General Maximus is the hero of the historical drama R. Scott “The Gladiator”. This film was released on world screens in 2000 and immediately received universal recognition, and also won five Oscars. However, the picture has strong differences with the historical realities of the late Roman Empire. This also applies to the personality of the main character of the film, which actually never existed, although his image has a real prototype.
First Soldier Emperor
General Maximus is a character whose biography is somewhat similar to the famous figure in late Roman history, Maximinus. He came from Thrace, had excellent physical characteristics (like the hero performed by R. Crowe), and soon entered the imperial service, becoming one of the best soldiers in the army of Septimius Severus, who loved him, respected him and always distinguished him from his colleagues. And here again there is a parallel with the fate of the fictional general, who also enjoyed special trust with the emperor.
Under one of the successors to the North, Maximin left the service and became a landowner, but soon returned to the army. At the time in question, rulers often succeeded one another; coups d'etat were not uncommon for the declining Roman state. As a result of one of these coups, Maximin was proclaimed emperor.
The fate of the ruler
General Maximus, like his historical prototype, was very brave in battle and enjoyed the love and respect of his soldiers. In addition, he possessed an outstanding talent as a strategist, under his leadership the army won brilliant victories. Maximin also sought to gain support from the guard, and he partially succeeded.
However, he brutally persecuted dissidents, and soon his rule became a real tyranny. He waged wars, but these campaigns no longer brought him success in society. Bribery, extortion of officials also caused general displeasure, which led to a new conspiracy. Maximin was killed by his own legionnaires, and his son died along with him.
Screen hero
At the beginning of the film, General Maximus appears before the audience as a brilliant commander who made a dizzying career and with his victories achieved the full confidence of the emperor, who even decided to make him his successor on the throne, despite the fact that he had an heir - the son of Commodus. However, in fact, the latter, from childhood, held the title of Caesar, so his right to the throne was undeniable. Like its historical prototype, the main character of the film had his own estate, which the director sometimes showed the viewer in the form of flashbacks. Just like Maximin, the general once decides to leave the service. However, if the first was guided by political considerations (he was dissatisfied with the reign of the new emperor), then the screen character wanted to return to his family - his wife and son.
Political intrigue
In Scott's film, the Roman commander was the victim of political intrigue. He, as the alleged future ruler, is kidnapped and nearly killed, but the hero miraculously escapes death and falls into the hands of a slave merchant.
As a result, he becomes a gladiator. It should be noted here that conspiracies and coups were the most common thing in the time of the late empire, but the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius was incorrectly shown in the film. The fact is that, according to the scenario, he died at the hands of his own son, although he actually died from the plague in modern Vienna. As for the future fate of the main character, she is shown quite dramatically and convincingly: he, as the best fighter, is taken to Rome to participate in gladiatorial battles.
Gladiator fights
So the Roman commander by chance found himself in the position of a slave and was forced to fight in the arena as the most ordinary slave. However, his general leadership abilities came in handy: thanks to the skillful organization of the battle, the slaves under his command won an unexpected victory over the superior forces of professional warriors.
All the battle scenes look very impressive in the picture, however, a number of mistakes were made during the shooting: firstly, only specially trained fighters took part in animal battles, and secondly, the heroes inflict massive chopping blows with the gladius sword, which itself in fact was a stabbing weapon.
Climax
Roman General Maximus became a real hero of the Roman mob, so Commodus did not dare to kill his long-standing enemy. The latter, along with his sister, took part in a conspiracy to overthrow him. It should be noted that this is a historical fact: Lucilla really became the organizer of a conspiracy against her brother, but the one who was supposed to kill him revealed even before he managed to fulfill his intention. After that, Lucilla was exiled and a few years later died in exile. The tense moment in the film is, of course, the final battle between the enemies.
The emperor previously seriously wounded his defenseless adversary, who, nevertheless, managed to defeat him in the arena, after which he died. Commodus really participated in battles in the arena, but he died completely not as shown in the film. He was killed by his own slave after 12 years of reign.
Background picture
So, General Maximus, whose story partly recalls the fate of his prototype, as a whole turned out to be a pretty colorful screen hero. Many critics and viewers have a negative attitude to the distortion of historical reality, but the film cannot be denied an interesting plot and a colorful atmosphere, which, although it does not correspond to the spirit of the era, nevertheless turned out to be very colorful. The creators tried to interest the audience in the events of ancient history, and they succeeded. Maximus - General Marcus Aurelius - became the visiting card actor of Crowe, which is still associated with many with this character.