A sequel to the 2000 film, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 takes a time jump of 16 years, where we witness that things have drastically changed since the days of Marcus Aurelius. Now, the twin brothers Geta and Caracalla sat on the throne, and they ruled the empire according to their whims or fancies. The rule of law ceased to exist, and there were many within the regime who were waiting for the right moment to change things for good. Nobody dared speak against the mad twins, but there were a few who had the courage to fight for the cause of the people. So, let’s find out what happened in Gladiator 2 and if peace and tranquility prevailed in Rome.
Spoiler Alert
How did Hanno come to Rome?
Hanno had the perfect life in Numidia. He had a wife named Arishat, who loved him more than anything else in the world, and the people in his kingdom not only respected him, but he was idolized by many. When the Romans attacked Numidia, Hanno rallied the defenders, and he promised his men that they wouldn’t let the enemy breach their fortress. But Marcus Acacius’ forces got the better of the Numidians, and in the end, the African city was taken over by the Romans. Hanno and his men fought valiantly, but still, they were no match for the mighty Roman army. Arishat, Hanno’s wife, died while serving her people, and Hanno felt as if he had lost a part of himself on that battlefield. Hanno saw Arishat’s dead body floating on the water, and he just stood there numb, not knowing what to do or where to go. All those who survived were taken captive by Acacius’ army and taken back to Rome. These captured soldiers were thrown inside the fighting arena, where they had to face hybrid monkeys, who were as lethal as they looked. That day, Macrinus, the man who bought these prisoners of war and trained them to become gladiators, was also present in the arena. He saw Hanno fighting, and he realized that the boy had some exceptional skills. Hanno fought like he had nothing to lose, probably because he had lost the will to live. He had nothing to look forward to, and his circumstances had transformed him into a barbarian. The audience sitting in the area was shocked when they saw Hanno biting a monkey as if he wanted to declare that he was even more of an animal than the wild beasts. Macrinus bought Hanno as he knew that the boy had the potential to become a champion gladiator. Macrinus was a shrewd conspirator, and he only bet on someone after he was sure that he would benefit from them. So Hanno got a second chance, though at that moment, he didn’t have any sort of expectations, and he just wanted to take each day as it came.
What did Hanno come to know about his past?
Hanno came to the limelight after he fought in front of everybody in the Colosseum. Even Geta and Caracalla, the twin brothers who ruled the kingdom of Rome, were mighty impressed by the skills of the young fighter. He killed their celebrated fighter during a faceoff, and then he recited a poem written by the famous Roman writer Virgil. Geta was in awe of him, and the next day in front of Marcus, Lucilla recited that same verse because he just couldn’t get it off his mind. When Lucilla heard that verse, she knew that Hanno was none other than Lucius Versus, who was her and Maximus’ son. Back in the day, after Maximus passed away, Lucilla had decided to send Lucius away from Rome. Lucius was the heir to the throne, and in that moment of chaos, Lucilla knew that there would be a lot of people who would be keen on killing her son to take over the Roman empire. Since that day, Lucilla was never able to see her son, though she hoped that the gods kept him safe and sound. Years later, Lucius returned to the city of Rome, not knowing what fate had in store for him. Lucilla told Acacius about it, and she asked him to save her son before he got killed in the mindless games that the emperors made the slaves forcefully participate in for their own leisure.
Now Acacius, at that moment in Gladiator 2, was already planning to dethrone Caracalla and Geta, but the five thousand men who were loyal to him and who were going to arrive from Osteria still needed about three days to reach Rome. Acacius knew that going for a rescue mission without his army backing him up was not a reasonable thing to do, but he had no choice. So Acacius went to save Lucius, and as expected, he got caught by the Roman army. It was Senator Thraex who went and told Macrinus about the secret operation. Senator Thraex was in a lot of debt as he had lost a bet to Macrinus. To save his house and his prestige, he backstabbed Acacius. The Roman emperors were inherently very sadistic, and they decided to make Acacius face Lucius, aka Hanno, in a fight. Since he was captured in Gladiator II, Lucius had wanted to take revenge on Acacius for what he had done to his wife. He didn’t know that even Acacius didn’t like killing people and the way the emperors violated all codes of conduct and wreaked havoc on the innocent and helpless. Acacius tried to explain to him, during the fight, that he loved Lucilla and that he’d had the utmost respect for Maximus, too. Lucius had a change of heart during the fight, and he decided to lay his sword down. But how could the cruel and psychotic rulers of Rome let a fight end on such cordial terms? They ordered their archers to kill Acacius, and the Roman hero died in front of the thousands of Romans who were sitting in the arena.
Why did Macrinus kill Geta and Caracalla?
Riots broke out after Acacius was killed, as the Roman citizens also realized that their hero wasn’t given the respect and treatment that he deserved. They realized that Acacius was a true patriot, but his legacy was still disrespected in such a manner. Macrinus took advantage of the situation, and he won the trust of the two emperors. He knew that with a little bit of effort, he would be able to play them both and pit them against each other. Geta trusted Macrinus blindly, and Caracalla spent most of his time drunk and not in his senses. He used the reckless nature of the brothers to his advantage and manipulated Caracalla to kill his brother and take over the throne of Rome. Caracalla did just that, and soon after, Macrinus made him meet a similar fate. Macrinus’ aim was to become the emperor himself. Macrinus was the kind of man who believed in ruthless pragmatism. He didn’t believe in the ideologies of Marcus Aurelius, and he felt that the ex-emperor was way too idealist in his thinking and approach. Macrinus knew that it was imperative for him to get rid of Lucilla if he wanted to become the emperor. He knew that a lot of people still saw Lucilla as the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and they put her on a pedestal. Everything was going according to plan, but Macrinus forgot that though the Roman Empire had tried to erase the name of Maximus from history, there were a few who still believed in his ideals and saw him as a hero, a savior. Macrinus had no clue that there was an army of 5000 soldiers waiting to attack Rome. Macrinus believed that he had eliminated the threat after killing Acacius, and that’s where he committed the blunder of underestimating what Lucius was capable of doing.
How did Hanno become the emperor of Rome?
Macrinus, before killing Caracalla, manipulated him to give Lucilla a death sentence. Macrinus took advantage of Caracalla’s mindlessness. He knew that if the crowd protested against the decision and there was a state of unrest, then he could kill Caracalla and win the support of the people. What Macrinus had no clue about was that Lucius was making his own secret plan to take over the Roman Empire. Lucius told his medic/friend, Ravi, about his real identity, and he asked him to go and meet Darius Sextus, who was waiting at the outskirts of the city with his army. Sextus had sworn his allegiance to Acacius, and he probably didn’t know that the general was dead. Lucius gave his ring (that Lucilla had given to him earlier), which had his father’s name engraved on it, to Ravi, and he asked him to hand it over to Sextus. Lucius knew that once Sextus knew who he was, he would come to support him.
At the end of Gladiator 2, two self-made men, one honing exceptional combat skills like his father and the other possessing an unparalleled political astuteness, came face to face. Lucius killed Macrinus, and he declared that his tyrannical rule was over. At that moment, the Roman army also came to the city gates, and that’s when Lucius addressed them and told them that he didn’t want any bloodshed. and he wanted peace to prevail. Lucius Verus, aka Hanno, became the emperor of Rome, and he made a vow to bring back the good old days and fight for the ideals that Marcus Aurelius stood for.
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