A Roman general loses everything and becomes a fighting slave. He wants revenge. But the real emperor died in a very different way.
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These are the new words. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.
1 = C (an emperor) · 2 = A (a soldier) · 3 = D (a slave) · 4 = B (a sword)
5 = G (revenge) · 6 = F (to kill) · 7 = E (to escape) · 8 = H (a crowd)
Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000). Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one. (There are spoilers — that is fine, we want to talk about it.)
Maximus is a great Roman general. The old emperor, Marcus Aurelius, likes Maximus more than his own son, Commodus. The emperor wants Maximus to help Rome after he dies — not Commodus. Commodus hears this, and that night, he kills his own father. Then Commodus becomes the new emperor.
Commodus is afraid of Maximus. He sends soldiers to kill Maximus and his family. Maximus escapes, but he is too late — his wife and son are already dead. Maximus is very sad and badly hurt. Some slave traders find him and sell him as a slave.
Maximus must now fight as a gladiator, for a man called Proximo. He does not tell anyone his real name. He fights very well, and he starts to win every fight. Inside, he feels empty. He only wants one thing: to find the men who killed his family.
1. Why does Commodus kill his own father?
2. What happens to Maximus's family, and how does he become a gladiator?
1. The emperor wants Maximus, not Commodus, to help rule Rome after he dies. Commodus is angry and kills his father that night.
2. Commodus's soldiers kill Maximus's wife and son. Maximus is badly hurt, and slave traders find him and sell him. He becomes a gladiator to survive.
Proximo takes his gladiators to Rome. Commodus wants big fights to make the crowd happy. In the Colosseum, Maximus and the other gladiators must fight in a big battle. They are supposed to lose. But Maximus leads them, and they win! The crowd loves them.
Commodus comes down to meet the winner. He asks for his name. Maximus takes off his helmet and says who he really is — the general Commodus tried to kill. He says he wants revenge for his family. The crowd shouts for Maximus's life. Now Commodus cannot kill him — the crowd loves him too much.
Maximus meets Lucilla, the sister of Commodus, and a senator called Gracchus. They do not like Commodus. They have a secret plan against him. Maximus is still a slave, but he agrees to help them.
1. How do Maximus and the other gladiators win the crowd's love?
2. Why can Commodus not kill Maximus after the fight?
1. They win a fight they were supposed to lose, and the crowd is amazed by Maximus.
2. The crowd shouts for Maximus's life to be saved, and Commodus needs the crowd's love.
Commodus is afraid to fight Maximus fairly. Before their final fight, he secretly hurts Maximus with a knife. He hides the wound. He wants to fight and win against a man who is already dying, but everyone must think it was a fair fight.
In the arena, Maximus fights hard, even with his terrible wound. He kills Commodus. Then Maximus falls too. Before he dies, he asks for the other gladiators to be free, and for the senator Gracchus to help Rome again. Maximus dies in the arena. The crowd carries him out like a hero, not a slave.
1. What does Commodus secretly do before the last fight?
2. What does Maximus ask for before he dies?
1. He secretly cuts Maximus with a knife and hides the wound, so he can win against a dying man.
2. He asks for the other gladiators to be free, and for Gracchus to help rule Rome fairly.
This film tells a story about the past, and so does real history. The past simple is the tense we use to talk about finished actions and events.
Put the verb in the past simple.
1. Commodus (kill) his own father to become emperor.
2. Maximus (lose) his wife and son.
3. The crowd in the Colosseum (love) the gladiator fights.
1. killed (regular)
2. lost (irregular)
3. loved (regular)
Write the negative past simple with did not or didn't.
1. The real Commodus (die) in the arena. He died in his bath.
2. Marcus Aurelius (want) to end the Roman Empire.
3. Most gladiators (choose) their own job — they were usually slaves.
1. did not die / didn't die
2. did not want / didn't want
3. did not choose / didn't choose
Fill each gap with the past simple form. Read it aloud when you finish.
Commodus (become) emperor after killing his father. He (not / rule) for a short time — he (rule) for twelve years. In the end, his own trainer (kill) him at home, not in the arena.
became · did not rule / didn't rule · ruled · killed
Use the past simple for finished actions in the past — regular verbs take -ed, irregular verbs change form.
The film feels like real history, but the hero is not real at all. And the real emperor was, in some ways, even stranger than the film shows.
There was no general called Maximus. He is a character the writers invented. He is probably a mix of a few real Roman soldiers, but his exact story never happened. Marcus Aurelius, the old emperor, was real — and he was a famous thinker who wrote a book called Meditations. But he never planned to end the empire and give power back to the people, like in the film. That part is not true.
Commodus was a real Roman emperor, and he really did fight as a gladiator — but more safely than in the film. He believed strange things about himself, like being a god. But he did not die in the arena. In real life, on 31 December AD 192, his own wrestling trainer, a man called Narcissus, killed him quietly at home. There was no big fight, no crowd, and no famous last words — just a secret plan by people close to him.
Most gladiators really were slaves or prisoners, forced to fight. But in real fights, gladiators did not usually die — trainers did not want to lose a valuable fighter. The film makes gladiator fights look more deadly than most of them really were.
Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of Gladiator in your own words. Use these steps to help you: Commodus kills his father and becomes emperor → Maximus loses his family and becomes a slave → he fights well and comes to Rome → he tells Commodus who he is → the final fight, where both men die.
Try to use some key words (emperor, soldier, slave, sword, revenge, kill, escape, crowd) and the past simple.
Maximus wants personal revenge on Commodus, not a fair trial. Do you think this is right? Or should even a very bad person always get a fair trial? Say why.
Talk about true stories and films. Use the past simple.
Not sure what to say? Choose one: