Does Gladiator II accurately depict the blood and gore of Ancient Rome? From fighters riding rhinos to live crucifixions, TV historian DAN SNOW explains what REALLY took place in the Colosseum

It was 1 of the top spectacles successful history. It was stunning successful its ambition, and its cruelty. It could lone hap successful Rome. Even successful a metropolis celebrated for the standard of its exhibitions, this was jaw-dropping.

The water was brought into the bosom of Rome. Ships rammed 1 another, sailors boarded the enemy’s vessels and fought with acold alloy connected rocking decks.

Men fell screaming into the water, dragged down by their armour. It was a oversea battle, fought successful a stadium. A savage combat laid connected for the amusement of the crowds.

Tens of thousands of Romans roaring, chanting, singing. War arsenic sport. It was the eventual look of the powerfulness of the Caesars – the emperors who ruled from the Irish Sea to the sands of Arabia.

Only they could bid the wealth and expertise to crook the world’s largest stadium into a seascape.

And this was not conscionable a country from Ridley Scott’s caller Roman epic Gladiator II, but a naval conflict that truly did instrumentality spot wrong the Colosseum.

The arena that usually hosted the clash of gladiators and slaughter of convicts and chaotic animals was occasionally, according to immoderate sources, flooded.

Romans flocked to spot these battles, called naumachiae, that pitched fleets of ships manned by thousands of prisoners of warfare against 1 different connected h2o dredged from the stream Tiber.

It is unlikely, however, that beneath the ships, man-eating sharks criss-crossed the arena waiting for victims, arsenic shown successful Gladiator II.

But portion determination mightiness not person been sharks, determination were plentifulness of animals successful the Colosseum.

In the archetypal Gladiator film, Russell Crowe is forced to not lone conflict different fighters, but a fig of tigers too. In the sequel, Paul Mescal faces down a rhino and raging monkeys.

It is existent that men fought animals successful the arena. Most fights began with a parade of exotic beasts brought from beyond the fringes of the empire to fascinate the crowds but besides to amusement disconnected the scope of the Roman state.

Elephants, wolves, giraffes, lions, were forced to combat each different oregon were unleashed connected prisoners who were torn to pieces.

There are galore accounts of the condemned uncovering ways to termination themselves successful their cells to debar this gruesome end.

The Colosseum was besides the tract of nationalist executions.

You mightiness automatically deliberation this meant hordes of Christians being eaten by lions, but determination is nary grounds that they were ever executed successful the Colosseum for their spiritual beliefs. Instead, this was wherever traitors, service deserters oregon serial offenders met their fate.

These mediocre souls would beryllium formed successful elaborate acceptable pieces – real-life reimaginings of classical stories from past Greece.

One condemned antheral was forced to play the portion of Icarus, who made his ain wings from wax but past flew excessively adjacent to the sun. In this grisly re-enactment the unfortunate chap was pushed disconnected the apical of the Colosseum. At different times animals were the victims, and were hunted by specially trained fighters called ‘bestiarii’.

No wonderment that acold much animals than humans died successful the arena. Throughout its 450 years of use, it has been estimated that a cardinal perished, driving immoderate taxon to the brink of extinction.

But, sadly, we person perfectly nary grounds for men riding rhinos into the arena successful the mode seen successful Scott’s caller film. They are grumpy animals and untrainable.

Here, I should springiness afloat disclosure arsenic this is not the archetypal clip I person criticised the humanities accuracy of a Scott film.

The manager huffed that I should ‘get a life’ erstwhile I pointed retired errors successful his 2023 epic Napoleon. For a start, Bonaparte did not pb cavalry charges but, similar sharks successful the Colosseum, it looks cool.

The large stadium, 1 of the astir iconic symbols of Ancient Rome, often serves arsenic the backdrop for melodramatic gladiatorial combat oregon the tract of epic humanities moments – arsenic successful Scott’s archetypal Oscar-winning Gladiator, and erstwhile again successful the sequel released past week.

However, determination is nary grounds to suggest immoderate Roman called it the ‘Colosseum’ – thing Hollywood ever gets wrong. It’s a sanction that was fixed to the gathering during the medieval play due to the fact that of a colossal statue that stood adjacent to it. To Romans, we think, it was the ‘Amphitheatre’.

Before its construction, First Century Rome was astir apt the biggest metropolis connected the satellite – a cardinal radical were packed into its constrictive streets. It was filled with expansive temples and a ginormous stadium to big chariot races, the Circus Maximus, but thing was missing – determination was obscurity to big gladiator games.

In 70AD that each changed erstwhile a caller Emperor, Vespasian (69-79AD), ordered the gathering of a immense caller arena.

But not conscionable immoderate arena. It was going to be, well, colossal.

The ‘Amphitheatre’ took 10 years to implicit and was opened by Vespasian’s lad and successor, the astir almighty antheral successful the known satellite – Titus Caesar Vespasianus. This was the antheral who had sacked Jerusalem, smashed the holiest of Jewish temples and crushed the revolt of the Jews.

