An essay that explains how the movie GLADIATOR portrays the characteristics of ancient Rome

World Civilizations- Gladiator Assignment Contrasting Values of Maximus and Commodus and how they reflect characteristics of Rome Gladiator was simply an outstanding movie on ancient Rome, a personal favorite. This Hollywood film took its audience to the end of the Pax Romana around the second-century Rome with the last year of Marcus Aurelius's reign in 180 A.D., the last of the five Good Emperors. This brilliant emperor finds himself aging and at the point when …

…direct correlation with the Roman virtue of gravitas. The virtue of gravitas was what actually made Maximus loyal to his friends, father, and those who offered him help. Then the huge differences between Maximus and Commodus symbolized the differences in the rich and poor of Rome. Finally, the strategies Commodus used to distract the Romans of their problems, symbolized his lack of faith in Rome itself and the types of tyrants that caused its decline.