From 180 to 192 C.E., Emperor Commodus ruled ancient Rome with an insatiable lust for power that brought an end to the fabled ...

"Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus in Gladiator; certainly for my characterization of Joffrey," he told EW, "that had a big impact, the smirk." 16. To create the massive audience, 2,000 extras were ...

Nowadays, Marcus Aurelius is remembered less for his philosophizing than for being smothered by young Commodus at the start of the swords-and-sandals epic Gladiator. In reality, he succumbed to a ...

The arrest sets the rest of the story in motion as Maximus escapes execution, is enslaved, and becomes a gladiator — a role he uses to plot revenge against Commodus. Before Maximus falls from ...