Interesting Story, but Historically Inaccurate

Rating: 6/10 (4 June 2000)

This was an interesting story, but historically was a little bit mixed up. It combines figures from different points in Roman History. The real General Maximus was declared emperor after conquering Britain, by his troops and some locals. He then went to Germany entered an alliance with the Emperor of the Eastern Empire. He then attacked the Western empire and emperor Gratian and Gratian was killed in battle. Maximus ruled some of the northern and western provinces for a few years and then decided to invade Italy and took over the whole Western Empire for a year or so, then got into a war with the Eastern empire, and lost, and was executed. Marcus Aurelius was an interesting emperor, but he lived 200 years earlier. His chief general in Germany was Avidius Cassius, who usurped him a couple of years before he died, and the conflict forced him to appoint Commodus as joint emperor several years before he died. Commodus went insane, (possibly due to lead poisoning), and was eventually strangled by a gladiator as part of an assassination plot by his sister and his own cabinet. Enjoy the movie, but try to keep it in historical perspective.