Question

PLEASE HELP!!

Gladiator movie questions...

1). What happens to the emperor, Marcus Aurelius? Why dors commodus decide to kill him?

2). After Maximus buries his family at his home, what happens to him? Why does Proximo buy Maximus?

3). During his first battle at the Roman Colosseum (the recreation of the battle against hannibal and the Carthaginians), how does Maximus show LEADERSHIP as the fight at the coliseum is about to begin?

4). Why does Maximus gain the title of “Merciful”? What does this do for him in the eyes of the Romans watching the fight?

5). With the senate and Lucilla (Commodus’ sister), what does Maximus attempt to do? Why does it fail?

6). The final battle of movie is fought between Commodus and Maximus. 2 Questions: a). What does Commodus do to Maximus before the battle?
b). What happens at the end of the battle?

7). What role do the gladiator fights play in the movie (hint: it deals with the crowd and Commodus’ position as emperor)?

8). Overall, how accurate do you think the film adaption was to the actual lives of gladiators? What makes you think so?

Answer 1

Gladiator, is historical fiction film that was first presented to the public in 2000, and it became a success. This film narrates the life events of Maximus, a Roman general who has to face the jealousy, and the consequences of it, from his rival, Commodus, son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

1. Emperor Marcus Aurelius, dies by being smothered with a pillow by his own son, and heir, Commodus, because the Emperor wanted to disinherit Commodus, leave Maximus in charge for a time, until the Senate is ready to take control of power again.

2. After the burial of his family, Maximus is beset and pursued by his former soldiers, but before he is killed, the leader of the group decides not to carry out the new Emperor´s orders, in deference to Maximus. Maximus goes back to his land and there wants to let himself die, but is found instead and taken by Proximo, a former gladiator, from the slave traders that found him originally.

3. Maximus shows leadership at the colosseum when he organizes the group of gladiators and manages to inspire them to follow him into a formation that prevented them all from dying quickly.

4. Maximums gains the title of Maximus the merciful during a fight in the coloseum because he refuses to kill his defeated gladiator enemy, going against a direct order from Commodus. The crows then proclaims him merciful.

5. Maximus tries to help Lucilla and the Senate to get rid of Commodus and thus reinstate the original plan for the Senate to take command, but it is all found out when Commodus extracts the information and threatens Lucilla´s son.

6. a. Commodus, before the battle with Maximus, orders his soldiers to wound him, especially under the armpits, and sides, to bleed him, so he is not as strong. b. At the end, and despite all of Commodus´ efforts, Maximus manages to kill him and as he dies, Maximus takes control and orders things to go back as Marcus Aurelius once wanted them to be.

7. Gladiator fights are supposed to keep the Roman people entertained and show the magninimity of the Emperor, thus reducing possible revolts.

8. One of the criticisms done to the movie was that they fictionalized a lot of the elements about Roman, and especially gladiator, history, to turn it into something much more glamourous than it really was. This is why the film was not exactly the most historically precise.

Answer 2

1) Commodus kills his father Marcus Aurelius after realizing he was not going to select him as his heir to the throne of the Caesar, since Marcus Aurelius was up to choose the Commander of the armies of the north, Maximus Decimus Meridius, as the legitimate heir. Commodus then killed his father and blamed Maximus for the murder, being able to access to the throne unquestionably for birthright and condemned Maximus to death.

2) After Maximus buried his wife and son he collapses due to the wounds he got when escaped from his captors. He is found by slavers who take him to Zucchabar, a Roman province in North-Africa, and there he is sold as a slave to the gladiators' trainer Proximo.

3) He shows leadership first by remarking his expertise in the battlefield as a Commander and then by saying to the other gladiators "whatever comes out of these gates, we have better chances of survival if we work together. Do you understand? We stay together, we survive". This way he encourages the other gladiators to have some order and discipline in the fight by following him and staying together, instead of surrendering to fear and chaos, as the organizers pretended.

4) Maximus gained the title of "Merciful" after defeating and sparing the life of Tigris of Gaul, an undefeated champion gladiator. In the eyes of the Romans watching the fight, it was an act of mercy that enhanced his reputation and magnanimity.

5) They planned to overthrow Commodus by a coup d'etat, using Maximus' former but loyal legion to topple the emperor and then take the power back to the Senate, making of Rome a republic again. They failed because Commodus, who suspected from his sister, forced her to speak threatening her with killing her son if she didn't. This way he knew about the plot and prevent it from happening.

6)a) Commodus stabs Maximus in his side. b) Maximus kills Commodus and then he dies from his injury.

7) In the movie, the emperor Commodus organizes 150 days of games in order to give entertainment to the crowds and win their love and respect because of it. This is an example of the application of the old Roman proverb "panem et circenses" -bread and circuses-. As senator Gracchus said in the movie: "The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Colosseum. He'll bring them death and they will love him for it." But an unexpected consequence of it was the rise of Maximus as the best gladiator, loved by the crowds, which gave Maximus a great power on the masses and an untouchable position, thus he is the only one who can openly defy the emperor.

8) In terms of adaptation of the lives of gladiators, it is pretty accurate, mainly for two reasons. First, the movie shows several features of gladiators' lives like slavery, their diverse origins, their fear before a game, and the path to freedom that a gladiator seeks to achieve with the symbol of a wooden sword delivered by the emperor -this is explained in the movie by the trainer and former gladiator Proximo-. Second, in the movie, Maximus is an example of how famous, loved and glorified by the crowds the best gladiators were in reality. They were like today's sports players or rock stars and that is very well portrayed in the movie.