.jpg)
It’s time to return to ancient Rome, where men fought men, and even animals, to the bloodied death — all in the name of noble sport. Gladiator 2 returns 24 years after the revolutionary original starring Russel Crowe, which raked in over $460 million (Rs 3841 crore) worldwide, and bagged five Academy Awards at the time. The sequel, which stars a dynamic cast of Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington, has big shoes (read: sandals) to fill, but going by the trailer, it relishes the challenge.
First, a quick recap (for the Gen-Zs especially). Ridley Scott’s Gladiator chronicles the story of Maximus (Crowe), a legendary general in Emperor Marcus Aurelius’s army, who was enslaved on the command of the barbaric Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), forced to fight impossible battles as a gladiator and who, in service to the entire Roman Republic, slit the madman’s throat. Gladiator 2 follows a similar theme, with Mescal donning the role of our new hero — Lucius, the son of Lucilla, Commodus’ honourable sister and Maximus’ former lover. As a childless Commodus’ nephew, Lucius is technically heir to the throne, but he much prefers his peaceful life among the fields of North Africa’s Numidia, where he lives, away from the pressures of the court, with his family. However, a cruel twist of destiny — which includes soldiers invading Numidia at the behest of co-emperors Caracalla and General Marcus Acacius (Pascal) — leads Lucius back to the very kingdom he was meant to rule.
Going by the trailer, which amassed over 12 million views in less than 24 hours, Gladiator 2 stands to match, and possibly even top all the heady action sequences that immortalised the original. That one sword-clashing sequence between Lucius (Mescal) and Marcus Acacius (Pascal), for instance, will have anyone holding their breath. However, how much of this film, and its predecessor for that matter, is based on fact rather than friction? The bloodied history of the Roman gladiators makes for great cinema, but there’s a treasure trove of priceless information that the movies, and even literature, tends to glide over.
Gladiator 2: Know the real bloodied history of the Roman gladiators before watching the Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington-starrer
The first mention of the gladiators dates back over 2,000 years ago, to about 264 BC when Rome was still a Republic. At the time, wealthy Romans were known to throw elaborate funerals for their kin, and other important dignitaries, and one of the key entertainments they provided at these events was violent sword fights between three pairs of slaves in the marketplace. One of the reasons behind this form of crude diversions, according to Roman writers Tertullian and Festus, was the Roman belief that human blood helped purify the deceased person’s soul, History.com reports. Over time, as these “games” became more popular, officials of the state began hosting them for fun as a means of mass entertainment.
One of the misconceptions, perpetuated by the dramatic retellings in the movies, is that gladiators fight unto death. However, reports by History.com, National Geographic and BBC all refute this theory, stating that the cost of feeding, housing and training gladiators for months and years was too great for their trainers to wish for them to be killed in one game. That being said, certain pre-planned fight-to-the-death games, or combats where the losing gladiator was not pardoned by the emperor or the audience, did happen. In fact, every year, about 8,000 people would reportedly die in the arena.
While a majority of the Roman gladiators were warriors enslaved from the regions the army annexed, not all of them were slaves. The host of gladiator training schools in Pompeii, Trier, Cologne and Xanten, had a lot of free citizens signing up as well — men lured by the thrill of fame, money and glory. This even included upper-class patricians, knights and even senators, according to History.com.
In Gladiator 2, Denzel Washington's character Mercius, is shown as a former slave turned wealthy merchant with a political agenda.
Gladiators were categorised into various classes based on their skill, track record, fighting style and experience. This included the thraeces and murmillones, the most popular categories, who fought with sword and shield; the equites who rode on horseback; the essedarii, who used chariots; the dimachaerus, who typically wielded two swords at once; and the (rare) retiarius, who would be armed with only a net and a trident.
While cinematic and literary history has always shown gladiators to be men, historians have found that by the 1st century AD, female warriors had become regular fixtures at the games. The History.com report references a marble relief from the 2nd century AD which depicts a nail-biting fight between two women “Amazon” and “Achillia”, who came to an honourable draw. Women also reportedly joined in on animal hunts.
The Emperor, naturally, had the best seat in the amphitheater; a royal box containing a special sofa where he could even lie down and watch the fight. However, some emperors, including Caligula, Titus and Hadrian, would even enter the arena and fight, although most of these were staged and would always ensure his victory. Commodus too was known to kill bears and panthers from the safety of a raised platform and then reward himself with the prize money.
While grotesque animal hunts at the Colosseum were common enough, gladiators weren’t usually involved in taming or fighting the beasts. Only the special categories — venatores and bestiarii — would square off against them. History.com reports that sometimes, convicted criminals were punished by being thrown into an arena filled with ravenous dogs, lions and bears.
Despite the gruesome lives endured by a majority of the gladiators, they were viewed as local celebrities by the non-elite masses; their portraits are still found on the (recovered) walls of Pompeii. Their blood, sweat and tears also started being viewed as an aphrodisiac, with women donning hairpins and jewellery dipped in the same.