He killed oregon exiled thousands and enslaved thousands more, immoderate of whom were enactment to enactment completing his father’s masterpiece.

Capable of holding much than 65,000 people, the spectators came from each levels of Roman society, making the Colosseum the beating bosom of the Empire connected a games day. The ambiance wrong indispensable person been electric. Tens of thousands of radical crammed inside, each shouting and chanting.

The stadium was equipped with a elephantine retractable extortion made up of sails that were operated by the men of the Roman navy. And determination was adjacent a benignant of water-spritzing strategy to support the assemblage chill connected roasting blistery summertime days.

Just similar successful the movies, the games present would beryllium the eventual spectacle. No disbursal pared. They were hosted by the Emperor, and the Colosseum became his podium to amusement disconnected his generosity to the people. And conscionable similar successful the Gladiator films, helium would beryllium close down astatine the beforehand – the champion spot successful the house.

In a mean year, the Colosseum mightiness beryllium utilized lone 10 times. But that wouldn’t bash for Titus, who laid connected a 100-day games spectacular.

The hotly anticipated climax of the archetypal time was a combat betwixt the 2 personage gladiators, Priscus and Verus.

As the shadows lengthened, the 2 men came together. We are told that ‘for a agelong clip the conflict was adjacent connected each side’ and the assemblage roared constantly.

Neither antheral would enactment up their finger, the awesome that they yielded, oregon laic down their shield. On they went. Eventually Titus decided to halt the fight. You tin ideate the authorities successful which they some indispensable person been. Bruised, cut, limping, exhausted. Titus announced that time determination were 2 winners. Both had triumphed. He sent a woody sword to each antheral – the awesome of their victory, and, much importantly, their freedom.

In the twelvemonth 107, Emperor Trajan (98-117AD) hosted 123 days of games, featuring 10,000 gladiators, to observe his subject triumph successful Dacia (modern-day Romania).

Gladiator warring astir apt began astir 260BC successful a portion to the southbound of Rome, adjacent to modern-day Naples.

These brutal bouts were utilized to people expansive funerals – a benignant of humor sacrifice for the dead. But by the clip the Colosseum opened, gladiators were large concern – and battles were held to people precocious days and holidays too.

Hollywood would person you judge that gladiators were slaves, thrown into the arena to combat to the decease for the amusement of the masses, and that astatine the extremity of a time of games, corpses would beryllium strewn crossed the blood-soaked arena floor.

But that is not the full truth. In fact, the satellite of the gladiator was acold much intricate.

It is existent that the gladiators were astir each slaves, but they were invaluable ones.

They were highly trained and were good looked after. They represented a batch of investment. The fights were brutal, of course, but they were astir much than gore and glory. They sought to showcase accomplishment and bravery supra ratio of killing.

If you wanted to spot that, you would person to marque definite you were successful your spot for those nationalist executions oregon the wide slaughter of chaotic beasts that preceded the gladiator displays.

The thought that each combat ended successful decease is simply a fabrication. In reality, lone 5 per cent of gladiator bouts did so.

As for the Emperor lasting up and giving his thumbs up oregon down, well, there’s really nary grounds for that either.

More often than not, a gladiator combat would extremity successful a submission alternatively than an execution.

For the radical of Rome, this would beryllium the equivalent of america going to ticker a boxing match.

They went to cheer connected their favourites, hoping for a superb amusement of carnal endurance. The gladiators became immoderate of the astir celebrated radical successful Rome – and the assemblage didn’t privation to spot their favourite combatant killed.

And occasionally, Emperors wanted to bask successful that fame too.

Emperor Commodus (177-192AD), played brilliantly by Joaquin Phoenix successful the archetypal Gladiator film, really took to the arena himself – conscionable similar successful the movie – for respective fights against some animals and different gladiators.

Of course, it was ne'er a just fight. The animals were drugged and the gladiators knew amended than to effort to decision the Emperor.

Another happening that films often bash get close are the trap doors connected the arena floor. Beneath the Colosseum was a shadowy underworld, a abstraction known arsenic the ‘hypogeum’. It was a web of chambers and corridors that housed elaborate pulley and cogwheel systems that operated assistance shafts and sliding ramps. It allowed the amusement organisers to motorboat some men and beasts into the bosom of the enactment whenever and wherever they desired.

Hollywood whitethorn not ever springiness america a historically close practice of the Colosseum and the unthinkable games that took spot inside.

But what it does bash is thing that lone movies can.

As a historian, I tin work the sources, I tin sojourn the sites, but lone movies specified arsenic Gladiator II tin springiness america a sensation of the scale, the noise, the spectacle.

Cinema gives america a consciousness of the intensity, the crackle of the ambiance and brutality of those gladiator fights. And adjacent if I person to occasionally suspend my humanities disbelief, I deliberation it’s a terms worthy paying.

The Colosseum: The Arena Of Death with Dan Snow is connected Channel 5 connected Thursday astatine 9pm and is disposable connected My5 TV