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→The Gladiator Contests
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.
The Colosseum (Figure 1) was the premier event for gladiator contests after its construction in 70-80 CE. Ambitious trainers, similar to how the film depicts it, would try to situate themselves so they could compete in main events that promised large financial rewards. Similar to sport today, the gladiator games had a lot of money that would exchange hands around the event. This revolved around gambling on the events but also rewards earned by the owners of the gladiator slaves.
Something not shown in the film is that gladiator contests may have looked familiar to us. Gladiators often were used to sponsor products and billboards often hung in stadium where contests would have been held. This was not shown in the film, mostly because the producers thought audience would not believe it since it is so similar to our modern sports.
In the film, after Maximus was capture trying to revolt against the emperor. He was shown as fighting the emperor as a one on one contest. This would have certainly never happened. First, Commodus died in a coup event in 192 rather than at the hand of Maximus, as shown in the final combat scene in the film. Second, Commodus, as shown in the film, did fight in the arena, although he probably only fought in events where he was assured victory such as against animals or crippled captives. The film does suggest this as Commodus does mortally wound Maximus before their fight, when Maximus was tied and unable to defend himself. Nevertheless, historians indicate he liked to think of himself as Hercules, and even began to dress like him in gladiator contests.
[[File:0 Colosseum - Rome 111001 (2).jpeg|thumbnail|Figure 1. The Colosseum was the premier event for gladiator contests, where advertisement and billboards also hung to promote products.]]
==Main Characters==
