WARNING! This post and episode both contain spoilers!

In case you somehow missed it, the hotly anticipated sequel to Gladiator (2000) hit the cinemas in November 2024. Gladiator II follows the story of Lucius Verus, the child of Lucilla and the hero from the first film, Maximus. Nope, we did not know that was a thing either.

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Poster for Gladiator II, Source: https://deadline.com

After being separated from his imperial family following the death of his uncle (the Emperor Commodus), the adult Lucius ends up in the arena. His owner is Macrinus, an actual historical figure who served as emperor briefly in the third century CE. The film follows Macrinus and Lucius as they navigate the complicated political world of Rome under the Emperors Caracalla and Geta. Will Lucius be able to rid Rome of corruption, once and for all? (Dramatic music)   

Joining us today to discuss the film is the delightful Lindsay Steenberg.

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Special Episode – Gladiator II with Dr Lindsay Steenberg

Dr Lindsay Steenberg is currently a Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University where she co-ordinates the graduate programme in Popular Cinema. Her research interests are violence and gender in postmodern and postfeminist media culture. If you like true crime, you should definitely check out her back catalogue. Whilst Dr Steenberg has published widely and regularly presents at conferences, our particular point of connection is her interest in gladiators.  She is the author Are you not entertained? Mapping the Gladiator Across Visual Media, which was published by Bloomsbury in 2020.

We hope that you enjoy our conversation as we unpack:

• Arena action scenes





• The naumachia scene from Gladiator II





• Macrinus’ role in this film





• Gladiators and celebrity





• Historical inaccuracy on screen





• Our vision for Gladiator III: Tokyo Drift

Sound Credits

Our music is by Bettina Joy de Guzman.

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Dr Lindsay Steenberg’s book Are You Not Entertained? Mapping the Gladiator Across Visual Media.
We recommend it!

Automated Transcript

Dr Rad 0:00
Hello. You’re about to listen to a special episode of the partial historians, which is all about gladiator two, a movie set in the reign of Caracalla and Geta

so

Dr G 0:12
so we are warning you in advance that this conversation will contain spoilers if you have not yet gone to the cinemapost haste, my friends get there soon and come back and listen. Or if you don’t care about spoilers, and in fact, you thrive in an environment where you know all of the details before you see a thing, please continue listening and enjoying.

Dr Rad 0:35
And it pretty much turns out as we all expected. Dr G Maximus came back to life and married me in the future, just as I always wanted. Finally, a New Zealand man finds his Australian bride, that’s right, and now on with the show you.

Music. Welcome to the partial historians.

Dr G 1:10
We explore all the details of ancient Rome,

Dr Rad 1:15
everything from political scandals, the love affairs, the battles wage and when citizens turn against each other, I’m Dr rad and

Dr G 1:25
I’m Dr G. We consider Rome as the Romans saw it by reading different authors from the ancient past and comparing their stories. Join

Dr Rad 1:36
us as we trace the journey of Rome from the founding of the city.

Hello and welcome to another special episode of the partial historians. I am one of your hosts, Dr rad,

Dr G 2:00
and I’m Dr G

Dr Rad 2:02
And we are super excited because we’re going to be talking about another gladiator movie today. Dr G, just when you thought you couldn’t get enough,

Dr G 2:10
I can’t get enough. That’s why I’m here, exactly. And

Dr Rad 2:15
we are super lucky to be joined by an expert, an international expert, Dr Lindsay Steenberg is currently a senior lecturer in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University, where she coordinates the graduate program in popular cinema. Her research interests are violence and gender in post modern and post feminist media culture. If you like true crime, you should definitely check out her back catalog. Whilst Dr Steenberg has published widely and regularly presents at conferences, our particular point of connection is her interest in gladiators. She is the author of, are you not entertained? Mapping the gladiator across visual media, which was published by Bloomsbury in 2020. Being astute listeners, I am sure that you have all correctly guessed that she is here to discuss gladiator two with us, which was at time of recording, just released in cinemas. Welcome Dr Steenberg,

Lindsay Steenberg 3:15
thank you so much for having me and for giving me the opportunity to talk about one of my favorite subject matters gladiator movies, you’re

Dr Rad 3:23
in good company here. You know, it’s one of the things I think that we do the most around here. So look, we are so keen to talk a little bit about gladiator two with you, and also the aspects that you have looked at in your work. So we thought we might start off with the part that people probably remember most vividly when they see a gladiator film, particularly a Ridley Scott gladiator film, and that is, of course, the arena sequences. So please tell us what is often the function of the arena in Gladiator films.

Lindsay Steenberg 3:54
Okay, again, favorite subject matter within my favorite subject, yeah. So I’ve spent more time than really any human should, thinking about arena fights. And I can say that when it comes to the almost the genre of gladiator movies, they’re the most important part. You can’t have a gladiator movie if there’s not any gladiating So I have spent quite a bit of time over quite a few different films, looking at the kinds of conventions, the way that the arena works. Why we keep going back there again and again? So in terms of what the function is really, it kind of defies the logic of a lot of action movies, which is, it isn’t just story or spectacle, it’s both at once. So you get them in a handy little place. The Arena fights almost a movie within a movie, it has a beginning, it has a middle, it has an end. You enter the amphitheater. You have some looking around to see what’s there, some spectacle over architecture and bodies. You get the quality violence in the middle. And then you sort of exit the amphitheater, and that’s the end of your of your. Little mini film within a film, they often are great places where you come to understand how power works in the film itself. It’s a nice little structure. I mean, if you think about the way an amphitheater is designed in that in that oval kind of shape, it means everybody can see everybody else. So the kind of layers of the way that the looking works. It’s like we in the cinema are looking at the amphitheater. The people who are in the audience are looking and being looked at. You’ve got the sort of authority figure sitting there watching, and we’re watching them. Then you’ve got the people down on the sands doing their thing. So it really it becomes a way to further the plot, to show who’s good, who’s bad, who’s skilled, who’s dead. It also sort of provides an opportunity to raise the stakes of the plot. So you’ve got sort of Concerned Women are often there in the audience, rarely on the sands, and they can kind of look and look worried, or look very desiringly at the gladiators on the sands as well. That’s a bit of a spectacle, in that sense, as well. And then the Gladiator, of course, is looking at the audience as well. And that’s why you get are you not entertained? He’s judging us for watching him. So it kind of does all of that at once, very economical kind of spectacle,

Dr G 6:10
a bit like an ancient panopticon where viewing is happening in all directions.

Lindsay Steenberg 6:15
It absolutely is. And that and the sort of really seamless functioning of power works. You know, you don’t have to work for it. The shape almost guarantees that. And you know, the movies love that. They love that shape. You can do some amazing things just with a nice little pan across the audience with a nice aerial establishing shot to see the shap