He is recorded to have kil led one hundred leopards with one hundred javelins. As a theatrical treat, he would slice the heads off of ostriches with crescent-headed arrows, which would then run around the amphitheater headless. Dio Cassius reveals that Senators were m ade to attend these spectacles, and that on one occasion Commodus killed an ostrich and displayed the severed head in one hand, his sword dripping with blood in the other, thus implying that he could treat them the same way.
However he was assassinated, and, by an athlete. There were numerous plots and attempts upon his life, but the one which finally succeeded was carried out by a wrestler named Narcissus, while Commodus was in his b ath.
The plot was orchestrated by his closest advisors, and apparently even included his mistress, Marcia. It occurred on the very last day of the year CE, and indeed, exactly when the rest of Rome was preparing festivities for the New Year, CE.
This he reportedly was going to do even outfitted as a gladiator, in his lion skins, with appropriate weapons. This was the final outrage, according to our ancient sources, and thus, his fate was sealed.
Commodus ruled for 12 years, a much longer period than alluded to in the film. The film is very wrong on this count. A republic is a system of government which does not have a hereditary monarch. An emperor is a monarch. The United States for instance is a republic, and England is not. Rome was not founded as a republic, as was stated erroneously by a senator, who would have known better, as all educated Romans would hold this as basic knowledge, in the film.
Legend has it that Rome was originally ruled by Etruscan kings. The first king was Romulus. The kings were overthrown in a revolution, which was sparked by the rape of Lucretia, in BCE, by Sextus Tarquin, the son of the seventh and last king, Tarquinius Superbus. Dictators and kings were thereafter despised by Romans, hence, the ideological adulation of a republican system of government, which was a central theme of Roman history, and thus correctly emphasized in the movie, and unlikely by accident, it should be noted.
After Commodus was murdered, the Senate met before daybreak, and declared sixty-six year old Pertinax, who was the son of a former slave, emperor. Pertinax thus became emperor on January 1st, but he was murdered by a group of soldiers the following March, after less than three months in power. Maximus Decimus Meridius his full name is stated only once in the film is a fictitious character! Although he did not exist, he seems as if he could be be a composite of actual historical figures.
He however, was assassinated by his own soldiers. It is true that there was, in the later Empire, a General by the name of Maximus who appears to have had revolutionary intentions. He is most likely an inspiration as well. Maximus also reminds one of the emperor Diocletian. Remember that in the film, Marcus Aurelius names Maximus as his heir.
Diocletian, who ruled Rome from to CE, was born in the lower cl asses, like Maximus. Finally he was named heir, and thus became emperor. Commodus, in reality, was not murdered in the arena by Maximus. He was however murdered by a wrestler. So the character Maximus, whil e fictitious, is not that far-fetched. He appears credibly, as if he could perhaps be inspired by a collage of other, real, historical figures that have been researched, even if not one himself.
As for his personality, he was definitely a stoic, as evidenced by his sense of obligation to the state, and concern for duty and virtue. This makes sense, given his admiration for Marcus Aurelius, who was a stoic philosopher. One difficulty is, even though many Romans and not just Christians believed in an afterlife, stoics usually did not.
So this is problematic pertaining to his mentalite in the film, as it is a glaring inconsistency with his other somewhat more correctly presented stoical beliefs.
Lucilla : I have felt alone all my life, except with you. I must go. Maximus : Yes. Lucilla : What did my father want with you? Maximus : To wish me well before I leave for home. Lucilla : You're lying, I could always tell when you were lying because you were never any good at it. Maximus : I never acquired your comfort with it. Lucilla : True, but then you never had to, life is more simple for a soldier.
Or do you think me heartless? Maximus : I think you have a talent for survival. Maximus : Quintus, look at me. Look at me! Promise me that you'll look after my family. Quintus : Your family will meet you in the afterlife. Maximus : [laughing] You knew Marcus Aurelius? Proximo : [very quickly and defensively] I didn't say I knew him, I said he touched me on the shoulder once! Cassius : On this day, we reach back to hallowed antiquity, to bring you a recreation of the second fall of the mighty Carthage!
