Gladiator II is Ridley Scott’s sequel to his 2000 film Gladiator. In Gladiator II, acquainted faces, new heroes, and a brand new batch of maniacal rulers seem to move audiences again to historic Rome. Whereas there are quite a few inaccuracies in Gladiator II, a number of of the characters portrayed on display screen had been actual people from Imperial Rome. Lucilla (performed by Connie Neilsen in Gladiator) was actual, as had been Emperors Caracalla and Geta (Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn, respectively). The true Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) and Macrinus (Denzel Washington) had been very completely different from how they’re introduced in Gladiator II however existed, too.
Listed here are the Gladiator II characters who lived and breathed in historic Rome and extra about their true tales.
- Launch Date
- November 22, 2024
- Forged
- Paul Mescal , Pedro Pascal , Denzel Washington , Connie Nielsen , Joseph Quinn , Fred Hechinger , Derek Jacobi , Might Calamawy , Peter Mensah , Matt Lucas , Alexander Karim , Tim McInnerny , Lee Charles , Chidi Ajufo , Alfie Tempest , Riana Duce , Chi Lewis Parry , Paul Candelent , Hadrian Howard , Alexander Simkin , Mikhail Basmadjian , Matthew Charlery-Smith , Maxime Durand , Lior Raz
- Runtime
- 148 minutes
Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla, aka Lucilla
As one of many solely two members of the solid to return from 2000’s Gladiator, actress Connie Nielsen reprises her position of Lucilla. Primarily based on Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla, the daughter of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Lucia in Gladiator II is reunited together with her son, Lucius Verus, after having despatched him away on the heels of Maximus Decimus Meridius’ loss of life.
Whereas Lucilla in Gladiator and Gladiator II was Lucius’ mom by Maximus, the true Lucilla was married to Lucius Verus from 164 to 169 CE. Lucius Verus dominated collectively together with her father beginning in 161 CE however died on his method again from preventing alongside the Danube River. Whereas Lucilla gave start to 3 of Lucius Verus’ youngsters, their son named Lucius Verus died as a toddler.
After the loss of life of her husband in 169 CE, Lucilla misplaced her title of Augusta. Her father organized her marriage to Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus that very same 12 months regardless of an almost thirty-year age distinction. When Marcus Aurelius died in 180 CE, his son and Lucilla’s brother Commodus grew to become emperor. Lucilla organized a plot towards Commodus in 182 CE. After it was uncovered, Lucilla was banished and later executed at Commodus’ behest.
Lucius Verus
Whereas there was an actual Roman named Lucius Verus, the character portrayed by Paul Mescal was nothing like what’s proven in Gladiator II. Lucius Verus on display screen was the son of Lucilla and Maximus, who’d not seen his mom since he was a toddler after she despatched him away. The actual Lucius Verus, born Lucius Ceionius Commodus, was the son of Emperor Hadrian’s adoptive son and inheritor, Lucius Aelius Caesar.
Born in Rome in 130 CE and raised alongside his sisters, Lucius Verus’ father died in 138 CE. Whereas he was technically nonetheless an adoptive grandson to Hadrian, the Emperor selected Titus Aurelius Antoninus Pius as his successor. Antoninus Pius adopted Lucius Versus and Marcus Aurelius Antonius, Hadrian’s nephew, and succeeded Hadrian to the imperial throne in 138 CE.
As soon as underneath Antoninus’ tutelage, Lucius Verus was ready for a life in politics. He held a number of positions in Rome and was consul in 154 CE. He grew to become consul once more in 161 CE with Marcus Aurelius and, when Antonius Pius died that 12 months, they grew to become co-emperors:
Being pressured by the senate to imagine the federal government of the state after the loss of life of the Deified Pius, Marcus made his brother his colleague within the empire, giving him the title Lucius Aurelius Verus Commodus and bestowing on him the titles Caesar and Augustus. Then they started to rule the state on equal phrases, after which it was that the Roman Empire first had two emperors, when Marcus shared with one other the empire he had inherited.
