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its internal structure shows signs of fraying. “My father’s war against the barbarians,” Commodus wonders. “He said it himself, it achieved nothing. But the people loved him.” Just as the ancient Romans watched their empire waver on the edge of internal collapse, Gladiator asks Americans to contemplate whether insular considerations and attention to purely national interests will be enough to sustain them in the pursuit of more global ambitions. Unless the obligations that accompany the opportunities of empire are acknowledged, in particular the need to maintain the great esteem once earned from people and nations all over the world, America may be compelled to admit, as Marcus Aurelius does: “I brought the sword, nothing more.” Gladiator also persuades its audience to ponder the brittleness of the idea that an empire has the right to export its definition of justice and freedom, and how vulnerable that idea can be both to popular misunderstanding and disregard and the indifference or manipulation of their leaders. “There was a dream that was Rome,” says the old emperor. “You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, it was so fragile.” Like the image of ancient Rome envisioned by Maximus, the American Dream occupies a similarly precarious place: “American power and influence are actually very fragile, because they rest upon an idea, a unique and irreplaceable myth: that the United States really does stand for a better world and is still the best hope of all who seek it” (Tony Judt, The New York Review of Books, August 15, 2002). The death of Maximus at the film’s conclusion is thus not an unequivocally triumphant moment, since the gladiator does not turn out to be the promised catalyst for sweeping political change. Contemporary viewers are well aware the Republic is not reinstated and the Roman Empire does not come to an end after the removal of Commodus. Rather, the ending suggests the dangers and risks associated with the noble pursuit of an honorable idea of empire that Maximus exemplifies. Ultimately, viewers must decide if Gladiator sends a positive message about heroes and the nature of empire. Like the best epic movies, Gladiator raises more questions than it answers. Does it matter that Maximus does not go home again until he is dead? Is fighting the good fight enough? Will his dream of a strong, worthy Rome ever be realized? When Lucilla asks with patrician authority at the end of the film, “Is Rome worth one good man’s life?” a hopeful response follows: “We believed it once . . . make us believe it again.” The hero himself becomes a dream-image of the idealized Rome he loves so much. As his spirit floats over the petal-strewn sand of the arena and out over the columns and walls of the sunset-streaked GLADIATOR (2000) 255
city, Maximus becomes a symbol both of the strength and the fragility of Rome. CORE ISSUES 1 How does the film explore the effects of Roman power and corruption in the personal conflict between Marcus Aurelius and Commodus? In the conflict between Commodus and Maximus? 2 How does the film use the figure of the gladiator to pose questions about Roman ideals and morality? 3 How does the film recall and rework the conventions of earlier Roman epics? 4 Why did the filmmakers feel the need to revive the Roman epic genre? To what in American society today do the film’s themes respond? 5 What is the film’s final message? Is it a positive or negative view of Roman and/or American culture? 256 GLADIATOR (2000)
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Big Screen Rome
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BIG SCREEN ROME Monica Silveira Cyr
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Contents List of Illustrations vi A
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11 A Funny Thing Happened on the Wa
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permissions were secured in part wi
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Map 1 The city of Rome in the imper
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R P I D A C I A M O Sarmizegetusa C
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provocative combination of dignity
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chapters examine how both films use
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duty and desire set against the mon
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Plot Outline It is the summer of ad
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Plate 1 Quo Vadis. Petronius (Leo G
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a soldier kills Tigellinus, calling
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of Rome. Their obstinate refusal to
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he was also condemned to death. The
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associated with the Catholic Polish
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ambivalent one, given the glitterin
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This is the Appian Way, the most fa
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suggestive of the illumination she
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in historical epic films (Winkler,
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narrative and thematic focus also s
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later decades evolved into the Amer
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Peter. Eunice is the slave of Petro
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Chapter 2 The Robe (1953) The great
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Plate 3 The Robe. Marcellus (Richar
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on the command of the new emperor,
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him to retire to the island of Rhod
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of the Senate, the institution was
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of Caesarea, the prefect would spen
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of the changes in Catholicism that
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of showing off the enduring power,
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have made a great empress, thus hig
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would also play Odysseus in Helen o
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crime as a Roman citizen who has jo
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Hollywood artists who sold out duri
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Demetrius, and his jealous rage whe
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Plot Outline In the Roman province
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Judah, his mother and sister are le
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farewell: they embrace and kiss, an
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voice take the sword out of my hand
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throughout the countryside around G
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of people during its twenty-year ru
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Since Ben-Hur was in preparation lo
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technology, in particular the newly
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forceful, almost fanatical, speeche
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emperor’s offer of Roman citizens
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Messala, as Esther recounts her mem
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The appearances of Jesus are few an
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War to condemn oppressive foreign t
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poisoned by Rome, as he tells Pilat
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CORE ISSUES 1 How does the film por
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Plot Outline In the mines of North
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Plate 7 Spartacus. Draba (Woody Str
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army, losing nineteen thousand men
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second broke out in 104 and was que
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At this time, gladiatorial combat w
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Senate had no choice but to yield.
