Gladiator II is full of historical inaccuracies – but is that a problem?

Gladiator II has it all: hunky men in armour, brutal warfare, tyrannical emperors and even flesh-eating baboons.    

But film buffs and historians alike have criticised the highly anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, calling out the movie’s anachronisms.   

The story follows Lucius (the internet’s favourite boyfriend, Paul Mescal), who is forced to enter the Colosseum after his kingdom, Numidia, is conquered by Rome’s emperors.   

The opening sequence portrays Lucius – the illegitimate son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus – defending Numidia from the invasion of Roman armada.  

Associate Professor Caillan Davenport is Head of the Centre for Classical Studies at The Australian National University (ANU). He says Numidia was a real place.  

“There was a providence of Numidia in the third century CE, which is roughly the north of modern Algeria,” he says.  

Later in the film, a mock naval battle is staged within the Colosseum. Davenport explains this was in fact a form of entertainment spectators would have witnessed.   

“The naval battles – known as naumachiae – were usually reenactments of sea battles from Greek and Roman history, such as the Battle of Salamis between the Greeks and the Persians,” he says.   

The scene features booming cannons, naval rams and shark-infested waters.   

Many moviegoers have questioned whether sharks would have really been used in these battles.   

“Romans certainly did know about sharks,” says Davenport.  

“The fox-shark or common thresher is referenced in The Natural History by Pliny the Elder, written in the first century CE.  

“Emperor Nero was reported to have staged a naval battle featuring swimming monsters, which could also be a reference to sharks.”  

Many gladiatorial contests involved battling animals including bears, tigers, elephants and even giraffes.   

In the Colosseum, Mescal’s Lucius has to fight a gladiator on a rhinoceros.    

“Rhinoceroses are known to have been exhibited in the amphitheatre,” Davenport says.   

“Poems by Martial describes their ferocity and rage, tossing bears and bullocks in the air.

“However, I’m not aware of any examples of gladiators riding rhinos in the arena.”  

One of the aspects that’s been discussed frequently online since the film’s release is the array of accents being used by the characters. Controversially, Macrinus (Denzel Washington) speaks with a distinct New York accent.  

 Historically, the Roman Empire was teeming with various languages and dialects.   

“Inhabitants of the Roman Empire spoke a wide variety of languages, including Latin, Ancient Greek, Punic, Aramaic and Syriac,” Davenport says.  

“Even Latin could be spoken with a wide variety of accents.

“Septimius Severus – the father of the movie’s emperors Caracalla and Geta – is said to have kept his African accent right through to old age.”  

Other anachronistic elements are sprinkled throughout the film, including a scene depicting a Roman nobleman reading a newspaper while enjoying brunch at a café.   

“Rome didn’t have newspapers in the modern sense,” Davenport says.   

“But important political announcements were posted publicly on whitened boards, and unofficial pamphlets which criticised and lampooned leading politics certainly did circulate.”  

And as for brunch?  

“The streets of Rome were filled with taverns and cook-shops called popinae, which sold cheap food,” Davenport says.  

The thumbs up and thumbs down gestures used by the emperors - known as pollice verso – are based on what would have occurred thousands of years ago in the arenas.   

“There is a wealth of evidence, sometimes contradictory, for this gesture,” Davenport says.   

“But the current consensus is that a ‘thumbs up’ signalled death, and a closed fist meant the fighter should be spared.”  

Much like the sequel, the original Gladiator film was plagued with historical inaccuracies.   

But Davenport points out, even during the rule of the Empire, there were inauthentic depictions of Ancient Rome.  

“There is an abundance of fantastical stories about emperors like Caracalla and Geta in ancient literary texts,” he says.   

“They are not necessarily revealing of what actually happened, but of the horrific and fantastical actions people imagined emperors were capable of.”  

So, how important is historical accuracy and representation in these Hollywood blockbusters?  

According to Davenport, it’s the essence of the film that matters most.  

“The motion picture is its own artistic medium and does not claim to be a documentary,” he says.  

“The best historical films are those that capture the spirit of the time.  

“Hopefully Gladiator II will inspire people to find out more about the history, culture, literature and language of Ancient Rome by studying Classics at ANU.”