Similarities and Differences Between Ancient Rome and Gladiator Although aiming for historical accuracy, the movie Gladiator achieved that only partially. Numerous scenes and ideas were similar to early AD, but many were very different and quite the opposite. There were both similarities and differences that were completely obvious, and some very minuscule details that would be hard to pick up on if you were not paying close attention.
One of the many differences between Gladiator and Ancient Rome is that no slave revolts succeeded. In Ancient Rome, slaves often did try to revolt, although none were victorious. Over a million slaves and gladiators were murdered during their attempts in obtaining their freedom. Although in the movie, Maximus Aurelius and the other slaves succeeded in getting their freedom after Maximus killed emperor Commodus. He asked Lucille,
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This defense mechanism became widely known because it worked well and was reliable for the Greeks, who the Roman repeatedly copied. Both in the movie and early AD, the Romans and Germanic tribes used the phalanx during war. Germanic soldiers also used their pikes which were huge wooden or metal spears which they would hold diagonally before a battle and during a phalanx formation.
Commodus and the Colosseum crowd were often showed giving a thumbs up or down the the gladiator in the pit. A thumbs up was given by the organizer in order to signal that the gladiator will survive. Death came to those that he gave a thumbs down to. The crowd could also influence the decision of the organizer, but most of the time he has total authority. For example, Maximus won over the people, who all wanted him to live and were cheering for him. Commodus completely ignored them, and gave him the death sentence, although Maximus still survived