General Maximus: screen hero and historical prototype

General Maximus is the hero of the historical drama of R. Scott "Gladiator." This film was released on the world screens in 2000 and immediately received universal recognition, and also won five Oscar awards. However, the picture has a strong divergence from the historical realities of the late Roman Empire. This applies to the personality of the main character of the film, which in fact never existed, although its image has a real prototype.

The First Soldier Emperor

General Maximus is a character whose biography is somewhat similar to the famous figure of the late Roman story Maximinus. He came from Thrace, had excellent physical data (like the hero in the performance of R. Crow) and soon entered the imperial service, becoming one of the best soldiers in the army of Septimius Severus, who loved him very much, respected him and always distinguished him from his colleagues. And here again there is a parallel with the fate of the fictional general, who also enjoyed the special confidence of the emperor.

With one of the successors of the North, Maximin left the service and became a landowner, but soon returned to the army. At the time under review, rulers often succeeded each other, coups d'état were not uncommon for the declining Roman state. As a result of one such coup, Maximin was proclaimed emperor.

The fate of the ruler

General Maximus, like his historical prototype, was very brave in battle and enjoyed the love and respect of his soldiers. In addition, he possessed an extraordinary talent for the strategist, under his leadership the army won brilliant victories. Maximin also sought to gain support from the Guards, and this was partly succeeded.

However, he cruelly persecuted dissenters, and soon his reign turned into a real tyranny. He waged wars, but these campaigns no longer brought him success in society. Bribery, extortion of officials also caused general discontent, which led to a new conspiracy. Maximin was killed by his own legionaries, along with his son was killed.

Screen character

At the beginning of the film, General Maximus appears before the audience as a brilliant military leader who made a dizzying career and won with his victories the full confidence of the emperor, who even decided to make him his successor on the throne, despite the fact that he had an heir, the son of Commodus. However, in fact, the latter since the childhood wore the title of Caesar, so his rights to the throne were undeniable. Like his historical prototype, the protagonist of the film had its own estate, which the director sometimes showed to the viewer in the form of flashbacks. Just like Maximin, the general once decides to leave the service. However, if the former was guided by political considerations (he was dissatisfied with the reign of the new emperor), the screen character wanted to return to his family - his wife and son.

Political intrigues

In Scott's film, the Roman commander was the victim of political intrigue. He is kidnapped and almost killed as a supposed future ruler, but the hero miraculously avoids death and falls into the hands of a slave trader.

As a result, he becomes a gladiator. Here it should be noted that conspiracies and coups were the most common thing in the days of the late empire, but the film incorrectly shows the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The fact is that according to the scenario he died at the hands of his own son, although in fact he died from the plague in modern Vienna. As for the future fate of the main character, she is shown rather dramatically and convincingly: he is taken to Rome as a better soldier for participation in gladiatorial battles.

Gladiator fights

So the Roman military commander of the case was in the position of a slave and was forced to fight in the arena as the most ordinary slave. However, his leadership abilities came in handy: thanks to the skillful organization of the battle, the slaves under his command won an unexpected victory over the superior forces of professional soldiers.

All scenes with battles look quite impressive in the picture, however, a number of mistakes were made during the shootings: first, only specially trained fighters took part in battles with animals, and secondly, the heroes inflict massive slashing swords with a sword gladius, which at the very Business was a stabbing weapon.

Culmination

Roman General Maximus became a real hero of the Roman crowd, so Commodus did not dare to kill his long-time opponent. The latter, together with his sister, took part in the conspiracy to overthrow him. It should be noted that this is a historical fact: Lucilla really became the organizer of a conspiracy against his brother, but the one who had to kill him, revealed before he could realize his intention. After that, Lucilla was exiled and a few years later she died in exile. The most intense moment in the film is, of course, the final battle between the enemies.

The Emperor first seriously injured his defenseless opponent, who, nevertheless, managed to defeat him in the arena, after which he died himself. Commodus did participate in the fighting in the arena, but did not die at all as shown in the film. He was killed by his own slave after 12 years of the kingdom.

Background pictures

So, General Maximus, whose history partly resembles the fate of his prototype, on the whole turned out to be quite a colorful screen hero. Many critics and viewers negatively regard the distortion of historical reality, but the film can not be denied an interesting plot and colorful atmosphere, which, though not in line with the spirit of the era, nevertheless turned out to be very colorful. The creators tried to interest the public with the events of ancient history, and they succeeded. Maximus - General Marcus Aurelius - became a visiting card actor Crowe, which is still associated with many this particular character.