Gladiator: Fact or Fiction ?
"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next"
I decided today to do some research and see whether the movie had a historical basis. I thought that most of the material would be made up, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that a good portion of the story paralleled actual history.
Fiction:
There was no character called Maximus. However, there have been other generals who were selected by the emperors to succeed them, rather than their own sons.
Fact:
There was an emperor, Marcus Aurelius and he was a writer & philosopher ... And he did regret having to spend so much time at war during his 20 year reign
Fiction:
Commodus was not disinherited by Marcus Aurelius - He was actually made co-emperor at the age of 17.
Fact:
Marcus Aurelius did die soon after his campaign in Germania and he did disapprove of his son, Commodus.
Fiction:
He was not killed by Commodus.
Fiction:
Senator Gaius says, "Rome was founded as a Republic." This was not true. Rome had existed as a city-state with kings for 244 years before becoming a Republic.
But whatever said and done, this is one of the few movies that I liked enough to fork out the twenty dollars to buy a DVD.
Comments
"Anyways Kaun Banega Crorepati has started its second round.. (Sometimes
I feel the only person who becomes a crorepati is Amitabh...) I answered
one question and sent an SMS to qualify.. but I got a message "A
computer will randomly pick your number and call you within the next
three days". Those 3 days have passed.. so my luck has fizzed out,
considering I paid 6 bucks to send the SMS. :O"