Gladiator (2000): The Focused, Yet Fictional, Hero
Gladiator (2000) tells the story of a deposed Roman general and his journey to reclaim glory and honor. At the start of the movie, Maximus Decimus Meridius is a leading general in the Roman army, serving under the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius, knowing his death is imminent, offers Maximus the chance to succeed him as emperor, over his son Commodus. Hearing this, Commodus suffocates his father to death, claiming the throne himself. After Maximus refuses to swear loyalty to him, Commodus orders the execution of both him and his family. Though Maximus survives, he isn’t able to save his family, and collapses due to exhaustion.
Maximus is abducted in his sleep, and sold into gladiatorial training. A natural warrior, he rises through the ranks quickly, and begins gaining local fame, eventually travelling to Rome to fight in the Colosseum. When he performs unexpectedly well, Commodus honors him, but is surprised to learn of Maximus’ survival and true identity. As Maximus’ popularity grows, his supporters hatch a plan to break him out of slavery, but the plan is exposed and fails, resulting in his capture. He is forced to fight Commodus in a public, fixed fight, where he is fatally injured beforehand. Despite this, he still manages to overpower Commodus, kill him with his own dagger, and avenge his family, before succumbing to his own wounds.
As I watched Gladiator, I couldn’t help but make comparisons between Maximus and Spartacus, the hero of another Rome-themed film. After all, both had risen from slavery to become something more than mere gladiators, and both brought change to Rome, at the cost of their own lives. However, I noticed a key difference between the two; Spartacus shifted between personas, as he changed the mask he was wearing when he was with his wife and his followers, or his enemies. Maximus, meanwhile, was always focused on his duty to attain vengeance for his family, only slightly wavering towards a brief romantic interest in Lucilla, Commodus’ own sister.
Maximus, having been a Roman general, was undoubtedly more familiar with Roman virtues than Spartacus, a former slave, would’ve been. As such, I believe his portrayal as a more accurate, focused, and vengeful Roman hero fits well, when compared to Spartacus’ portrayal as a man of many masks and personas. Of course, this difference may also result from Spartacus being a real person, and Maximus being a totally fictional character, allowing for more creative liberty.
This fictionalization of Maximus allows him to vie for the throne of the Roman Empire, without even being a native Roman, or having any blood relationship to the emperor. This detail stuck out to me, as I do not believe it to be realistic or even possible that Rome would accept a foreign general, not related to the emperor, as its ruler. While the movie was excellent, I did not believe such a situation would ever arise. I can, however, believe in the Roman people supporting Maximus over a despot like Commodus.
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