His presence was felt instantly among the soldiers of the Roman Empire, and also among the teenage girls in the audience who nearly wept as Crowe's toga never creased even in battle. When we first meet up with Maximus, the year is 108 A.D. - in other words, before your Maven's time. Don't miss the show's first ten minutes or you'll miss the screen shaking from a gory battle between the Romans and barbarians from Germania, although at this point the Romans appear just as uncivilized as they plunder whatever gets in the way. And then it happens. The screen grows dark and dusky.
Arrows fly through the air, fists hit into other fists, swords cut torsos in two.
And yet there is something missing in the choreography that at times purposely moves at the speed of an escargot. The son takes it so poorly that he strangles his father and anoints himself emperor. Maximus is intuitive enough to know that the emperor did not die of natural causes, but before he can make any more guesses, Commodus gives orders to have him killed. Because only thirty minutes have elapsed, Crowe cannot possibly die. Instead, he is forced to become a gladiator fighting for his life in the Roman Coliseum.