Maximus Decimus Meridius: The Modern Gladiatorial Hero

by
Mary Barbara Clerihue
V00189242

Dr. Mark Nugent

GRS 204
A01
25 March 2015

Epic sword-and-sandal movies like Gladiator have ensured that much

of the modern public is aware that armed men (and occasionally women)
fought in Ancient Rome, often to the death, to provide public entertainment.
Loosely based on events that occurred within the Roman Empire around the transition of power
from Marcus Aurelius to Commodus upon the formers death, Gladiator tells the story of a
general who became a slave. A slave who became a gladiator. A gladiator who defied an
emperor.1 A Hero Will Rise dramatically states another tagline, and through its protagonist,
Gladiator offers audiences a number of types of heroism and ideals from the personal to the
political. This paper will consider the figure of Maximus Decimus Meridius, the fictional
protagonist of Gladiator, and explore the kind of personal hero the film wants its audiences to
embrace; the movie offers a particular vision of masculine bravery and goodness that is
aspirational, but unattainable, by both modern and ancient standards.
Maximus was not a historical figure, and while many elements of the movie are based in
historical fact, considerable liberties were taken with the plots and character representations.2
Commodus was neither killed in the arena, although he was murdered by a wrestler, nor is there
strong evidence that he killed his father to gain the consulship. There was no restoration of the
Republic after Commodus death; in fact the empire entered a state of leadership turmoil.3 On the
other hand Lucilla did plot against her brother, and Commodus was a huge fan of, and participant
in, games, so it might be asserted that a sufficient historical backdrop exists upon which to spin a
ripping yarn, particularly one that focuses on the world of the gladiator.

1 IMDB, Gladiator Taglines accessed 10 March, 2015, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/taglines.

2 Ward Briggs, Layered Allusions in Gladiator, Arion, Third Series, Vol 15 No 3 (Winter 2008): 13-15.
3 Alastair J. L. Blanshard, Classics on Screen (London: Bristol Classical Press, 2011), 222.
1

Rome developed first as a state, and later an empire, through territorial domination
facilitated by the efforts of warriors, but with the growth of the Empire fewer Romans were
personally involved in military action; by Augustus time most soldiers in the Roman Legions
were foreigners seeking work and citizenship.4 In spite of, or perhaps as a result of, distance
between actual fighting and the soldierly heroics, Romans became more interested in sanitized
conceptual notions of military virtue, the key ones being gravitas (dignified self-control) and
disciplina (training, discipline).5 Munera (gladiatorial games) were initially
privately-financed by aristocratic families as part of funeral rites to honour
the deceased, however over time munera increasingly became public
spectacles designed to garner support for their (often politically-interested)
sponsors.6
Gladiatorial games were not simply gory amusement, though; to modern historians the
world of the gladiator offers a glimpse into the often-contradictory social values held by the
Romans. On the one hand these men were admired athletes, on the other they were excluded
from society by virtue of their criminal past or social status as slaves. Looking from the outside
into the culture, the enigma between the Roman adulation and debasement of the gladiator makes
this particular action hero a modern-day fascination.7
Gladiators were stigmatized with infamiia, they were men utterly debased by fortune,
a slave, a man altogether without worth or dignity, almost without humanity.8 Many fought
because there was no other choice, or because it was seen as a path to freedom. Notwithstanding
4 Robin Lane Fox, The Classical World: an Epic History of Greece and Rome (London: Penguin Books,
2006), 472.
5 Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, 80.
6 Fox, The Classical World, 466.
7 Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, 80.
8 Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, 83.

their social status, gladiators became the epitome of symbolic military virtue to the low- and
high-born of the Roman Empire. Although universally loathed for their lowly social origins or
criminal past, gladiators were also associated with glory, discipline and eroticism.9 Even Cicero
gushed What wounds will the gladiators bear, who are either barbarians, or the very dregs of
mankind!What gladiator, of even moderate reputation, ever gave a sigh? who ever turned
pale? who ever disgraced himself either in the actual combat, or even when about to die? who
that had been defeated ever drew in his neck to avoid the stroke of death?10
Gladiatorial discipline was a prime source of fascination; on entering gladiatorial school
gladiators took the sacramentum gladiatorum oath to, among other things, die by the sword for
honour in the arena. This presumed voluntary oath to accept death, it is suggested, made them
akin to voluntary human sacrifices, and mitigated Roman spectators sense of guilt or
wrongdoing at watching the games.11 Cleared of culpability, Roman audiences were free to
watch men engage in battle for their amusement and marvel at their bravery and skill, comforted
in the knowledge that gladiators were motivated by a higher calling. Cicero also suggested the
actions of gladiators served as a form of public education in fortitude and discipline: when the
guilty fought, we might receive by our ears perhaps (but certainly by our eyes we could not)
better training to harden us against pain and death.12
Ciceros words suggest the paradox of the gladiator between the virtues of the actions and
the social status of the actors. The honors, the erotic appeal and the emulation of gladiators
grew over times becoming increasingly inconsistent with the sociology of that group. Tertullian

9 Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, 80.

