A historian has provided a scathing critique of the eagerly anticipated film, Gladiator II, which fans have been waiting decades to see.
On November 22, Gladiator II will make its debut in cinemas across the US and globally. Critics who have attended early screenings have lauded director Ridley Scott’s work.
One such critic is journalist Scott Menzel, who remarked, “Gladiator II is Ridley Scott’s best film since The Martian.” He described the film as “a big, bloody and badass action spectacle that builds upon the legacy of the original.”
“The film showcases beautiful set pieces and a lot of epic battles. Paul Mescal shines. Denzel Washington chews up the scenery quite a bit here and looks like he is having the time of his life here.”
The movie features a notable cast, including Normal People’s Paul Mescal, The Last Of Us’ Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington, 24 years after the original film premiered.
Set two decades after Russell Crowe’s Gladiator, the movie stars 28-year-old Mescal as Lucius, the son of Connie Nielsen’s character.
However, not everyone appreciated the Oscar-winning director’s portrayal of Roman life. Dr. Shadi Bartsch, a classics professor at the University of Chicago, criticized it as ‘total Hollywood bull***t’.
For historians, watching films with historical inaccuracies can be frustrating, and Scott’s film, at 86 years old, has a few.
One of the most surprising inaccuracies involves a Roman character drinking tea at a cafe while reading a newspaper.
The earliest known news sheet wasn’t published until 1566 in Venice, Italy, which is 1,355 years after the movie’s 211 AD setting.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Bartsch commented, “They did have daily news — Acta Diurna — but it was carved and placed at certain locations.”
“You had to go to it, you couldn’t hold it at a cafe. Also, they didn’t have cafes!”
Bartsch, who has authored several books on ancient Rome, also criticized a scene featuring a shark in the trailer. She stated, “I don’t think Romans knew what a shark was!”
However, she acknowledged that the Romans would have known about rhinos and may have introduced one into the Coliseum, referencing a poem by Martial from 80 A.D. about a rhinoceros tossing a bull into the sky.
The historical inaccuracies discussed by Bartsch have sparked similar comments on Reddit.
One user noted, “A non-story. Fictional movies are often not totally historically accurate.”
Another humorously added, “Wait until the historian hears about an island full of dinosaurs that we created from a mosquito’s blood!”
Ridley Scott, meanwhile, expressed to the Hollywood Reporter that he is not overly concerned with historical accuracy, saying, “By the time you get to 2024, it’s all speculation.”