2) Gladiator
Ridley Scott’s historical epic is a vastly entertaining blockbuster, but it also made a lot of mistakes in relating the truth about the political atmosphere in ancient Rome. Aside from Maximus Deximus Meridius never actually existing, perhaps the most serious error is Gladiator‘s treatment of Commodus.
For one thing, Commodus ruled for much longer than he did in the film (12 years versus what couldn’t have been more than two or three). Commodus was younger and in better shape than suggested by the film, and he certainly didn’t murder his father, Marcus Aurelius, or want to get with his sister (ew). Actually, Aurelius died of the plague. Commodus didn’t die in the arena, either. He eventually wound up getting strangled in his bath by a wrestler named Narcissus, long after Gladiator took place.
Many other inaccuracies plague Gladiator. German Shepherds are seen in a few scenes (which you can clearly see in the video below), but that dog breed definitely did not exist at the time of ancient Rome. Catapults would not have been used in battle, as they were cumbersome and difficult to maneuver from place to place. And in the film archers are commanded to “fire” by their commanders, which makes absolutely no sense considering that firearms did not exist at the time, and so no one would have considered shooting an arrow into the air to be “firing” anything. The only thing that should have been fired as far as Gladiator is concerned was its team of history consultants.
Published: Feb 20, 2014 12:24 pm