10 Cicero Tusculan Disputations 2.41, Project Guttenberg, accessed March 9, 2015,
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14988/14988-h/14988-h.htm#page-209.
11 Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, 87.
12 Cicero Tusculan Disputations 2.41.

said Romans loved the art but continue to hate the artists.13 So strongly were men considered a
potent source of erotic fantasy that Augustus ruled that women must sit in only in the highest
seats at the back at gladiatorial shows.14
That a society would endorse these gory spectacles is often regarded
today with gruesome fascination, a fascination that might not be so far
distant from that held by audiences of the ancient world. In many ways, the
practice of gladiatorial games is not that far removed from modern popular
spectacles such as MMA, cage fighting, and perhaps closer to the mark, bull
fighting. In the latter sport, the matador is portrayed as a warrior, a taboo-breaker, and a risk
taker who puts honour above life.15 Much as for modern-day matadors and other pugilistic
gamesmen, gladiators appealed to spectators as a symbol of the fascinating power of the
prohibited.16
It is against this historical backdrop that Maximus Decimus Meridius strides onto the
screen. The screenwriter David Franzoni had been inspired by Daniel P. Mannixs novel Those
About to Die (1958) that he read on an around-the-world motorcycle trip in the 1960s.17 Previous
to Gladiator his most significant screenplay was Amistad, which dealt with the plight of Africans
illegally sold as slaves. His interest in slavery was carried into the screenplay for Gladiator, a
timely decision, he noted, because there are so many elements of ancient Rome during the

13 Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, 82.

14 Fox, The Classical World, 468.
15 Donald Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome (New York: Routledge, 2001), 85.
16 Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, 85.
17 Jon Solomon, Gladiator from Screenplay to Screen, in Gladiator: Film and History, ed. Martin M.
Winkler (Oxford, Blackwell, 2004), 2.

period that are almost identical to America today The movie is about us. It's not just about
ancient Rome, it's about America.18
Gladiator and Maximus also give a strong nod to The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
and, in its hero development, Spartacus.19 In both Gladiator and Spartacus, enslaved men turned
into gladiators turned into heroic leaders fight for their and their enslaved brothers-at-arms
freedom from a corrupt Roman government. Both gladiators die semi-sacrificial deaths in the
effort to achieve their goals; a psycho-social orientation that is likely more modern than historic
in foundation. In crafting a hero for modern America based in Roman roots, Maximus has been
designed to be an honorable man, purposeful, driven by his resolute love and honor. Despite
banishment, attempted murder and enslavement (understandably whilst entertaining thoughts of
revenge) his moral core remains unshaken. He is depicted as caught in a world not of his making,
and one that he does not deserve, in effect he is being shafted by The Man, a condition that
modern audiences can identify with.
The historical aspect of gladiatorial hero worship, the gladiator as symbol of military
might and sexual prowess, is present in the film but additionally the film features elements of the
modern epic hero. Like ancient gladiators, Maximus is brave and self-sacrificing (the latter
made easier by the slaughter of his family), a leader and a skilful fighter.20 A higher calling
motivates him, but it is a different one from Roman gladiators, it is revenge not the gods or the
possibility of wining his freedom. In his desire to avenge his familys death he still ensures that
right prevails, in this case the right of freedom from tyranny, suggesting a preference for a very

18 Rob Wilson, Ridley Scotts Gladiator and the Spectacle of Empire: Global/local rumblings inside the
Pax Americana, European Journal of American Culture Volume 21 Number 2 (2002), 65.
19 Blanshard, Classics on Screen, 226.
20 Blanshard, Classics on Screen. 227.

