Great film, with slight apologies to history

Rating: 9/10 (24 September 2008)

Gladiator is a great film, a must for anyone's library if they call themselves a student of film, history and/or entertainment in general. The film is a beautiful representation of the Rome of our dreams and a brief period, the age of Commodus, within that grand vista. The film did take several liberties from the truth: 1-Commodus was not a scheming adult but a bit of a lad when he became emperor; there is no evidence he did or could eliminate his father. 2-The man that killed Commodus was not an erudite military general but instead a crude brute wrestler, hired by conspirators to do the job. 3-His sister was not a victim of Commodus; indeed, she conspired to have him killed; he caught her 1st and had her exiled from Rome. 4-Far from being treacherous, Commodus was a relative "babe in the woods" who was assailed by conspiratorial senators who "missed" several times until that "wrestler" ended his reign, in a hot tub of all places.