Roman historians may be able to clear up this puzzlement.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Gladiator
tonynworah — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 05:09 AM)
Roman historians may be able to clear up this puzzlement.
- From the movie, Maximus even though he was a Roman General had never been to Rome until he was captured as a slave. Aurelius said as much to him when he offered him to lead Rome. I find it puzzling. Was it usual for Roman Generals or soldiers to have never visited Rome? It means that if Maximus had never been captured as a slave, it is likely he would never have visited Rome in his life.
- And if Maximus had never visited Rome, how would he have had an affair with Commodos's sister who most likely would have spent all her life in Rome?
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Misha_A — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 03:23 PM)
There is a clue to your question in one of the screenplay's earliest draft (
http://www.angelfire.com/movies/ridleyscott/script/gladiator_seconddraft.txt
). It appears Maximus and Lucilla met in Capri, presumably during one of the Felix Legion's campaign in Italy.
LUCILLA: Do you know I still remember you in my prayers? Oh yes, I pray Ever since that day you saved me from drowning off Capri. Do you remember?
MAXIMUS: Yes.
LUCILLA: Commodus was so angry that a mere peasant a Spaniard no less touched the royal person, do you remember his anger?
MAXIMUS: Yes.
LUCILLA: Mark this, Maximus: that is the man who will be Emperor.
MAXIMUS: May I be permitted to go, Highness?
She smiles sadly.
LUCILLA: There was a time when you didn't call me "Highness."
MAXIMUS: And there was a time when you were just a little girl drowning in the sea. All that was a different life.
LUCILLA: (quietly) Very different I wonder if it was better?
MAXIMUS: It was more honest.
I may not have time to reply. -
tonynworah — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 04:50 AM)
Thank you. It really helps a lot. So does it mean that Maximus was a Spaniard and not a Roman? And does it explain why Maximus never visited Rome until he became a gladiator? This takes me back to my first question. Was it usual for Roman generals never to visit Rome?
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Misha_A — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 06:42 PM)
The movie was set in 180AD. At the time, the Roman Empire was just several decades past (circa 117AD) its peak size of about 2 million square miles after the massive military campaign of Emperor Trajan. So it is entirely conceivable for a soldier from the Iberian Peninsula to have never gone to Rome before - especially considering that horses, even on flat grasslands, average only about 30 miles a day.
However, Maximus' presence in Naples does beg the question of why he didn't go to Rome, since Naples lies further south of the Roman capital. I guess the plot demands for Maximus to be pure from the politicking of the Roman Senate.
Edit: A rough map for visualization:
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com:443/data.filmboards/images/upload/EcYlYsE.png
I may not have time to reply. -
Uncreative — 2 years ago(August 30, 2023 04:31 PM)
The empire was a big place and they liked to Romanize all the areas they settled in. So it wouldn't be unusual to have generals or high ranking officials in the middle east, Africa, or western Europe who went their whole lives without visiting Rome.
Diocletian was emperor for 20 years. He visited Rome a grand total of once, decided it wasn't worth it, and never came back again. Some of the emperors never set foot in the city at all.
