For those of us warriors of true justice and others who have lived past lives in the era of the gladiator and watched this film, I'm sure it brought back many emotional feelings and much pain. While I don't think the details were based on much fact, I'm sure that in general the plot of the story has happened over and over again, century after century. In this film, The Gladiator, there's a good guy who's a true warrior leader; he has honor and courage which he tries to implant in the hearts and minds of those who follow him. They follow him because he can be trusted; he leads by example. He is also a man of prayer and sensitivity.
The fact that this warrior, Maximus (well-acted by Russell Crowe), was first a Roman general and then a gladiator slave, shows us that there can be good men in all walks of life. In both walks, Maximus is an honorable man. In the movie there was a good Caesar and his son was a bad Caesar, just as in the Bible there is mention of the good pharaoh who favored Joseph of Israel and a bad pharaoh who knew not Joseph. In the movie, around the seat of power of Rome, there were good guys and bad guys. Of course the bad guys usually call the good guys "bad." It seems like the bad guys are always in a position to do that because they are not out there really trying to make a difference in the world. It is unfortunate throughout history that terrible things happen to good men and women and to the children of those who do try to make a difference in the world. The bad guys side with those in power, those who have the most money or the biggest sword. There are many on the fence, like the character who was bad when aligned with the bad guys in power and who in the end sided with Maximus, the good guy, because he knew that the time of the bad Caesar was over. These ones on the fence, fluctuating between good and bad, I call errorphrenic. Some are just in error, others are more sinful, knowing exactly what they are doing.
Many innocent people are hurt by the bad guys. In this movie there was the murder of Maximus' wife and small son. Of course, many, many others were maimed, murdered, or slandered by the bad guys who tried to make everything they did look good to the all-too-often errorphrenic people blind to the subtlety of evil. And the coliseums were always filled with people who wanted to see blood. Today we see this desire for cheap thrills of blood and gore in many arenas; nothing really is changed except the players and the games.
Maximus is my hero. It is unfortunate that warriors throughout the history of this planet have had to kill other men to survive. War should never be the answer. The sword of truth that Jesus told us to wield is a much stronger weapon, and turning the other cheek is a lot more difficult than cutting off the enemy's head. It used to be for thousands of years that the good and bad guys fought in hand-to-hand combat like this film shows. I think that given even odds in these kinds of battles, the good guys with honor and courage won most of them. Even when the odds were against them the good guys often would win the battles and the wars, but it takes an army of mostly good guys for this to happen because soldiers need to recognize who the good and bad leaders are. Unfortunately in today's world, most soldiers and the masses are fooled by the propaganda of false leaders in all positions of life. Now the bad guys can sit behind a computer and do battle. Those with money can hire an attorney to do their dirty work. In the days of old they were usually the deserters, or those that stayed behind in the back lines.
Maximus lost in the end because there were not enough good guys around him to fight the blind sheep who followed the bad Caesar. You might say the world lost in 180 AD when he died, for the world needed that leader, that Maximus. In his death, Maximus went on to meet his wife and son on the next mansion world, which the picture beautifully portrayed.
The movie was well written, acted, and directed. It was Oliver Reed's last film, portraying an ex-gladiator himself who chose a life of greed until he saw the greatness of Maximus. There's a line in the movie where Maximus says, "Are you in danger of becoming a good man?" The answer was "yes." He died in honor at the hands of the bad guys–the soldiers of Caesar.
These are the choices all of us have to make in life. Decision after decision makes us more bad or more good. As for me and my house, I will serve the Lord.
~Van of Urantia*MPAA = Motion Picture Association of America
