When we think of ancient Rome, gladiator fights are often top of mind. And yet, very little is known about these Colosseum battles, which is what arguably makes them great fodder for imaginative screenwriters. Case in point: Gladiator II—the sequel to 2000’s blockbuster, five-time Academy Award-winner Gladiator—out in theaters today (Nov. 22).
There are examples of gladiators in art, including mosaics, but the only written description of their fights comes from an account of gladiators Priscus and Verus in “On the Spectacles,” an anthology by the poet Marital published circa 80 AD. According to the poem, the two men let out “mighty shouts” and were described as well-matched, fighting until the emperor raised a finger.
“People are often surprised by the fact that we only have one description, in a poem from the end of the first century AD, of an individual gladiatorial contest between two gladiators,” says Mary Beard, a classicist and author of Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World. “One of the big puzzles is, what are they for? Why are (gladiators) doing this? We don’t know where they originated.”
What is known is that gladiator fights were beloved by Romans and a true civic bonding experience, according to Beard. Citizens of all levels of society could attend. In the movie, the crowd loves all of the blood and gore.
Gladiator II imagines that the legendary emperor Marcus Aurelius’s illegitimate grandson winds up as a slave and gladiator in Rome’s Colosseum after his city-state is conquered. A top businessman named Macrinus (Denzel Washington) purchases Lucius, part of his plan to raise an army of gladiators.
While there really was a school for gladiators in an arena next to the Colosseum that taught several types of fighting—and Macrinus was a real person who later became emperor of Rome—Macrinus never trained gladiators himself. But it’s true that gladiators could have come from regions conquered by Rome. In the film, the…
