With the release of Gladiator II, Ridley Scott takes us back into the gladiatorial arena of Ancient Rome, where combatants fight to the death to bring entertainment to the people, their aptly described “bread and circuses.” A common facet of both films is an allegory for entertainment modern audiences crave, as did their predecessors in Ancient Rome, and the unhinged and volatile behavior of Caesar sitting in judgment over the spectacle.
In 2000, Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), who had assumed the throne following the assassination of his father, Marcus Aurelius, offered a glimpse into the unrestrained behavior of the Roman imperial family. The spectacle of Phoenix’s performance is carried on effortlessly by Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn in their roles as sibling emperors Geta and Caracalla in Gladiator II.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ridley Scott offered some insight as to why the rulers in his films are so unhinged. Scott commented: “People forget that all the wealthy, high-end senatorial Roman aristocracy would live on water which was piped through lead pipes and lead tanks.” Scott’s comments, well known to historians who have long been interested in Ancient Rome, touch on historical facts but also speak to a long-running trend in depictions of the Roman Imperial family that have long since existed in film: the unrestrained debauchery of the empire’s leaders.
The Cost of Expansion and Innovation
The Roman Empire, which once stretched from modern-day Spain and Britain to Egypt, Syria, and the bulk of the Mediterranean, produced some of the most innovative technological achievements, some of which are still a major facet of the modern world. Implementing a series of roads and aqueducts and even inventing indoor plumbing, Rome was far more advanced than many other civilizations that existed at the same time. However, this innovation and expansion of its borders came at a cost.
The introduction of indoor plumbing, the utilization of moving water through pipes and aqueducts to bathhouses, and the provision of drinking water to the citizens of such a massive empire required a piping system. The Romans used lead to manufacture these pipes and whether this was the cause of the decline of the Roman Empire has been highly contested among historians.
An excavation of Ostia Harbor in 2017 revealed that the use of lead pipes in Rome dates back to 200 BC, several years before the reign of Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and ceased close to 250 AD. With the first Gladiator film taking place after the death of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD, the time period of damage caused by potential lead poisoning lines up with the era in which Ridley Scott’s modern Roman epic takes place.
A study conducted by Canadian researcher Jerome Nriagu in 1983 examined the dietary habits of multiple Roman emperors who reigned between the years of 30 BC and 220 AD. Nriagu’s research showed that many had a predilection for food and drink tainted by lead, which resulted in ailments such as gout. More than just the pipes, Nriagu discovered that many Roman wines contained lead as a means to sweeten them, and many Roman dishes were slowly cooked in containers that were lined with lead and made from copper. Some scholars have questioned the merits of Nriagu’s work, and others have dismissed lead poisoning as the cause of Rome’s downfall and the behavior of the aristocracy altogether.
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Depictions of The Imperial Family
Gladiator and Gladiator II are far from the first films to illuminate the debauchery and excess of the Imperial family that ruled Rome following the republic’s dissolution. In fact, the excesses of the most infamous Roman emperors, Caligula and Nero, have been remarkable source material for a host of works, from the acclaimed BBC miniseries I, Claudius to the sexually explicit and grandiose Caligula, which recently received a new release with a good deal of lost footage restored.
Both Gladiator films bring audiences into the arena for a look at the savagery and bloodlust that the Romans gravitated towards as a form of entertainment and a glimpse into the madness that exists within the corridors of power. While Scott takes liberties with historical facts to provide entertainment for his audiences, the decadence and descent into degeneration that he continually depicts is certainly well-founded.
The exploits and expansion of Ancient Rome always make for captivating and creative storytelling. Since entertainment has only increased with its excess since the time of the Roman Empire, we can certainly see a considerable amount of our own society mirrored in both Gladiator films by Ridley Scott.
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Is Poison to Blame?
The causes that were behind many of the exploits of the Roman imperial family are varied and numerous. The debauchery and excess that were first attributed to the reign of Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus to the throne, could be attributed to autonomous rule and having free rein to give oneself over to perversions. Caligula, certainly the most infamous of Rome’s leaders, suffered epileptic seizures from a young age, and many of his behaviors could have been attributed to a combination of multiple ailments and a natural cruel streak.
The debate about whether lead poisoning caused a significant downfall in both the Roman Empire and the faculties possessed by its leaders is certainly ongoing. Ridley Scott’s utilization of the historical fact that Rome relied on lead in its infrastructure and that the effects of lead poisoning are well-documented today plays a part in crafting characters whose brutality and excess know no restraint.
Gladiator II is currently showing in theaters.
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