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Glorified Gore

By Elesha Coffman, assistant editor of CHRISTIAN HISTORY

Now that I work for a history magazine, watching "period" movies has become much more complicated. I like watching them to get a flavor of a past era, but the whole time I'm wondering, "How much of this are they making up?" Assuming you're the same way, I'll save you some research on the new film Gladiator, which I found both informative and unsettling.

First, the historical details. The film depicts two Roman emperors, Marcus Aurelius and his son, Commodus. On screen, Marcus is a philosopher-king who is tired of war (he laments that only four of his 20 years as Caesar were peaceful) and wishes to make Rome the republic it was founded to be. The real Marcus did write some Stoic meditations, and he increased individual rights for many less-favored people (though not Christians) during his rule, but he was hardly so revolutionary as to plan the rise of the Senate at the expense of his son's reign. In fact, contra the film, Marcus and Commodus ruled together from 177 to 180, when Marcus died. Reports do not seem to support the cause of death posited by the filmmakers, though that sort of thing (I don't want to give it away) certainly happened.

The film's Commodus is perhaps more accurate. As depicted, he was half-mad, he treated enemy senators ruthlessly, his sister plotted to kill him, and he did participate in gladiator fights (as had the completely insane emperor Caligula before him). The film doesn't even show the height of his craziness: he renamed Rome Colonia Commodiana (Colony of Commodus) and imagined he was the god Hercules. Commodus's on-screen death, however, was changed to fit the plot. Historically, after he announced he would assume the consulship on January 1, 193 (dressed as a gladiator), his advisers had him strangled by a championship wrestler.

The movie does a pretty good job illustrating the gladiator industry—a big, big business. The fights had grown from three pairs of gladiators at the funeral of a Brutus in 264 B.C. to 5,000 pairs celebrating Trajan's triumph in A.D. 107. Gladiators were usually taken from the ranks of slaves and prisoners, but some men volunteered in hopes of gaining fame and money. Matches could feature any combination of men and animals (though animals more often fought each other), and even some women became gladiators until banned from combat by Commodus's successor, Septimus Severus. Posters advertised upcoming bouts days in advance, attempting to draw large crowds with the names of the chief competitors. Successful gladiators were immensely popular, especially with the ladies; for example, graffiti from Pompeii mentioned "Crescens the nocturnal netter of young girls." Crowds helped determine whether a fallen gladiator lived or died, and fighters who could combine winning with popularity sometimes achieved freedom.

The main character in Gladiator, Maximus (Russell Crowe), is a fabrication. Maximus is probably modeled on Spartacus, the politically powerful gladiator who led an uprising in 73-71 B.C. Maximus's journey from slavery up through the gladiator "minor leagues" and into public favor is credible, though it's unlikely he would ever have been allowed to snub, let alone openly challenge, a reigning emperor without immediately losing his life.

There aren't any Christians in Gladiator, but I don't think this is a major oversight. Persecution wasn't particularly severe under Marcus or Commodus, though anti-Christian literature and informants caused many deaths during Marcus's reign. Also, while some Christians were killed in the arena, the purpose of the fights was more to entertain the masses than to execute specific enemies. Unless the emperor (or whomever was hosting the fight) made a point of it, the crowds probably seldom knew—or cared—the religion of the combatants.

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