For my second Acta, I decided to watch the movie Pompeii. The movie revolves around a male slave, Milo, who watches a Roman army led by Corvus massacre his entire Celtic tribe and kill his parents in 62 A.D. After the slaughter, he is captured and becomes a slave. The movie then skips to 17 years later in 79 A.D., where he is shown to be a fearsome gladiator nicknamed “The Celt” living in the Britannia. His master then decides that his talent is wasted in the provinces, and he is transported to Pompeii. Along the way, he meets a nobleman’s daughter, Cassia, and he helps put her horse out of its misery after it is injured. When the Celt arrives at the compound where the other gladiators are being held, he clashes with his peers and develops a rivalry with the most respected fighter there. He is then told that he would be fighting that gladiator in the arena. 

Meanwhile, a Roman senator (Corvus) has come to Pompeii interested in investing in the city and courting Cassia. The Celt realizes that the senator is the man who killed his parents, and runs away with Cassia on a horse. They are caught, and The Celt is punished with lashes and ordered to enter the arena where he and a group of five gladiators will face many Roman soldiers. It is a very one-sided battle and the Celt was supposed to die, but he ends up surviving. Corvus is about to order his death, but Cassia stops him. Just then, the volcano erupts. Corvus is angry and kills the nobleman and his wife and imprisons Cassia in her villa. The Celt then escapes and frees her as the arena is destroyed by the eruption. A tsunami caused by fireballs plunging into the ocean then causes further chaos in the city, and at the same time, the senator captures Cassia a second time and flees on a chariot. The Celt chases them on a horse, and then defeats the senator in a fight and chains him to a chariot where he would die from the eruption. The Celt and Cassia begin to run away, but the horse throws them off and they kiss before being overtaken by ash from the volcano.

The visual effects of Pompeii were outstanding – the eruption, the tsunami, and the battles were all very realistic. The plot and conflict was also extremely captivating; the writers did a great job providing a thrilling love/revenge story while also ensuring that the movie stayed true to its historical roots. I particularly enjoyed the movie’s use of a real Celtic rebellion as a motivator for the main character, as well as the excellent portrayal of Roman power structures and opinions, such as the senator’s disdain for the provinces as well as the governor’s sycophantic behavior toward Corvus. Overall, Pompeii was a great movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

For my actum, I watched the movie Gladiator on Amazon Prime. Gladiator is a 2000 epic historical drama film that revolves around the story of Hispano-Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, whose goal is to return home after leading the Roman army to victory in an intense battle. However, when Commodus, the son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, learns that his father plans to make Maximum emperor instead of him, he murders his father and Maximus’ family and attempts to execute Maximus as well. Maximus escapes, and is captured and enslaved as a gladiator. The movie is essentially the story of his journey to avenge his family.

Overall, I found this movie riveting. From the very beginning, I could tell that this movie was attempting to give a very accurate and vivid depiction of Roman warfare. Just by watching the first five minutes of the film, one could discern that the Roman legion shown was a battle-hardened, heavily fortified entity that reigned supreme over its enemies. The realistic shields, armor, and weaponry were fascinating to see.

Aside from the warfare, I also enjoyed seeing several elements of life in Rome that we covered in class. For example, right before Commodus kills his father, he goes on a monologue about virtus, which we covered in class. He says that his father believes he does not possess enough virtus, which is why he wants Maximus to succeed him as emperor instead, but Commodus claims that he has another important trait: ambition. He then kills his father, proving both himself and his father correct.

Another element I saw that we covered in class was tension between the senate and the emperor. In the film, Senator Gracchus and Senator Gaius want to kill Emperor Commodus and name Maximus emperor because he will give more power to the senate, whereas Senator Falco is allied with Commodus and wants him to stay in power. 

Finally, this film was also a good demonstration of the mob mentality of Rome. Several times throughout the film Maximus was encouraged to not only win, but also appease the crowd in order to gain his freedom, which showed how important the appeasement of Roman citizens was. Also, several times Senators Gracchus and Gaius discussed how despite his many faults, Emperor Commodus was clever at controlling the mob, which further shows how the appeasement of Roman citizens was used as a weapon by politicians.