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Michael Andrews

ENC 1102

Joseph Cottle

1 February 2013

“Are You Not Entertained”

Gladiator is the story in which a fallen general must fight as a gladiator in order to seek

his vengeance for his murdered family. There are two sides though, that are really never looked

at when talking about this movie and that is the whites and colored seen especially through

Maximus and Juba. Race is a barrier in which it blocks the ability of one to move from class and

experience a different sense of family.

Class is important to the movie because it shows how a man can go from having it all to

have nothing but bloody “fame,” to becoming emperor. In the beginning of the movie, the

general Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) is leading his troops against a Germanic

tribe. He is in the front of all of his men being acknowledged everywhere he goes for being the

general. He is wearing the finest fur around his back, to symbolize his rank, while the common

soldiers had nothing more than plain armor. After the battle has concluded Maximus return to

his tent which compared to the average soliders’ is a palace. As the general, Maximus is given

the best which is available to be given. He does not have to worry about not having equipment

for himself.

Then, while talking to Marcus Aurelius, Maximus realizes he is not just this general, but a

normal farmer with a wife and child. Here in this class, he speaks to Marcus of his prized land

producing different goods. He does not have the best house in the empire but still he enjoys his

life. In this class, it shows Maximus’ true self in that he is not one that needs the expensive furs

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and the biggest tent, but shows he is a truly humble. He is just a regular man making a living by

using his hands planting the yearly crops.

Later, Maximus is captured by a slave trader, who sells him to a man who trains

gladiators. Maximus is stripped of all his belongs except for the clothes on his back and given a

dot to tell him whether he is a good or bad fighter. Maximus even loses his own name and uses

“Spaniard” because he is not the same person anymore since all that was dear to him was taken

from him. Compared to his real name this is truly a lower of rank, especially when you look at

his real name, Maximus which means “largest” and after his reduced to just his race in

”Spaniard.” He then is reduced to a puppet for the people of the arena. This truly is the lowest

point of his life. He is reduced to killing for people’s enjoyment. That is, until he begins to win

and gain fame. Once he has gained this fame he is “translating his celebrity into cultural currency

and power,” (Gabler) and becomes one of the most beloved gladiators in the empire.

The last stage in which Maximus goes through would be once he has gained his fame.

The emperor recognizes him and wants him killed, so in the end of the movie there is a finally

battle in which Maximus and the Emperor fight. Maximus ends up stabbing the Emperor in the

throat and killing him. This is very significant because once Maximus kills the emperor he then

takes over as the emperor, so he has all the power and control. This power allows him to free his

comrades and the emperor to be given to the people, just as Marcus Aurelis had wanted.

“Through his self-sacrifice and death he successfully restores the continuity of Roman

imperialism.” (Barker) It also moved him back to the top class again before he dies which shows

a man can make it back from the bottom class. It is also important to note that Maximus dies

right after making his ruling making it seem as though once he has done this his work is done

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and he can finally rest in peace. Maximus is a man who shows that anybody’s class can be taken

away from them but it takes them self to climb back up.

On the other hand, blacks had a much different type of social class. They had but one

class, slave. Every time you see a colored person in the movie, they are doing something

involving being a slave, be it a gladiator or the emperor servant. An example of this concept

would be from the character of Juba, an African male who was forcefully taken from his home in

African and sold into slavery. According to an article, blacks where considered “an insult to

nature and nature's proper product of the white man.”(Wiesen) He becomes a gladiator but unlike

Maximus never really is given the spotlight. This means that his fame never really blossoms as

Maximus does. He never has the crowd chanting his name and without this he is never going to

be more than just a gladiator. This concept shows that colored people, in this movie, are not

really given the luxury to move from class to class as whites are able to. This is until Maximus’

death when he is freed. Then he becomes a new man who can go look for his family.

