Gladiator Vs History

Gladiator is a fictional story set in the Roman Empire, around the end of the 2nd century C.E. Though this movie is a relativly exciting story, it is not very accurate to history. First off, except for Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Lucilla, all other characters are fictional. In the story Emporer Marcus Aurelius told his son that he had decided to turn over his power to his general Maximus in the hopes that he would be able restore the Roman senet and rejuninate the Republic. Commodus reacts to this news by killing his father, and taking on the role of emporer. However, in truth Marcus Aurelius was a kind Emporer who loved philosophy and died in 180 C.E. The cause of his death was most likely the plague and he was definetly not killed by his son, as

Commodus became sole ruler of the Roman Empire from 180 to 192 C.E. Even though he was only eighteen at the time he became emporer, not his late twenties like it was depicted in the film. Also, he had blond hair, not dark hair. Commodus was an unbalanced and cruel young man. He was obsessed with gladitorial contests and he was also obsessed with performing in the arena. He especially enjoyed the slaughtering of animals. Though the movie depicts him being killed in the Colosseum by Maximus he was actually strangled by his wrestling partner on the last day of 192 C.E. Also contrary to the movie, Marcus Aurelius did not have any plan to restore the Republic because the people of Rome had already grown accustomed to how the empire was ran. Another difference is the fact that Marcus Aurelius had already made his son Commodus joint ruler in 177 C.E before his death. In addition, Marcus Aurelius had not banned gladiator games like the movie claims. One final difference to note is that fact that even though Lucilla, did in fact plan with some senators to have her brother Commodus killed in 182 C.E, the attempt failed and Lucilla and the senators that conspired with her were