A rhinoceros facing a bull, a shark swimming during a nautical joust in the middle of the Colosseum… Professor Shardi Bartsch of the University of Chicago points out the liberties taken by Ridley Scott in this new peplum, which opens in cinemas on November 13.
Gladiator 2 the new peplum by Ridley Scottis a daring gamble for the great director, whose first film was a triumph in 2000. A few days before its theatrical release, on November 13 to be exact, a specialist from Rome examined the liberties the filmmaker has taken with historical reality. And it seems she wasn’t too pleased.
Shardi Bartsch, professor of classics at the University of Chicago, saw inconsistencies as soon as the trailer was released. In an interview with Hollywood Reporter she doesn’t mince her words. For her, Ridley Scott’s peplum is “ Hollywood bullshit “. One scene in particular, showing a Roman nobleman drinking from a cup in a café while reading the newspaper, doesn’t go down well. This astounding anachronism makes her belch: “ They had daily news items, Acta Diuma, but they were carved and placed in specific places. . You had to go there, you couldn’t hold them in a café. Besides, there were no cafés! “
Gladiator 2 by Ridley Scott, in 2024, with Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen…
The trailer also shows a gladiator on the back of a rhinoceros. The scholar reveals that a text does mention a fight between a rhinoceros and a bull, but that there is no proof that gladiators could have ridden these animals like horses. A gifted scholar, she cites this poem by Martial, from the Liber spectaculorum (Book of spectacles) about a fight between a rhinoceros and a bull at the Colosseum. “ It was for you, O Caesar, that this rhinoceros on display in the arena fought a battle that was not expected of him. Oh! with what terrible fury he lowered his head! With what force he swung his horn, for which the bull was no more than a dummy! “
Another scene that did not meet with the American professor’s approval was the one featuring a shark during the spectacular nautical jousts or other naval battles recreated at the Colosseum. And she’s not shy about voicing her doubts: “ I don’t think the Romans knew what a shark was. ” An opinion dismissed out of hand by Ridley Scott himself, who replied in an interview with Collider : “ If you can build a Colosseum, you can fill it with water. You can catch some sharks in a net from the sea. Of course they can. “
Historical novel or pure fiction set in the time of the Roman Empire, Ridley Scott seems to have made up his mind. The first Gladiator was already very freely inspired by history with a capital H. And it was a triumph with the public…