Is “Gladiator 2” historically credible? A historian's sentence

Ultra bloody fights, thumbs up, sharks in the Colosseum… We watched the rest of Ridley Scott's peplum in the company of Éric Teyssier, specialist in Roman history. So, true or pit?

Rhorses, rhinos and monkeys in the Colosseum, bloody battles… Twenty-four years later Gladiator, by Ridley Scott, the sequel to the famous epic features Lucius, son of Maximus, who seeks to gain his freedom in the arena. But is it historically credible? The analysis of Éric Teyssier, lecturer in Roman history at the University of Nîmes and author of Secrets of ancient Rome (ed. Perrin).

Have you noticed any historical incongruities in Gladiator 2 ?
There are a lot of half-truths. For example, the sea battle scene in the Colosseum is half fake. At the very beginning of the history of the amphitheater, when it had just been inaugurated, under Titus, in 80 AD, there were two naumachia [représentation d’un combat naval, ndlr]. Subsequently, the basements were built to accommodate sets, wild animals, gladiators, etc. It was therefore no longer possible to flood the arena. But this film takes place in 211, one hundred and fifty years later! Concerning sharks, it's improbable of course, but it's perhaps inspired by another story. During Claudius's time, an orca got stuck in the port of Ostia. The emperor then organized an orc hunt in front of the public. But it was truly exceptional.

What about gladiator costumes?
None are correct. There were several types of gladiators, who wore different frames depending on their specificities. Apart from the retiary, equipped with a trident, all were equipped with helmets and shields. The mirmillons had large shields, the homoplates had a small shield, the eques fought on horseback… Single combats were fought with short bladed weapons, whereas, in the film, the swords are oversized. In Gladiator 2not only does no one have a helmet, but they also fight with their right hands. However, the right hand is behind in gladiator fights. This is surely a distortion of cinema fencing masters who are trained in classical fencing. In the film, everything is mixed. When Lucius (Paul Mescal) fights the monkeys, he resembles a meridians (a prisoner sentenced to death) and, when he confronts a rhinoceros, he takes on the role, still different, of the hunter (a wild animal hunter).

This film shows the fights as real bloodbaths, was that really the case?
In the period in which the story takes place, no. This massacre corresponds more to the ancient gladiator, when thousands of slaves and ancient warriors were made to fight each other to glorify Rome. The cinema confuses servile gladiature, dating from before Spartacus (71 BC) and professional gladiature of the High Empire. At that time, they didn't die as much, because a gladiator was expensive! You have to train it for months, feed it, maintain it… According to inscriptions found in Pompeii, we can estimate that between 10 and 15% “only” of them were killed.

On several occasions, we see the emperors raising or lowering their thumbs at the end of the battles. But this is totally misleading…
Yes ! It is an invention of the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme who created a very famous painting in 1872 called Thumbs down. To do this, he relied on a historical text, but he translated it poorly. « Thumbs down » does not mean the thumb, but the hand towards the gladiators to demand death. However, Gérôme understood it as reverse (“returned”) and invented this gesture. This painting, exhibited in Phoenix in the United States, inspired one of the most famous peplums in history, where are you going by Mervyn LeRoy (1951), which takes up this idea. And everyone else will follow, until Ridley Scott! In reality, to spare or demand death, the public could shout, but also wave a white handkerchief (the map) to ask for grace.

Which characters really existed?
In the first Gladiator, Maximus (Russell Crowe) is a completely fictional character. On the other hand, Lucius (Paul Mescal) truly existed. He was the son of Lucilla, and therefore grandson of Marcus Aurelius. But he was never a gladiator, he is still the son of an empress! Macrinus (Denzel Washington) was not a lanist [propriétaire de gladiateurs, ndlr]. He was prefect of the Praetorian cohorts, before becoming emperor — that's a whole other level. Concerning Caracalla, he reigned for a few months with his brother Geta, before assassinating him. As for the unfortunate Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), she had already been killed by Commodus more than twenty years before the time of the film…

p Gladiator 2by Ridley Scott (United States, 2h30). In theaters.