As co-emperor, Verus undertook varied navy campaigns within the jap Empire earlier than dying unexpectedly in 168 CE.
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Lucius Septimius Bassianus, aka Caracalla
Fred Hechinger is depicted as much less steady than his brother in Gladiator II and, whereas his psychological colleges are unknown, a few of his behaviors aren’t far off from what’s seen within the film. Referred to as Caracalla, Lucius Septimius Bassianus was the son of Emperor Septimius Severus. Born in 188 CE, Caracalla was renamed Marcus Aurelius Antonius seven years later as a political transfer, however was given the nickname Caracalla as a result of he normally wore a Gallic tunic, additionally known as a caracalla.
In Gladiator II, Caracalla and his brother, Geta, had been twins, however the former was really the older of the 2 brothers. The actual Caracalla dominated together with his father from 198 to 211 CE and in addition with Geta from 209 till 211 CE. Caracalla ordered the homicide of his brother, Geta, in 211 CE. After he died in 217 CE, Caracalla was described as,
“Evil and he was extra brutal even than his merciless father. He was gluttonous in his use of meals and hooked on wine, hated by his family and detested in each camp save that of the praetorian guard; and between him and his brother there was no resemblance no matter.”
Caraculla then dominated on his personal till he was stabbed to loss of life whereas on a navy marketing campaign within the east.
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Publius Septimius Geta
Born in 189 CE, Publius Septimius Geta, generally called Geta, was portrayed by Joseph Quinn in Gladiator II. In actual life, Geta went by means of the same old preparation to be ruler and, in 209 CE, joined his father, Septimius Severus, and his brother, Caracalla, in overseeing the Roman Empire. In actuality, Caracalla noticed Geta as a menace and, after their father died in 211 CE, deliberate to have him killed.
After one plan to kill Geta failed, Caracalla organized for his or her mom, Julia Domna, to trick Geta into going to her house underneath the guise of in search of peace. When Geta arrived, a gaggle of centurious “rushed in a physique and struck down Geta” underneath Caracalla’s orders. Historian Cassius DIo described the scene:
Geta, who at sight of them had run to his mom, hung about her neck and clung to her bosom and breasts, lamenting and crying: “Mom that didst bear me, mom that didst bear me, assist! I’m being murdered.” And so she, tricked on this method, noticed her son perishing in essentially the most impious trend in her arms, and acquired him at his loss of life into the very womb, because it had been, whence he had been born; for she was all lined together with his blood, in order that she took no observe of the wound she had acquired on her hand.
In contrast to what’s seen in Gladiator II, Macrinus had nothing to do with Geta’s homicide.
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Marcus Opellius Macrinus
Performed by Denzel Washington, Gladiator II’s Macrinus was named after the identical historic determine. Whereas the title and a few occasions within the film are considerably consultant of the true Macrinus, the film would not precisely painting his life or his rise to energy.
Marcus Opellius Macrinus was Roman Emperor from April 217 to June 218 CE. Macrinus was born in modern-day Algeria, was of Berber descent, and served as praetorian prefect underneath Caracalla. As praetorian prefect, Macrinus was a key bureaucrat in Caracalla’s administration and was trusted by the Emperor. Macrinus, for his half, was a part of the assassination of Caracalla in 217 CE.
When a soldier named Justin Martialis stabbed Caracalla, it was on Macrinus’ orders. Identical to Macrinus in Gladiator II, the historic Macrinus did get rid of Caracalla.
Macrinus grew to become emperor three days later, backed by the navy. As an equestrian, Macrinus was the primary particular person not from the senatorial class to change into emperor. His tenure was brief, nonetheless, as a result of Caracalla’s son, Elagabalus, was declared emperor by rivals in early 218 CE. Macrinus and his younger son, Diadumenianus, had been executed by the boys supporting Elagabalus.