Is ‘Gladiator 2’ real history? The true story behind the film

On By Littum

game

Spoiler alert! We’re discussing plot points in ‘Gladiator II’ (in theaters now), so if you haven’t seen it yet, back off.

Pack your dusty sandals and brutal weapons, folks. It’s time for “Gladiator II” and our collective return to the glorious, if wild, ancient Rome. (And if you’re really into it, “Gladiator III” might be on the way.)

Get ready for gory scenes with gladiators battling crazed monkeys, oversized rhinos, hungry sharks and… wait, what? There were sharks swimming around the Colosseum?

“Well,” director Ridley Scott says when asked about the film’s accuracy, “the short answer to that is, were you there?”

Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY’s movie and TV recommendations straight to your inbox.

This time, the action unfolds 16 years after we closed the book on Russell Crowe’s valiant gladiator Maximus, who shuffled this deadly coil in late 2000’s “Gladiator,” leaving behind his lover Lucilla (a returning Connie Nielsen) and young son Lucius (now a buff thief played by Paul Mescal).

To wrap up a few hours of brutal combat (the Colosseum has never looked more dangerous) and vicious betrayal (courtesy of Denzel Washington as the wildly writhing Macrinus), “Gladiator II” finds Lucius an imprisoned slave for whom victory in the Roman arena is the only promise of freedom.

This is how “Gladiator 2” massages history in the name of cinematic drama:

Was there ever a sea battle with sharks in the Colosseum?

Unknown. But Scott is willing to believe that it was within the realm of possibility, especially since the Colosseum and other parts of ancient Rome, such as what is now the Piazza Navona, were actually flooded to accommodate flat-bottomed boats and scene renderings of old naval battles.

“Have you been to the Colosseum? It would be a challenge to build it today, let alone back then,” he says. “So if they could do that, could they get water into it? Sure. And if you could do that, I’m sure you could get a damn shark in there.”

Did gladiators really take on rampaging monkeys and men riding rhinos?

It is well known that the Colosseum hosted brutal fights to the death between gladiators. But another category of fighter, not a gladiator but more of a hunterwould sometimes be put in the arena and challenged to hunt a wide variety of beasts that would appear in the ring. These could include rhinos and monkeys. Lions are of course most associated with the arena and often find innocent Christians as their prey.

In “Gladiator II” a fighter is seen riding into the Colosseum on a giant rhinoceros. This probably did not happen as the animals were mostly there to be tracked down and killed.

Did the twin emperors Caracalla and Geta really exist? And did one kill the other?

Yes and no. In the year 211 AD, probably also when “Gladiator II” takes place, brothers named Caracalla and Geta briefly ruled as double emperors of Rome after their father, Septimius Severus, named them as such on his deathbed.

But the boys – depicted as twins, although the story suggests they were separated by a year – disliked each other and, without their father as a buffer, spiraled out of control. In the end, Caracalla had his brother murdered in front of their mother, as shown in the movie. “Their father (Septimius) was not a bad guy and actually did some decent things,” says Scott. “But the two sons were as wild as anyone in the Sex Pistols.”

Was a monkey really the right hand (OK, paw) of a Roman emperor?

One of the most striking scenes in “Gladiator II” is when Caracalla, who has become sole emperor after killing his brother, he announces his right-hand man before a rapt audience of Roman senators. His choice? Not any of them, but rather his pet Capucin monkey, Dundus.

“Dundus was great, wasn’t it?” Scott asks. Although there isn’t much in the history books about a monkey being part of the ruling class in ancient Rome, the director’s gesture almost feels like a jab at current American politics.

“There it is, dude, it was on purpose,” he says, laughing. “But if you want to ask me which (political) side I land on, I won’t say.”