After nearly a quarter of a century, a sequel to Ridley Scott’s epic historical blockbuster, ‘Gladiator’, is finally about to be released.
Coming to cinemas on Friday (November 15), ‘Gladiator II’ features a host of stars including Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and Connie Nielsen.
Mescal stars as Lucius, the grandson of Rome’s former emperor Marcus Aurelius and son of Lucilla, who must fight for freedom after being taken into slavery.
Meanwhile, Washington portrays Macrinus, a power broker who keeps a stable of gladiators and sees battle-hungry Lucius as a promising investment.
Fans have been gifted a glimpse of the film in two trailers, but many have spotted some puzzling anachronisms.
In fact, one Roman historian has called Gladiator II ‘total Hollywood b*******’ on the basis that it can’t separate fact from fiction.
Now, reveals five glaring historical inaccuracies in ‘Gladiator II’, from dodgy accents to rhino riding and baboon fighting.
So, how many did you spot?
It’s been in development for 20 years, but Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel will finally be unleashed to cinemas Friday (November 15)
ACCENTS
When the first Gladiator II trailer was released this summer, fans noticed the great diversity of the accents on display.
Denzel Washington speaks in his native New York voice, while Paul Mescal, an Irishman, seems to speak in an approximation of the Queen’s English.
Romans of course, would not have spoken like this, as these accents would only come into development more than 1,500 years later.
Professor Eleanor Dickey, a linguist at the University of Reading’s department of classics, said the Romans likely had several accents in the 3rd century.
‘The empire was huge, so it is totally reasonable for the film to have people speaking in more than one accent,’ she told .
What’s more, it almost goes without saying that English would not have been the language of choice for people in the Roman Empire two millennia ago.
Latin was the predominant language spoken in the western half of the Empire including Rome, while in the eastern half it was Greek – but in both halves many other languages were also spoken.
Denzel Washington portrays Macrinus, a power broker who keeps a stable of gladiators and sees battle-hungry Lucius as a promising investment (pictured)
‘English was not spoken in Rome at that period, nor anywhere else,’ Professor Dickey told . ‘If they’re speaking English at all, that’s a huge anachronism.’
‘It is difficult to say exactly when a distinct language that we might call “English” first emerged, but I don’t think it could have been as early as the third century.
Naturally, it was always unlikely Ridley Scott would have his actors speaking Latin, Greek or any other dialect in a big Hollywood blockbuster.
RHINO RIDING
‘Gladiator II’ is set in Rome around AD 200, at the height of the Roman Empire, about 20 years after the events of the first film, ‘Gladiator’ (2000), starring Russell Crowe.
The huge territorial empire existed between 27 BC and AD 476, spanning across Europe and North Africa with Rome as its centre.
Violent gladiator battles were hosted around the empire, including at Rome’s Colosseum, the remains of which still stand today.
These public spectacles, which drew crowds much like today’s football matches, saw men fighting bloody battles to the death.
The huge venues would host gladiator fights, chariot races and executions. Here, a gladiatorial fight is depicted in Rome’s Colosseum, in ‘Pollice Verso’ an 1872 oil painting by France’s Jean-Léon Gérôme
In one scene of ‘Gladiator II’, Mescal’s character is pitted against a rival fighter standing on top of a rhinoceros
In one scene of ‘Gladiator II’, Mescal’s character, Lucius Verus, is pitted against a rival fighter standing on top of a rhinoceros, its horns covered with blood.
But Kathleen Coleman, a professor at Harvard University’s department of classics, points out that gladiators fought other men, not animals.
‘The people in combat with beasts were a separate category of person – bestiarii, who did not fight other men,’ Professor Coleman told .
Professor Shadi Bartsch, a classicist at the University of Chicago, agrees that the depiction of rhino riding isn’t quite accurate.
Martial, a Roman poet who often described the action from Rome’s Colosseum, did write about a rhinos tossing a bull up to the sky in AD 80.
However, it was the one-horn rhino, not the two-horn version shown in the film, and there’s no evidence that people rode them, she told The Hollywood Reporter.
SEA OF SHARKS
In another scene, the Colosseum, which has digitally recreated to look as it did during its heyday 2,000 years ago, fills with water like a giant bathtub.
Bloody gladiator battles often to the death were fought in Rome’s Colosseum, pictured left and depicted right in the new film
Even more bizarrely, sharks then fill the arena and proceed to attack fighters that have fallen from a floating ship.
Again, Professor Bartsch believes there is an inaccuracy here, as she doesn’t think the Romans ‘knew what a shark was’.
However, the Romans did stage naval battles in the Colosseum, meaning it was flooded with water at some point during its ancient history.
When recently asked about the addition of sharks in an interview with Collider, Ridley Scott was adamant that there’s historical merit to this.
The director said: ‘Dude, if you can build a Colosseum, you can flood it with f****** water. Are you joking?
‘And to get a couple of sharks in a net from the sea – of course they can.’
Director Ridley Scott appeared annoyed when asked about the historical accuracy of sharks in Rome’s Colosseum
In the new film, Paul Mescal stars as Lucius, the grandson of Rome’s former emperor Marcus Aurelius and son of Lucilla, who must fight for his liberty as a gladiator after being taken into slavery
MORNING TEA
Perhaps the most laughable aspects of the new film is a Roman noble sipping tea in a café while reading the morning newspaper.
As Professor Bartsch points out, the film is set around 1,200 years before the invention of the printing press – in Germany in the 1440s.
However, the Romans did have a form of daily news – Acta Diurna or ‘Daily Acts’ – which many consider the forerunner to today’s media.
Acta Diurna consisted of official messages and matters of public interest which were carved into slabs of stone and displayed in public places.
Acta Diurna ‘was carved and placed at certain locations,’ Professor Bartsch told The Hollywood Reporter.
‘You had to go to it, you couldn’t hold it at a café. Also, they didn’t have cafes!’
And tea was something not thought to be known to the Romans – they drank wine and posca, a diluted vinegar beverage.
Acta Diurna consisted of official messages and matters of public interest which were carved into slabs of stone and displayed in public places
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BABOONS
Mescal’s character is also made made to fight vicious-looking baboons, but Professor Coleman adds that there is no record of this.
She told : ‘There is no record of the Romans fighting baboons, or indeed of displaying them in the arena.’
In the new Gladiator II trailer, there doesn’t appear to be adherence to these historical accuracies, but this is likely not an aim of the filmmakers.
When Ridley Scott was recently asked for his response to anyone calling the film historically inaccurate, the director brusquely responded: ‘Get a life.’
Professor Bartsch had called the film ‘total Hollywood b*******’, although she’s since said her comments were ‘very lighthearted’ with ‘no sniping involved’.
She told : ‘I certainly didn’t mean to take on the Hollywood movie industry!’
Although the exact plot of Gladiator II is a closely guarded secret, it’s expected to be a reimagined version of Roman history while retaining some authentic aspects.