owner of a gladiator stable, and ambitious businessman. In real life, Macrinus was responsible for civil affairs in Rome and was the first Roman emperor to come from the lower equestrian class and ...

Only after all that did the gladiators enter the arena for the actual combat in the afternoon. Their sessions were known as munera and represented the real highlight of the day for Roman audiences.

Ridley Scott's Gladiator 2 begins with a similar note as his 2000 movie, where Hanno (Paul Mescal), who is the son of the legendary gladiator Maximus (Russell Crowe) and Lucille (Connie Nielsen), lose ...