Gladiator

            Determine if the movie "Gladiator" succeeded in depicting Roman and things Roman.
             "Gladiator" (DreamWorks) is arguably eh greatest movie depicting most precisely Rome and things Roman. The success of "Gladiator" in depicting things Roman is reflected in three facets of the Ancient Roman Empire: politics, culture, and military.
             When it comes to politics, Roman Empire is distinguished as the very first to create and maintain the Republic. On one hand, when Roman Republic was at its glorious era, the combination of the leaders (emperor or the triumphant) and Senate offered Rome and the Roman world a stable, democratic, and powerful governmental system. On the other hand, at times when Roman Empire started to show their imperfections and endangered to collapse, the opposing ideas in governing of the leaders and the Senate lead to immense and prolonged conflicts. This fact was depicted very obviously in the movie "Gladiator" when old Emperor Marcus Arelius was dying and going to give his throne to one successor. He had chosen General Maximus (instead of his biological son, Commodus) as he was the war hero and he had respects from the soldiers, who were the backbones of the Roman Empire. The greed of power drove Commodus crazy and eventually made the conflict between Caesar and the Senate even worse. Roman Empire seemingly saw its end from that moment, when the balance or harmony of power kept between the Emperor and the Senate started breaking.
             Not only depicting the political aspect, the movie "Gladiator" also illustrated cultural facet of the Roman world vividly. In preparation for the war, the Roman soldiers brought their castles, raised them around the barracks; some of them even worked in the farm adjacent to some military sites. So, basically, the Roman people always made sure that their soldiers have enough food. This is a typical character of the Roman culture.