Gladiator

Gladiator (2000)

83 corrected entries

(46 votes)

Corrected entry: At the start of the "Battle of Carthage", a man shouts: "Far away, in Zarma." Zarma is not the name for the land. It's Zama.

Correction: The long a (ar) as opposed to the short a (ah) is entirely due to the speaker's accent. Unless he is carrying around a sign with the name misspelled, this is not a film mistake.

Corrected entry: Although many like to quote it, few have apparently read "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by British historian Edward Gibbons. For it clearly describes a Roman general named Maximus Quintillian. He may or may not be the person portrayed in the movie, but there was a Roman general named Maximus who defeated the Germanians and was a favourite of Marcus Aurelius. He was killed by Commodus.

Correction: Actually, if you watch the documentary on the VHS called 'Blood, Sand and Celuloid', it clearly states that Maximus was the only fictitious character in the film. If you read 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' and other related texts properly, it is quite clear that Maximus Quintillian was a favourite of Marcus Antonius Aurelius, not Marcus Aurelius. It is true that Quintillian was killed by Marcus Antonius Aurelius' son, but he was called Antonius Commodus. As such, this was an entirely different father and son, though the names are similar. There is no record of a general called Maximus at the time of the early Aurelians, the time of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus.

The Doctor

Do you mean Marcus Aurelius Antoninus? The Gibbons reference about Maximus Quintilian doesn't say anything about him being a general.

There are about 14 Emperors named Marcus Aurelius. Including Commodus, being of that line.The First Marcus Aurelius full title was Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. Commonly refered to as Marcus Aurelius. There is only one the first and that was the one portrayed in the movie. Commodus became Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus. Also portrayed in the movie.

lionhead

Corrected entry: One of the senators claim that "Rome was founded as a Republic". This is wrong, Rome was founded as a Monarchy.

Correction: This isn't really a "mistake". The senator is a republican, and Rome had been a republic. Modern politicians come out with self-serving distortions of history all the time. There is no reason to suppose Roman politicians were any different.

Factual error: When a group of soldiers goes to Maximus' villa to burn it and kill his family, his son points them, saying in Italian "Mamma! I soldati!" ("Mom, the soldiers!") and then "PapĂ !" ("Daddy!"). This is because the young actor (Giorgio Cantarini) is Italian and they didn't translate, for some reason. As a result, he's speaking Italian in a movie in English, where people are supposed to speak Latin, in a province where Italian was never ever spoken. (00:43:07)

More mistakes in Gladiator

Maximus: At my signal, unleash hell.

More quotes from Gladiator

Trivia: The two prostitutes who were all over Maximus after his first battle in Rome, and after the fight with Tigris when Cicero gave him the idols, are both amateur adult film stars. Prostitutes were very common during this time and were often rewards for gladiators who had proven their mettle by surviving many battles.

furious1116

More trivia for Gladiator

Question: Was Commodus and Lucilla half brother and sister? Wondering because of Commodus' attraction for Lucilla. Was incest normal at that time?

Mortug

Chosen answer: No, they are full brother and sister. They both had the same mother and father. Incest was not exactly normal at that time, but it stretches back within the imperial families as far as Caligula and possibly earlier. There is no evidence to suggest that the real Commodus was attracted to his sister, it was probably just included in the film in order to make the character seem more disturbed, and also as another reason why he would be Maximus' enemy (Maximus and Lucilla were, after all, once lovers).

The Doctor

More questions & answers from Gladiator

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