Gladiator Aristotle

y does Plato believe that only Philosophers are fit to rule? Rather than the practical pursuit we are accustomed to, for Plato, Politics is an intellectual faculty. Governance by non-philosophers is to be governed by opinions, beliefs and self-interest; in contrast the philosopher ruler will govern with virtue and justice with no hidden agenda. The philosopher is in love, in love with learning, knowledge and truth. It is important to make a distinction here between the acquisition of knowledge and the acquisition of truth, because knowledge is not necessarily the truth.

To begin with, the actual movie is about a man named Maximus that was a war general during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Prior to the death of Marcus, he asks Maximus to become emperor and restore the Republic back in Rome but before Maximus could answer, he suspiciously died in the hands of his son, Commodus. Commodus takes power and orders Maximus to be executed; Maximus is able to escape and make a journey back to his farm where he finds his wife and son murdered. After he buries his family, he gets captured by slave traders and renamed Spaniard. In his new life, Maximus trains to be a gladiator and becomes one of the most famous person to fight in the Colosseum. At the end of the movie, Maximus fights Commodus to gain back his fame, glory and avenge the loss of his family because “Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity” (Gladiator). The battle of death takes down the emperor and gives Rome back the Republic. Finally, Maximus is able to return back to his family and “smile at death” (Gladiator).

When watching the movie Gladiator, one is sees the Roman culture and how it was portrayed at the time. The main historical features that stuck out were the details of the Roman military and the accuracies of a gladiator. Throughout the movie these two features are viewed multiple times by the audience. By viewing this movie and through research these one can see that even though it is a great movie, Gladiator, has some inaccuracies about these historical features.

Gladiator was made in 2000, released on 12th of May 2000. The film is directed by Ridley Scott. The story of Gladiator is that the Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius is betrayed and his family is murdered by a corrupt prince. So he comes to Rome as a Gladiator to seek revenge. Maximus Decimus Meridius leads the Roman army to victory against Germanic barbarians in the year A.D.180. Gladiator is a historical epic with fictional characters and contains drama. The opening of Gladiator shows the general’s hand touching the crops in the field signifying the feeling of freedom and peace. Gladiator has won 5 academy awards in the 73rd Academy Awards Ceremony, including best picture and actor (Russell Crowe) who is Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Aristotle Politics Aristotle in his book politics, argues that the political association is the highest form of human association , and making all his conclusions based on the assumption that ‘polis’ is the best and only sensible political system. He further adds that political association is the most sovereign and aims at the highest good Politics is largely an attempt to determine or rather prove that political association is the best suited way for securing the happiness of its members or as called in ‘politics’ the citizens .The interest of the polis and its citizens were seen to be the same since both the city and man aimed for happiness as the ultimate goal. According to Aristotle, life has no existence outside the confines of the city and that it is not the city that exists to serve the needs of the individual but is a mere part and the city is more important than the individual Aristotle’s admiration of the social system in a polis shows his support to the slavery.

Gladiatorial combat originated in 700 B.C. during the Etruscan Empire. “The origins of the sport may lie in Etruscan slave fights, which were fought to the death to please the gods and to enhance the reputations of the slaves ' owners. The Romans incorporated the tradition into their funeral ceremonies, beginning in 264 B.C. with that of Junius Brutus Pera 's” (Lidz n.pag). As the games became more popular, “the fascination of the games lay in the transformation of the despicable and the lowly into objects of admiration (since the socially outcast gladiators were held in high popular regard)” (Fagan 17). On the surface, gladiatorial combat in the Roman Empire demonstrated an artistic spectacle of brute dominance and great pride on the battlefield.

Aristotle The primary concern of political theorists is to determine by what form of constitution the state will most likely succeed. According to Aristotle the definition of political success means the general happiness of the citizenry. Both Aristotle and James Q. Wilson share the belief that molding excellent character within the citizenry is the first and most important step towards solidifying the happiness of the state as a whole.

Aristotle In our fast paced technologically advanced society today, our governments have evolved into supposedly well oiled machines effectively managing budgets, jails, militaries, as well as many other programs. Unfortunately, many of these governments are not as well organized, as they could be. Democratic countries like France, Germany, and even the United States have some very serious shortcomings to the way their governments are managed. These problems occur, many times at a very basic level, rather than at the minor details. One problem that is consistent with many countries is the maintenance of governmental programs over large geographical areas.

After its debut in America on May 5th of 2000, the movie Gladiator has been a nationwide symbol of heroism(Imdb). The film was directed by Ridley Scott and the lead roles of the film were carried out by Russell Crowe as Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus(Imdb). The movie takes place during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire in the year 180 A.D. The Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, is dying and wishes to leave the Roman Empire under the control of Roman General Maximus Meridius. The Emperor’s son Commodus betrays Maximus, kills his father, and takes control of Rome. In betraying Maximus, Commodus has his family killed. Maximus knowing this returns to Rome as a gladiator under the alias “Spaniard” in search of revenge(Imdb). According to Aristotle, “Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude”(Kwheeler). In order for someone to be considered a tragic hero, the person must meet the criteria of high social status, suffer from a hamartia, face a catastrophe, invoke catharsis, and experience anagnorisis and peripeteia(Kwheeler).

Gladiator (2000) is an action drama about a Roman general that is betrayed by his country and is forced to fight in the Colosseum. This particular scene, which runs for approximately 5 minutes, is the aftermath of the fight scene between Maximus, the betrayed general, and Commodus, the jealous emperor who betrayed him. This scene is not only significant because it is the concluding scene of the film, but also because it represents the end of Maximus’s enslavement and his coming to peace with dying.