Movies
‘Gladiator 2’: sharks in the Colosseum and fighters riding on rhinos, did it actually happen?
Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 offers some incredible battles, many of them based on reality and others not so much.
The arena is a theater, a spectacle of gigantic proportions that recreated battles from the past. Of course, as in any work, imagination is everything, so ‘Gladiator 2′ is not an exception either. It is well known that director Ridley Scott does not mind using inventiveness because historical or not, his film is a product of fiction. For this reason, some of the battles captured on screen are as spectacular as they are not very faithful to history. Were there gladiators who climbed onto the backs of rhinos to fight? Did the naumachias feature ferocious sharks swimming in the Colosseum? And what about the killer monkeys?
Vulture asked Chris Epplett, professor of Roman and Greek history at the University of Lethbridge, about these questions. As you might expect, some elements are true, but others are completely made up: “Not that I know of,” he says, referring to the sharks. “Early in the history of the Colosseum, there was a period when the arena floor could have been flooded”. According to the professor, it was about 10 or 20 years before they placed the base on the ground, so at this time they could have held “exhibitions of marine animals.” It also points to the possibility that they used swimming pools outside the venue to hold nautical shows. “The Romans never had sharks.” According to his words, the marine shows did take place: “They brought seals from time to time, we know that. But in my research I have never encountered sharks.”
Yes there were rhinos, but...
According to Professor Epplett, rhinos were present in the Colosseum. “The first rhinoceros to arrive in Rome was at the end of the Republic, just a century before the Colosseum was built. In my research I have never found mentions of anyone riding a rhino. In fact, I don’t know if historically it has ever been done. I have the impression that they are temperamental animals, so I can’t imagine that the rider who tries to ride them will do well.”
In Lucio’s first battle, the character meets a group of baboons, but this fight does not seem to reflect historical facts either. Epplett thinks there were no monkeys in the arena, “certainly not in violent shows.”
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