Things they got absolutely right:
1. Marcus Aurelius’ daughter Lucilla had once been married to Lucius Verus. What isn’t mentioned in the film is that Verus was Marcus’ co-emperor at the beginning of his reign.
2. It was indeed not unusual for former gladiators like Proximo to operate training lycea. And a wooden sword was the symbol of a gladiator’s freedom. However, most gladiators were not permanent slaves. The usual term for a gladiator, if he survived, was five years.
3. Yes, noble women did become gladiator groupies. When the gladiator barracks at Pompeii were excavated, the skeleton of a wealthy older woman wearing gold jewelry was found there.
4. Although Richard Harris is too old to portray Marcus Aurelius, his character seems to be spot-on.
5. Maximus quotes from Marcus Aurelius’ Mediations (“Death smiles at us all...”).
6. The uniforms worn by the soldiers are quite accurate. Close examination shows that the archers were foreign auxiliaries, which is also accurate. The legion name, however, was fictitious; there was no Felix Legion in the Roman Army. The legions in upper Germany at the time of the film were the VIII Augusta and the XXII Primigenia, while the legions in lower Germany were the I Minerva and probably the VI Victrix.
7. Senator Gracchus is quite right when he says that no Roman army has entered the capitol in a hundred years. The last time was during the “Year of Four Emperors,” 69 A.D, just over 110 years before the setting of the film.
8. It’s no surprise that Maximus is from Spain. Spain was an important province of the Roman Empire (Gibbon points out that Spain flourished as a province and declined as a kingdom, which is absolutely true). The Emperor Trajan was from Spain. Also, Maximus’ home could well have been “in the hills above Trujillo.” Trujillo was indeed a town in Roman times, though it seems odd Maximus does not use its Roman name.
9. Lucilla really did conspire against Commodus. In real life, however, she was exiled and later executed for it.
Things they got wrong:
1. When Juba tosses Maximus a sword during the first battle in the Coliseum, he yells, to get his attention, “Maximus!” But there’s no evidence anyone among the gladiators knew his name until he tells the Emperor at the end of the same scene.
2. During the opening battle scene, the Roman infantry neglect to throw their pili, the javelins they carry. The usual Roman tactic was to throw the pilum when within a few yards of the enemy, then draw the gladius and move into close combat. The Roman infantry also would have held its line much better when the barbarian horde charges them. Other than this, this is a magnificent scene.
3. The Emperor Commodus was left-handed. Joaquin Phoenix plays him right-handed.
4. Commodus theorizes that Marcus Aurelius has called him to Germania to announce that he will be his heir. In fact, Commodus was already co-emperor with his father by this time and had been for four years.
5. Marcus Aurelius was only 59 when he died; Richard Harris is too old. Also, Marcus died of plague. He was not murdered by Commodus.
6. Commodus not only loved the games, he actually participated as a gladiator.
7. Commodus actually reigned for 12 years and was far more monstrous than portrayed.
8. Rome is majestic, but I question how much of the Rome we see was based on actual maps of the city. The area around the Coliseum seems too built up. Nowhere do we see the giant statue of Nero the Coliseum got its name from, nor the nearby Baths of Trajan. Aqueducts were a very prominent part of Roman civic architecture that we hardly see.
9. I don’t believe that the Coliseum was known by that name at the time depicted in the film. Its proper name is the Flavian Ampitheatre, named for the Flavian emperors Vespasian and Titus who built it.
10. Lucilla did not have a son by Lucius Verus, and it’s doubtful that Maximus would have mourned his death, as he had a very poor reputation even during his lifetime.
11. The history is fictitious and probably not even possible, sadly. It remains a mystery why Marcus would permit a man as evil as his son to succeed him, but he would never even have considered a return to the Republic. What Commodus says is basically right: an empire needs an emperor, and the Roman Republic was barely workable at the best of times.
12. Thumbs up, thumbs down…who knows? Evidently the gesture thumbs down was meant as the signal to permit the fallen gladiator to live, the gesture meaning for his rival to down his weapon. The gesture for death is more controversial; some say thumbs up, others say the thumb held to the throat in a throat-cutting gesture. One thing is certain, however; right or wrong the filmmakers had no choice but to use the gestures as they did because to do otherwise would have confused the audience.
13. What happened to the dog?! Seriously, the producers say that the dog got forgotten as the script changed. Evidently in an earlier version of the script Maximus rejoined his army, and his pet dog.
14. Commodus probably would have worn a toga more often than his uncomfortable military garb.
15. Men and women did not sit together in the Coliseum. Women were restricted to the uppermost rows. The film does correctly portray the special seating section for the Vestal Virgins, however.
16. It’s not likely that Maximus could have achieved the command of a Roman army without ever having been to Rome. Officers in the legions did not have strictly military careers; it was usual to have a career that alternated between military postings and civilian governmental jobs. Sometime in his career, Maximus would surely have been to Rome, and probably lived there for a time.