On the barren plain of Zama, there stood the invincible armies of the barbarian Hannibal. Ferocious mercenaires and warriors from all brute nations, bent on merciless destruction, conquest.
Your emperor is pleased to give you the barbarian horde! Maximus : [while Cassius continues his introduction] Anyone here been in the army? Maximus : You can help me. Whatever comes out of these gates, we've got a better chance of survival if we work together. Do you understand?
If we stay together we survive. Cassius : I'm pleased to bring to you the Legionnaires of Scipio Africanus! Amused, Maximus complies]. Lucius Verus : Gladiator, are you the one they call the Spaniard? Lucius Verus : They said you were a giant. They said you could crush a man's skull with one hand. Maximus : [looks at his palm] A man's? A boy's Lucius Verus : They have good horses in Spain? Maximus : Some of the best. Maximus : This is Argento, and this is Scarto. They were my horses. They were taken from me.
Lucius Verus : I like you Spaniard, and I shall cheer for you. Maximus : They let you watch the games? Lucius Verus : My uncle says it makes me strong. Maximus : And what does your father say? Lucius Verus : My father's dead. Lucius' Attendant : Master Lucius, it is time. Lucius Verus : I have to go. Maximus : Thy name is Lucius? Lucius Verus : Lucius Verus, after my father. Lucilla : This man wants what you want. Maximus : [the negotiator is riding headless towards the army] They say, "No.
Lucilla : I want to help you. Maximus : Yes, you can help me Forget you ever knew me, and never come back here again. I will not believe they fought and died for nothing. Maximus : I may die here in this cell or in the arena tomorrow. What possible difference can I make? Marcus Aurelius : You have proven your valor once again, Maximus. Let us hope for the last time. Maximus : There is no one left to fight, sire. Marcus Aurelius : There is always someone left to fight.
How can I reward Rome's greatest general? Maximus : Let me go home. Marcus Aurelius : Ah, home. Maximus : I am required to kill, so I kill. That is enough. Proximo : That's enough for the provinces, but not enough for Rome. Maximus : [to Proximo] He killed the man who set you free. Maximus : Lucius is safe. Quintus : Soldier! I told you to move those catapults forward. They're out of range. Maximus : Range is good.
Quintus : The danger to the cavalry Maximus : Is acceptable. Maximus : Do you remember what it was to have trust, Proximo? Proximo : [unfamiliarly] Trust? Quintus : Maximus, please be careful, that wasn't prudent.
Maximus : Prudent? The Emperor has been slain. Marcus Aurelius : Tell me again, Maximus, why are we here? Maximus : For the glory of the Empire, sire. Proximo : What do you want? Maximus : You sent for me?
Proximo : Yes, I did. You're good, Spaniard, but you're not that good. You could be magnificent. Maximus : I'm required to kill, so I kill. Proximo : That's enough for the provinces, but not for Rome. The young emperor has arranged a series of spectacles to commemorate his father, Marcus Aurelius. I find that amusing since it Marcus Aurelius, the wise, the all-knowing Marcus Aurelius, that closed us down. So, finally after five years of scratching a living in flea-infested villages, we're finally going back to where we belong.
The coliseum. Oh, you should see the coliseum, Spaniard. Fifty-thousand Romans. Watching every movement of your sword. Willing you to make that killer blow. The silence before you strike. And the noise afterwards. So… the quote kinda sums it up, but for the record: Gladiator is about a beefy Roman general named Maximus who's betrayed by Commodus Joaquin Phoenix , the weasel-y son of the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
In his climb to power, Commodus murders his dear old dad, and Maximus's family to boot. The ex-general then ends up as a slave-gladiator, hacking his way to revenge. Good times. The macho-man quote comes after Maximus has just won a battle in the arena and oh-so-dramatically reveals himself to Commodus and all of Rome. Check out the guts and glory in this clip. This quote doesn't get a whole lot of play, but Gladiator has fought its way into a permanent position in pop culture-dom. How about in the South Park "Imaginationland" episode , when Cartman's dreams of home are just like Maximus's?
We'd love to see Maximus and Cartman in the ring.
0コメント