How historically accurate is GLADIATOR While the movie is not based on any specific reported or historical incident, the movie is steeped in history. Several of my friends' reaction to the movie was to find a history book immediately afterward and check things out. Well, FilmForce will take one of the steps out of the way and simply bring the history to you.

During the republic, the general who recruited an army often armed and paid the soldiers. Augustus wanted to ensure that in the future no rebellious general could threaten the regime, so he established a central military treasury. He set funds aside for the legionaries. When they retired, they received a grant to purchase a plot of land to support their families. Augustus also tried to make his troops more professional by instituting a standard legionary command structure, system of rank, and rate of pay. Roman soldiers swore an annual oath of loyalty to the emperor. These legionaries also received their pay, bonuses, and pensions from the emperor, so they were not often tempted to follow a renegade commander.

Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus (180-192) was a startling change for the Romans after the series of good emperors. The historian Dio Cassius wrote that Commodus, dressed as a gladiator in the arena, once killed an ostrich and held up its head to the senators "to show that he had the same fate in store for us." Commodus liked to exhibit his strength and found the games more interesting than the business of empire. Commodus survived many attempts on his life, but eventually his wrestling partner strangled him. Soon after his death, the Praetorian Guard auctioned off the imperial throne to the highest bidder, and the outraged legions began the first civil war in more than a century.

Let's begin to look at actual history versus the one portrayed in the movie. You'll quickly find that the setting is accurate and the idea is similar to TITANIC...what happened is true -- the boat did sink -- but the love story of the two main characters is movie magic. In GLADIATOR¿s case, the emperors in the movie did rule and events pictured actually took place, but the main story is fictional, placed into the real life events.Where the history plays a critical role is within the plot of the movie itself, and really the entire setting for the movie. In the year 180 AD in Italy, the Romans were stretched across the German front with the Praetorian Guard. This is very accurate and there are references to world domination and conquest. The Caesars settled others in 40 new colonies around the Mediterranean, including Trier, Germany. As for the Praetorian Guard? They were the bodyguards of the ancient Roman emperors and, being the only large permanent body of troops allowed in Rome or near the city, they soon acquired great political power. They gradually began to exercise their political power in an unscrupulous manner, deposing and elevating emperors at their pleasure. As Encarta Online states:The plot of the movie progresses quickly, showing how Maximus (Russell Crowe) had won the hearts of the soldiers and was a viable threat to the Emperor of Rome. Some historical documents show that the Romans did not normally station legions in Italy, which was protected by the elite unit of special troops (the Praetorian Guard). It's ironic that this force, which was responsible for the safety of the emperor, even receiving triple pay and special bonuses, would also be the reason for his downfall. In short, the guards protected the emperors they love and murdered others they hated.So how about the Roman Emperors? Are the ones shown in GLADIATOR for real? Actually, they are and reigned during the time periods represented in the movie. There are however, several large artistic licenses that are taken by the writers. For example, Marcus Aurelius, known by historians as one of the "good emperors" relied heavily on family ties when he chose his successor, and designated his son Commodus, known for his vicious behavior including killing Jews and Christians, as heir to the throne. This is all true, but here's where the liberty begins to be taken.While I certainly won't discuss the fate of the evil Emperor here, there is no wrestling partner in the film. In fact, the Emperor is portrayed as less of a fighter (until near the end) and more of an evil, twisted character filled with his sick nature. That, and after the downfall of the Empire, Maximus ideally would unite the Empire and rule for years to come (the happy ending scenario). Does this happen? Either you already know or you'll have to wait until you see the movie to find out - I don't want to be the one to spoil it for you.One Roman writer said that the imperial government kept the Romans contented by "bread and circuses." The Roman emperors provided free food to hundreds of thousands and sponsored an endless series of games. For two centuries the government managed to avoid food shortages and the discontent that would endanger the rule of the emperors. This is also represented in a scene that was in the script that I reviewed, but was cut in the theater print of the movie, where the Emperor steals food from the storehouses of the army to win the favor of the people. Everything in the disgusting society is centered on pleasure and manipulation. The political systems were corrupt, and evil ran rampant among the people.There's another historical reference that didn't make the transition from the written word to the big screen, and I can see why. In the script, Maximus did a product endorsement for Olive Oil in the ancient Roman City and had his name plastered on billboards across Italy, but this might not be as far off as you may think. Today, in our sophisticated society that has seemingly evolved so far, we find ourselves surrounded by famous people pushing products, and this is actually how it all began. Although now we find ourselves listening to Michael Jordan telling us what shoes to buy and Grant Hill suggesting what we drink, it's the same principle, and it all started way back when.Other references litter the blockbuster film and drafts of its script, including several equivalents to the modern day Sports Illustrated or USA Today sports section mentioned in the script. It's true though, and Roman daily paper, the Acta Diurna (meaning Daily Acts), carried your "daily dose of gladiator combat news." According to Britannica, the typical Acta Diurna, started in 59 BC by Julius Caesar, might contain news of gladiatorial contests, astrological omens, notable marriages births and deaths, public appointments, and trails and executions. It should come as no surprise that today there are scores of papers and magazines, not to mention Internet sites tracing daily the sporting news from around the globe."I always loved that whole time in history," Connie Nielsen told Mothership recently. "The English have always have a great love for antiquity and I really understand that, it's almost a romantic infatuation with certain sensibilities, and I have that. If you read 'The Lives of Roman Women,' you'll find that they maybe reflect an astuteness that we see as modern, but they really were astute because they had to be. I read THE LIVES OF ROMAN WOMEN, I read Gibbons, the Cambridge Edition of THE HISTORY OF THE ANGIQUITIES, a historian named Spinoza, and I went to the Med and got these huge art books on the development of art and the influence of Hellenic Greece on Rome," she explains. "I read EVERY DAY LIFE IN ROME, I was reading Peter Green's LIFE OF SAPPHO even though that was a thousand years before -- it still helped me know what it was like to live in a Mediterranean world rather than the world as we know it today. The fact that you have to sail places and things come by messenger, things like that. That people could have been so isolated yet they were so vibrant."Again according to Encarta, the emperor Titus opened the Coliseum in AD 80 with 100 days of games in which 9,000 animals died. The crowds came to the games to see fighting and blood as well as the color and pageantry of public celebrations. Successful charioteers became so wealthy that even emperors envied their riches. The violence and graphic "sport" of the time is accurately represented in the script, but not even GLADIATOR dared to recreate the historical accounts of flooding the Coliseum for navy battles. I mean, hey, you've got to draw the line somewhere, right?There's plenty more to deal with here, from the lifestyle of the urban population, the corruption in the Senate, the aqueducts, the treatment of women, architecture, to the Roman fascination with fornication and the Roman legacy. They are all intact in this wild and satisfying ride through history and fiction.So go and appreciate GLADIATOR this weekend for all it is. An amazing look back at history and the golden days of Rome steeped in realism, and also a great story set in that era, a work of fiction that is sure to please all.-- Josh , a Christian who is glad he didn't live in the time of the Gladiators.