Warning: This article contains spoilers for Gladiator II.Gladiator IIdepicts a fraught time in the historical setting of the Roman Empire, with various politicians and conquerors trying to shape the future of the ancient world. Surprisingly,Pedro Pascal’s fictional character Acacius, the general of Rome’s army in the movie, might have the most accurate outlook on the empire’s situation, even when the story doesn’t necessarily characterize him as a political mastermind. Viewed as a war hero and married to Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), another figure beloved by the people, Acacius holds a significant amount of political sway in Rome.
Gladiator II’s endingseemingly sees the realization of the dream of Rome and the impossible hope that Rome could once again become a republic. Lucilla’s son Lucius (Paul Mescal) follows in the footsteps of several members of his family in fighting for a better Rome. However,bothGladiatormovies are slightly colored by the fact that the audience knows that the Roman Empire no longer exists.Yet how real history can play into the movie’s themes finds a voice in Acacius, who ironically says exactly what is going to happen in the future multiple times.
Acacius Voices Concerns About Overexpansion Early On In Gladiator 2
Acacius Tells The Emperors That They Will Have To Feed The People They Conquer
In the first instance, Acacius has just returned from conquering Numidia and is greeted by a celebration in Rome, as well as the Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). The rulers only want to conquer more territory, with little concern about the consequences of it. Acacius, as seen in the trailer forGladiator II, warns them: “Rome has so many subjects. She must feed them.” His concerns are dismissed, with an oblique threat to both Acacius and Lucilla if they were to protest more strongly.
However, the Roman Empire would eventually collapse, in part, because of overexpansion. The empire actually reached its max before thetimeline ofGladiator II, with no significant new territories conquered in the next few centuries before its end.Acacius is personally also concerned about the death on both sides from the actual warfare of conquest,but his comment is more accurate than almost anything else anyone says in the movie. The Roman Empire eventually struggled to govern, enforce, and sustain its territories, leading to it splitting into the Western and Eastern Empires, and then coming to an end altogether.
Acacius Bluntly Says That The Roman Empire Will Eventually Fall
When The Emperors Threaten Acacius With Obscurity, He Says It Will Be All Their Fates Eventually
Another line said by Acacius has huge historical implications but doesn’t have a great presence in the movie’s themes. After he and Lucilla are both arrested for treason and the emperors are threatening him with losing all his renown,Acacius says: “Everything is forgotten in time. Empires fall. So do emperors.“The story then moves on with the other characters trying to save Rome afterLucius doesn’t kill Acacius, emphasizing that Rome as it presently exists is what the characters know, and they will strive to uphold it — but this line haunts the narrative.
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Acacius is absolutely right: the Roman Empire will eventually cease to exist. The average person today probably isn’t overly familiar with the life of a random Roman emperor, unless they have specifically studied this period of history or were made aware of certain figures by fictionalized pop culture. If everything that Geta and Caracalla do is for an immortal legacy, it is ultimately meaningless. Even if the Roman Empire comes back and thrives for many more centuries, nothing lasts forever, as many years of history before this point can tell them.
How Much Does Acacius Actually Believe In Rome’s Future In Gladiator 2?
The Dream Of Rome Is More Associated With Lucius, Lucilla, & Maximus' Characters
Thehistorical characters inGladiator IIdon’t make it overly clear what they think the lasting impact of what they will achieve will be; the idea of the dream of Rome sounds very weighty and implies a kind of revival, sounding like they want their civilization to last much longer. However, Acacius is a pessimistic voice in all this. He is the military strength behind the rebellion and doubtlessly believes that deposing the twin emperors is in the best interest of the Roman people.
The sense of things coming to an end is subtly present in Gladiator II as it depicts a time when Rome was historically in decline.
However,Acacius' planned actions center around this military move, while Lucilla and her allied senators talk more about what comes after.As he says himself; he is not a politician — the bigger ideas of democracy and the dream of Rome are more connected to Lucilla and Lucius' characters, the descendants of the last great emperor. Acacius himself has little dialogue in the movie explicitly about this theme.
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Acacius most likely wants to do right by Lucilla and the Roman people in the moment,no matter how long it will last. He knows that further conquests will lead to the deaths of more of his soldiers, just as he knows that Rome cannot go on this way indefinitely. The sense of things coming to an end is subtly present inGladiator IIas it depicts a time when Rome was historically in decline, but the various characters have different perspectives on what is yet possible to achieve.
Gladiator II
Cast
Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