Maximus has many different homes with many different families in this movie. This

movie represents that family does not have to be by blood, but can be the relationships with the

people you are closest with. Through each one of his classes, Maximus finds a new family that

cares for him. The story leads from one of his families to another. He starts off as a general with

his troops. While he is the general, all of his men respect him and will follow him to death if

they have to and this is shown in the first war against the Germanic tribe where Maximus leads

them to a victory. Afterwards, it can be seen how caring of a general that Maximus is, when he

visits his wounded soldiers in the infirmary and watching in vain as his men are being treated for

missing limbs and other fatal injuries. He is also not afraid talk with his men on a person level

when he walking around the camp. The audience sees repercussions of this mutual respect that

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Maximus and his men have, when later, in the movie when Maximus is going to try to raid the

city in order to get rid of Commodus, the corrupt emperor of Rome, and his men are ready to

back him.

From this family another is born, between Marcus Aurelius and Maximus. Maximus

once dated Marcus’ daughter and from that and being the General of the Army these two are very

close. Marcus believes Maximus to be the “son I should have had.” (Gladiator) This is a

significant relationship because Marcus Aurelius is a very old man and realizes he will die soon.

So instead of intrusting his own son with the empire, he is willing to trust Maximus with the task

of returning the empire to the people.

Maximus’ next family would be his biological family his wife and child. They are the

light of his life and he is willing to do anything in order to keep them safe. After not showing his

loyalty to Commodus when he proclaims himself emperor, Maximus is taken to be killed and

finds out this family could be hurt. He escapes the execution and hurries home to find that his

family had been burned and crucified to the gate in front of their house. Maximus falls down in

shock and after a few seconds goes over and kisses the feet of his dead wife. It is significant that

they are killed early in that from the point they are killed, Maximus has nothing but hatred for

the emperor for him giving the order to kill them. This shows how deeply he cares for his family;

for as long as he lives he is going to seek revenge on those that destroyed his family. Also the

importance of his real family is that everywhere that Maximus goes after his family dies; he

carries along with him the figures of the son and wife that his son gave to him before he left as

the general. In the end, his family is reunited in that Juba buries the figures in the middle of the

Colosseum where Maximus died.

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His last family would be in his slave/gladiator days. Maximus at first does not participate

in the fighting exercises that Priximo, the slave owner, puts in front of him. But once they start

fighting and the other gladiators see the skill that Maximus possess and they can do nothing but

respect him. Since they respect him, he will respect them back, by fighting for them and making

sure they are safe, and by the time that they have journey to Rome he is close with all his

comrades. He wants them all to stay alive and this can be seen in the first battle in the

Colosseum when he tells his men they must stay together in order to survive. The men are

willing to give up their lives fighting the Roman army in order for Maximus to escape and get his

army and lead them on Rome. Lastly when Maximus is about to die, he is the emperor so he

tells Quintus to release his men and to let them be free. Then after he falls, all of his gladiator

brothers are there to help carry him out of the arena.

Juba, on the other hand is a different story. Since he is taken from his home he has a wife

and children, the only problem is that they are on a different continent. Since he is only a slave

and nothing more in the movie he really only has one family then. He has his gladiator brother

around him and that is pretty much all he has for family. This is significant because he really has

nothing to live for but the chance to see his family again. He uses his gladiator brothers, such as

Maximus, in order to help him stay alive long enough to get his freedom and be able to find his

biological family.

Maximus and Juba are similar in that both have experience the horrible slave life. They

are looking for their families, Juba in Africa and Maximus who will see his in the afterlife. The

difference between the two men essentially stops at their color; since Maximus is white he has

the ability to move from class to class with no one’s help. On the other hand, Juba can only from

class to class because with Maximus’ dying wish as emperor, he freed his men. So Juba is only

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freed because of another man’s authority. Also that Maximus has multiple families throughout

this movie, while Juba primarily only has one.

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Work Cited Page

Gabler, Neal. "In Oscar Race, Family Prevails." New York Times 150.51668 (2001): 3. Print.

D. S. Wiesen, 'Juvenal and the Blacks', C&M 31 (1970) 133-35.

Barker, Jennifer. "A Hero Will Rise: The Myth of the Fascist Man in Fight Club and

Gladiator." Literature-Film Quarterly 36 (2008): 171+. Print.

Gladiator(film)(2000), Directed by Ridley Scott