. Maximus kills him in the fight but dies in the coliseum moments later. The character are a little off base to reality but how each of them acted is fairly close to the truth. Commodus sets a trap and challenges Maximus to a gladiator fight but stabs Maximus before the fight.

Gladiators did exist and were as well known as celebrities. Annia Lucilla was also his daughter but was married to Lucius Verus who was actually Marcus Aurelius’ adopted into the imperial family as Marcus Aurelius’ brother and Commodus’ cousin.

Approximate Word count = 870
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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