Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Gladiator II.Marcus Aurelius’ “dream of Rome” is at the heart of Gladiator II, with ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For nearly 30 years, a massive bronze statue thought to be of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius served as the centerpiece of the ancient Roman gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art ...

Neither Gladiator nor its cinematic sequel is particularly concerned with historical fact. For one thing, the emperor Marcus Aurelius had no intention of restoring the republic. Gladiatorial contests ...

Gladiator was a unique success for Ridley Scott that seemed to single-handedly revitalize the “sword and sandals” epic genre decades after it was deemed to be dead. Gladiator succeeded not just ...

One day, someone will make a gladiator film that treats it more like wrestling than an epic battle for the soul of a declining empire. Until then, Ridley Scott has been pretty great at epics, and ...

“The gates of hell are open night and day; smooth the descent, and easy is the way. But to return and view the cheerful skies, in this the task and mighty labor lies.” With these words, Lucius Verus ...

Ridley Scott’s 2000 film Gladiator was a sensational tale of honor and betrayal in the ancient Roman empire. In the film, Rome’s dying emperor Marcus Aurelius fears that his son Commodus (Joaquin ...

The second-century A.D. world of Emperor Marcus Aurelius was in shambles. A great plague ravaged western Europe, as he embarked on a long and bloody war against the Germanic tribes along the Danube ...