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How historically accurate is the Gladiator?

298 bytes added, 14:23, 25 December 2016
The Gladiator Contests
==The Gladiator Contests==
In the film, after Maximus was taken as a slave, but not before he discovered that his wife and son were killed by Commodus, he was shown as being transported and eventually enslaved as a gladiator in a far away eastern province in the Roman Empire (somewhere in the Middle East or North Africa). While the circumstances of how Commodus became emperor in the film are largely probably not true, there is greater truth in some of the gladiator fights. For instance, gladiator contests did often reconstruct famous battles or scenes using characters from history or legends. Gladiator contests did take place in many places around the empire. Animals, such as tigers, were often used in arenas, where gladiators might fight each other as well as animals. In fact, excavations at the Colosseum showed a variety of exotic animals were present there. This included: bears, lions, hyena, elephant, wild boar, buffalo, tigers, bulls, wolves, and leopards.
Gladiators, as suggested in the film, were treated like rock starts. Those who were successful could gain favors, such as having access to women and even earn their freedom. However, unlike the film, often contests did not result in the death of contestants. Animals, in fact, were often killed in contests. This may have been de-emphasized in the film.

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