Tell about Gladiator ?

An egomaniacal ruler, who insists on making everything about himself, causing the decline of a republic? Sounds familiar.

The best gladiators were prized local celebrities of their day. Therefore, most didn't fight 'til the death as quite simply their managers will have wanted to make as much profit out of them as possible. They were trained to wound, not to kill. Most matches would end with one seriously injured, but a survivor none the less.

Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk, was originally cast to play Tigris of Gaul, but he was replaced during production by Sven-Ole Thorsen.

The forest near Farnham, England that doubled as Germania during the battle between the Roman Legions and the German hordes had been scheduled for “deforestation” by the Royal Forestry Commission.

While in popular culture we often see gladiators fighting tigers and lions, this was quite rare. It was only in the late Roman period when people began to grow bored of the Coliseum games and gladiators that it became more commonplace to use animals. Introduced as a new gimmick to bring in more crowds, gladiators were forced to fight wild cats and there's even some records that claim the area was deliberately flooded and crocodiles and sharks were let loose.

Oliver Reed, who played Proximo, went on record to say that his main motivation for taking the part of Proximo was because he fancied a “free trip to London to see a couple of shows.”

Traditionally, gladiators were selected slaves or conquered people. Typically chosen for their strong physiques, they would be hand selected and trained into gladiators. However, as the gladiator games gained steam, many gladiators were free working class men who willingly signed up. Lured by the fame, crowds and potential money and prizes to be won, there were even gladiator schools that accepted volunteers.

To get the shots he needed, Scott helpfully arranged to burn it down for them.

During filming, Reed and Crowe didn’t get along, and at one point, Reed even challenged Crowe to a fight. Now that would have been entertaining.

1. According to modern scholarly interpretations, the gladiatorial games were perhaps vehicles of social control and functioned to distract the populus from recognizing their diminished autonomy under imperial rule.

Female gladiators existed, but they were almost all slaves. A prominent fixture on the gladiator scene, female gladiators were pitted against one another as well as male gladiators and even against dwarfs.

Reed died of a heart attack before Gladiator had finished filming. Reed’s character arc was rewritten, and Scott used CGI to work around his death, digitally scanning his face onto an extra in order to finish the movie.

As part of the production, they built a 52-foot high portion of the first tier of the Colosseum measuring about one-third the circumference of the original. The rest of the arena was a digital recreation.

Gladiatorial games were a phenomenon in the Roman world, and both ancient and modern scholars have held different interpretations of the games and their place in Roman history.

Historical records indicate that gladiator matches began as a crude form of human rituals at funerals. Nobleman or royalty would force slaves to fight to the death as part of a funeral service. Once this gained popularity, it transcended into public displays and matches.

The additional special effects cost US $3.2 million for two minutes of footage. Visual effects supervisor John Nelson said, “What we did was small compared to our other tasks on the film. What Oliver did was much greater. All we did was help him finish it.” The film is dedicated to the memory of Oliver Reed.

The wounds on Russell Crowe’s face after the opening battle scene were real.

Gladiators were divided by type of skill and fighting style type. Placed in categories rated on their skill level, experience and weaponry specialty. The “thraeces” and “murmillones" were the most popular and remembered type of gladiator - fighting by sword and shield. There were also gladiators that fought on horse with a sword known as "equites" and the “dimachaerus" who fought with two swords at once.

Some would argue that the games reflect typical Roman virtues, such as courage, endurance, and martial skill, while others, like Roman satirist Juvenal, thought that the games preyed on the Roman’s unhealthy obsessions with “bread and circuses” (Sat. 10.78–81). Modern interpretations consider the games distractions that kept the people subdued and unable to realize the real loss of power under the empire.

A few Roman Emperors even got in on the action and fought amongst the gladiators. Caligula and Titus are just two of the known Emperors to enjoy a bit of gladiator fighting. Historians argue that these were likely highly styled, and the opposing gladiators would have more than certainly allowed the Emperor to easily win and win unwounded. Insane Emperor Commodus even shot down panthers and bears from the comfort of a protected platform and forced members of the crowd to fight him - who he almost certainly would have killed.

He received them when his horse was startled and backed him into some tree branches.

2. The educated elite opposed the gladiatorial events and saw them as mass entertainment for the lower classes. Their opposition, however, was never motivated by altruism. In fact, they were far less concerned about the lives of those participating in gladiatorial combat, who they viewed as worthless and deserving of their fate.

In what might have been the precursor to latter day gladiatorial combats, a nobleman named Brutus Pera made his death wish in 264 BC that his two sons should pay for combats that were to take place in the marketplace to mark his funeral. In less than hundred years, such contests became pretty commonplace, and the combatants were generally the slaves of the organizer

Gladiators were major celebrities of their day. Triumphant gladiators would appear on paintings, walls and sculptures. Women were particular fans, and saw them as sex symbols. Gladiator blood was believed to have magical powers and some women dipped it into their hair pins. Gladiator sweat was even mixed into perfume - believed to be an aphrodisiac.

Their opposition stemmed from what they saw as moral indolence and the indignities of indulgence.