Historian Calls ‘Gladiator 2’ “Total Hollywood Bull****” for Including Sharks in Flooded Colosseum Scene, Ridley Scott Argues Differently

‘Gladiator II’ is an upcoming sequel to the original movie, directed and co-produced by Ridley Scott. The cast includes Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington.

The movie follows Lucius, the son of Maximus and Lucilla, who becomes a gladiator after his home is invaded by the Roman army and seeks revenge against Marcus Acacius while fighting for Macrinus, a former slave who wants to overthrow the emperors Caracalla and Geta.

The film, since its announcement, stirred controversies with many asking whether it was needed in the first place, and its dubious historical accuracy, and this is something that historian Dr. Shadi Bartsch recently addressed in his interview with THR.

Dr. Bartsch called the sharks in Colosseum a “total Hollywood bullshit” and explained exactly why.

I don think Romans knew what a shark was.

Source: THR

Dr. Shadi Bartsch is a classics professor at the University of Chicago, holding degrees from Princeton, Harvard, and UC Berkeley. She has authored several books on ancient Rome, and it’s safe to say that her opinion holds weight. Bartsch noted that naval battles were held in the Colosseum, but it was nowhere near as spectacular as sharks.

The historian noted some additional historical inaccuracies in the movie, such as showing two-horned rhinos instead of the one-horn type mentioned in ancient texts and depicting gladiators riding them, which likely never happened.

The film also shows a Roman noble drinking tea and reading a newspaper in a café—centuries before newspapers or cafés existed. However, director Ridley Scott is unbothered by these details, saying that by today, much of ancient history is open to interpretation.

What’s interesting is that Scott was already asked about that specific scene and the director harshly defended it:

One of the things that I love is there’s a sequence in the film with sharks in the water in the Colosseum. Obviously, the sharks were not there in real life, but it’s fucking cool. Talk a little bit about putting sharks in the movie and that balance of reality versus it’s a movie.

SCOTT: You’re dead wrong. The Colosseum did flood with water, and there were sea battles.

Did they have sharks back then?

SCOTT: Dude, if you can build a Colosseum, you can flood it with fucking water. Are you joking? And to get a couple of sharks in a net from the sea, are you kidding? Of course they can.

MESCAL: There ya go.

Source: Collider

Seeing those two vastly different historical perspectives is certainly interesting and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter as long as the viewers have fun. As long as the movie is not trying to present itself like a documentary, it’s okay to add sharks, hell it would be okay to add aliens as far as I’m concerned personally.

Early reactions from the October 18, 2024 screening of ‘Gladiator II’ at Paramount Studios were positive. Critics praised Ridley Scott’s direction, the action scenes, and the performances of Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, with some suggesting potential Oscar nominations for Scott and Washington.

While a few felt it lacked the original’s “emotional punch,” critic Scott Menzel called it Scott’s best work since ‘The Martian,’ describing it as a “big, bloody, and badass action spectacle” that honors the original.

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