modern notion of democracy.21 Finally, another mantle worn by the modern hero is layered on:
that of the post-feminist sensitive man tough big guy almost proletarian in appearance.a
man made strong by valour and circumstances, somebody equally at home on a battle field and
on a farm, in the fantasies of many a New York yuppie, the ideal husband22
Like ancient Romans in the Coliseum, the modern audience watching Maximus can
experience gravitas and disciplina by proxy: a modern version of these virtues. The attraction of
Maximus to the modern audience was summed up by the screenwriter thus: "We're stewing in
self-indulgent mediocrity, and here's a noble figure who's almost swallowed up by the Roman
equivalent, and he endures."23 Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Commodus, suggested in an
interview, "Now we care about heroes with flaws and humanity.24 Unlikely though it may be,
the modern version of a Roman gladiatorial hero seems to hold personality traits that expose and
emphasize their sentiments and imperfections. This is not in keeping with the ancient servicebefore-self concepts of gravitas and disciplina, but rather is more closely aligned with a modern
individualistic lifestyle. Gladiators fought an external battle for survival and athletic
accomplishments, Maximus fights too but his bigger fight is an internal one, a psychological war
driven by revenge and won by the courage to be free.
While this paper focuses on the personal hero, the character of Maximus also serves as a
vehicle to deliver messages about western, and in particular American, societal ideals. Gladiator,
and Maximus struggles, suggests American romanticism about a time when it was believed that

21 Jennifer Barker, A Hero Will Rise: The Myth of the Fascist Man in Fight Club and Gladiator,
Literature: Film Quarterly, Vol. 36 Issue 3 (2008), 174.
22 Amelia Arenas, Popcorn and Circus: Gladiator and the Spectacle of Virtue Arion Third Series, Vol
9, No 1 (2001), 3.
23 Monica S. Cyrino, Gladiator and Contemporary American Society in Gladiator: Film and History,
ed. Martin M. Winkler (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), 131.
24 Cyrino, Gladiator and Contemporary American Society 131.

an individual could achieve the American Dream through hard work and old-fashioned
commitment to family, God, and country. Maximus as a simple man of the soil, who rose to
prominence but in his heart never left the farm, is a lighting rod for modern society's idealization
of the countryside and its perceived virtue and purity, in contrast with a modern crime-ridden
urban landscape. Deeper analysis of these themes is outside of the scope of this paper, but they
highlight just some of the contemporary bundle of virtues wrapped up in the symbol of the
gladiator.
The film Gladiator draws much of its inspiration from the Roman fascination with
gladiatorial virtues of gravitas and disciplina, layering these virtues with modern notions of
heroics that are far from the battlefields or arenas of the Roman Empire. The vision Roman
gladiators demonstrated of masculine bravery and goodness was as much an illusion for the
ancient Romans as the one Maximus character offers to modern movie-goers. Ultimately,
gladiators were entertainers who offered Roman spectators a particular form of heroics that was a
fictional amplification of soldiers ethos, just as Gladiator the movie offers, in the form of
Maximus, a particular vision of masculine bravery and goodness that is aspirational for today,
but ultimately is illusion.

Works Cited
-, IMDB, Gladiator Taglines accessed 10 March, 2015,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/taglines
Arenas, Amelia. Popcorn and Circus: Gladiator and the Spectacle of Virtue. Arion Third
Series, Vol 9 No 1 (2001): 1-12.
Barker, Jennifer. A Hero Will Rise: The Myth of the Fascist Man in Fight Club and
Gladiator, Literature: Film Quarterly, Vol. 36 Issue 3 (2008): 171-178.
Blanshard, Alastair J. L. Classics on Screen. London: Bristol Classical Press, 2011.
Briggs, Ward. Layered Allusions in Gladiator, Arion, Third Series, Vol 15 No 3 (Winter 2008):
9-38.
Cicero Tusculan Disputations 2.41, Project Guttenberg, accessed March 9, 2015,
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14988/14988-h/14988-h.htm#page-209.
Cyrino, Monica S. Gladiator and Contemporary American Society in Gladiator: Film and
History, 125-149, ed. Martin M. Winkler, Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.
Fox, Robin Lane. The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome. London: Penguin
Books, 2006.
Kyle, Donald. Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome. New York: Routledge, 2001.
Solomon, Jon. Gladiator from Screenplay to Screen, in Gladiator: Film and History, 1-15, ed.
Martin M. Winkler, Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.
Wilson, Rob. Ridley Scotts Gladiator and the Spectacle of Empire: Global/local rumblings
inside the Pax Americana, European Journal of American Culture Volume 21 Number 2
(2002): 62-73.