MovieChat Forums > Gladiator (2000) Discussion > Rome is the Light

Rome is the Light

posted 9 years ago by herrandrusz
3 replies | jump to latest

I always appreciated that line.

It's easy to criticize Rome, it's warmongering and enslaving of people. But this was no different than any other place in the world. Rome represented an idea of organization and structure, this film tried its best to present this as a way of understanding Rome, I think that is one of the reasons why it is so classic.

[–] furienna 9 years ago

But I feel that this movie only showed the ugly sides of Rome: slavery, bloody games, mad emperors...

Intelligence and purity.

[–] J-Street1 9 years ago

But I feel that this movie only showed the ugly sides of Rome: slavery, bloody games, mad emperors...

I disagree. It showed that even the most civilized (for its time) place could be corrupted. There were good people there, it's just the bad outweighed the good until the end. The games and severe political corruption weren't around when Marcus Aurelius was ruling (at least according to the film).

🏈

[–] furienna 9 years ago

Okay, I guess that you have a point there. But we could also see how easily a society can become that corrupted. And I don't think that everything was perfect during MA's rule either.

Intelligence and purity.