There is no subtlety in the exploration of the various meanings of the amphitheatre, shown just as a place for violent entertainment. The film caters to a view of the amphitheatre which is popularly familiar, based on the 19th-century painting Pollice Verso (thumbs down) by Jean-Leon Gerome.
The catapults use Greek fire (invented by the Byzantines), there is too much medieval armour in the arena, and where did they get the Bengal tigers?
The hollywood blockbuster Gladiator (2000), which starred Russell Crowe, is a great film, says Tony Wilmott of English Heritage, but inaccurate, right from the opening battle when second century German tribes chant in 19th-century Zulu (as the soundtrack from the movie Zulu was overlain here). Historical accuracy and the Russell Crowe film Gladiator