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the Communist Party of the United S
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the first time in thirteen years. T
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the slave movement with the migrati
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From this point, the film divides i
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At the heart of the new slave famil
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Antoninus dies in the arms of Spart
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Plate 8 Spartacus. Varinia (Jean Si
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learning from their mistakes; Gracc
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complaint.” As Gracchus observes
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Spartacus continues the epic cinema
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Plot Outline Part 1. On the battlef
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Plate 9 Cleopatra. Cleopatra (Eliza
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command at Tarsus in Asia Minor, an
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knowing he is the undisputed master
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Later, Ptolemy XIII fled and was fo
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Antony came to Tarsus in Cilicia wh
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for future campaigns. Early in 34 b
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honored her request for burial with
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Extra-cinematic commentary also sug
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The script, based on C. M. Franzero
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Plate 10 Cleopatra. Mark Antony (Ri
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as Caesar, but is best known for hi
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eginning of the second half after t
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desertion: I from myself.” As he
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majesty and power are displayed, Ta
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the United Nations was composed lar
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modern sex scandal. When Cleopatra
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desire for sons, as she articulates
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4 How does the film use the spectac
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kind and rather dim-witted gentlema
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Plate 11 A Funny Thing Happened on
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productions, and often acted in the
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shared experience of every society
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1996, with Nathan Lane, who also wo
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In A Funny Thing Happened on the Wa
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series of preposterous sight gags,
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freedom and the pleasures of uninhi
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Chapter 7 Monty Python’s Life of
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178 MONTY PYTHON’S LIFE OF BRIAN
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autonomous part of the Roman provin
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Silly Walks,” with their in-jokes
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different religious sects, the earn
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censorship that varied from region
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may provide some inspiration for th
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obstacle to group ideals. Because t
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The cartoon construction during the
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Chapter 8 History of the World, Par
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Ancient Background The Roman Empire
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was the protagonist’s inability t
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in classic epics like Quo Vadis, Be
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202 HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I (1
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Page 223 and 224: Plot Outline In the year ad 180, th
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Page 249 and 250: with the reluctance of Maximus to a
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Page 261 and 262: 246 GLADIATOR (2000) Plate 15 Gladi
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Page 269: The field of wheat is thus a symbol
Page 273 and 274: 2 Reference Maltin, Leonard, et al.
Page 275 and 276: Killed Spartacus? How Studio Censor
Page 277 and 278: Index Page numbers in italic refer
Page 279 and 280: Caesar, Sid 166, 197 Caesarea 44, 6
Page 281 and 282: Falco (Gladiator) 208, 210, 212 The
Page 283 and 284: Jackson, Peter 83 Jacoby, Georg 18
Page 285 and 286: musical scores A Funny Thing Happen
Page 287 and 288: The Road Warrior 230 The Robe 3, 22
Page 289: Via Appia 11, 12, 21, 24, 95, 99, 1
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