Gladiator II fact vs fiction: did the Romans really fight sharks in the Colosseum?

As Gladiator 2 – or II to be more accurate – hits big screens around the country, the spectacle on display will be dropping a few jaws and also sending people rushing to the history books to check how accurate some of the details are.

Except, no-one rushes to history books anymore, so instead we can give you all the information you need right here.

Is it a thumbs up or thumbs down for the historical accuracy of this little lot?

Turning the Colosseum into a giant swimming pool – THUMBS UP

One of the most discussed scenes from the new film comes when the Colosseum in Rome is flooded with water for a kind of gladiatorial version of a pool party. Very true, apparently: Emperor Titus, who ruled from 79 to 81 AD (Gladiator 2 is set in 211 AD), oversaw the construction of the Colosseum and, according to the historian Suetonius, its opening featured the arena basin being submerged in order to stage a recreation of a Naval battle.

Julius Caeser was the first emperor to stage mock maritime fights in Rome, which were called naumachita, and the Colosseum had the capabilities to do this. They would use special flat-bottomed ships to allow for the shallow water and have islands in the middle for sailors to go hand-to-hand. And while they may have been mock recreations of old victories, the fighting and deaths were very real.

Roman historian Cassius Dio recorded that animals were involved in all this madness: “Titus suddenly filled this same theatre with water and brought in horses and bulls and some other domesticated animals that had been taught to behave in the liquid element just as on land [the water therefore must have not been too deep for them to perform]. He also brought in people on ships, who engaged in a sea-fight there, impersonating the Corcyreans and Corinthians"

The bit that is causing disputes around Gladiator II is the addition of sharks to this scenario. Ridley Scott certainly thinks this happened, which he made clear as he shouted down a Collider interviewer who questioned the accuracy here: “"You're dead wrong. The Colosseum did flood with water, and there were sea battles... Dude, if you can build a Colosseum, you can flood it with f***ing water. Are you joking? And to get a couple of sharks in a net from the sea, are you kidding? Of course they can."

In actual fact there are records of marine life being released into the water during the naval battles and used as part of more aquarium-style displays of exotic species. The Colosseum wasn’t merely about fighting but displays of exoticism and grandeur to show off the power and size of the Roman Empire. Whether gladiators fought any sharks or not, is unclear. But look, we know the Romans were messed up dudes with wild imaginations – Caligula, anyone? – so we’re giving the shark fighting a big thumbs up too.

Lucius Verus II was a gladiator – THUMBS DOWN

Paul Mescal’s character was real, he was the son of Empress Lucilla Augusta (Connie Nielsen) who was sister to Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) in the first film. Lucius is in the first film, co-emperor with his uncle. However, Lucius did not grow up to be a gladiator because he died when he was 12. Which should have also ruled him out of the first film as his death came before Commodus reached power.

Two brother Emperors ruled together – THUMBS UP

Instead of Phoenix’s Commodus (who ruled from 177 to 192; he wasn’t killed by a gladiator in real life, but strangled in the bath by his wrestling partner Narcissus, an assassination ordered by a group of conspirators including his mistress, Marcia), in Gladiator II we at first have brothers Geta (Joseph ‘Stranger Things’ Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred ‘The White Lotus’ Hechinger) in charge.

The pair did indeed share power from 209 to 2011 AD, after their father, Emperor Severus, died and wanted them to rule together (all three were co-emperors before his death). As depicted in the film, the brothers, both in their 20s, didn’t exactly get on. No spoilers here but the history records show Caracalla had a good few goes at knocking off his brother.

Denzel Washington’s character, Marcinus, was the first black emperor – THUMBS UP

Macrinus was indeed on the scene at the same time as Caracalla and Geta, and served Caracalla and his father as a praetorian prefect, a kind of aide who dealt with civil affairs in Rome; in Gladiator 2 he’s more of a wheeler dealer in arms and gladiators than the legal expert he was. But in the film, he later succeeded Caracalla as emperor and was the first of African descent to take charge.

Washington’s already Oscar-tipped performance – despite an accent that is pure New York – depicts a clever man smashing through the class system in Rome and the reality was he was proclaimed emperor by his troops not through Rome’s senatorial system.

Ancient Romans read newspapers – THUMBS DOWN

One scene in Gladiator II shows someone reading a newspaper in a café. Yet the film is set 1,200 years before the printing press. Historian Shadi Bartsch from the University of Chicago told the Hollywood Reporter: ”They did have daily news – Acta Diuma – but it was carved and placed at certain locations. You had to go to it, you couldn’t hold it at a cafe. Also, they didn’t have cafes!”

Gladiators rode rhinoceros’ in the arena – THUMBS DOWN

Bartsch also pooh-poohed the instant-classic scene where a gladiator rides into the Colosseum on the back of a rhino, although there are records of rhinos being displayed in the arena. For the film, a physical rhino was built with the help of computer modelling to create a plastic but very lifelike version. Ridley Scott said it, “can do 40 miles an hour, spin on the spot, wag its head and snarl. A two-ton rhino with a guy on its back! I mean, it’s a lot of fun.”

Pedro Pascal’s character, Marcus Acacius, was real – THUMBS DOWN

Well, you know, this is a fictional film isn’t it? Russell Crowe’s Maximus was made up, and he’s the only reason we’re interested in any of this; to be clear this isn’t a game of: if it’s not real, it sucks. But, for the record, Marcus Acacius is as fictional as Maximus and indeed in the film Pedro Pascal’s character is a general who served under Maximus. He captures Mescal’s Lucius as a prisoner of war and takes him to Rome. Not to labour the point but this also never happened to the characters since one was fictional and the other was dead.

Thumbs up for ‘live’ and thumbs down for ‘kill’ – THUMBS DOWN

When one gladiator stands victorious over his wounded opponent, he must look to the emperor for the decision on whether to kill him or let him live. In every Roman epic – including the two Gladiators – it is shown that thumbs up is release him and thumbs down is finish him. This is wrong!

In fact, thumbs down meant ‘swords down’, meaning the loser could be spared. Scholars have suggested thumbs up meant to thrust a sword into the heart.

The misconception seems to come from a famous 19th century painting called Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down) by Jean-Leon Gerome, in which a gladiator stands with his foot on the neck of his felled opponent and looks up to the baying, blood-thirsty crowd who are all giving him the thumbs down signal. Ridley Scott said it was this painting that convinced him to make the first film: “That image spoke to me of the Roman Empire in all its glory and wickedness. I knew right then and there I was hooked.”

Yes, but it was wrong.