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Gladiator IIis all but ready to debut on the big screen and show audiences what happened decades after the events of the first film, when Maximus Decimus Meridius passed into the Elysian fields. When the sequel to one of the most impactful films in cinema does release on May 19, 2025, it will center on Lucius (Paul Mescal), grandson of Marcus Aurelius and daughter of Lucilla (two characters based on real-life people), who lives a peaceful life outside the Roman Empire only to be brought into it against his will.
While Lucius plays both the main character and tie to the original film, he’s surrounded by a slew of diverse and fascinating characters played by truly talented people. Among them isDenzel Washington’sMacrinus. Director Ridley Scott has been relatively quiet about details on his sequel, but fans know Lucius ends up following a similar path as Maximus, ending up as a gladiator. Unlike the more gentlehearted gladiatorial manager Maximus fought for in the original film, however, Macrinus seems a little more villainous.
Macrinus, Explained
Denzel Washington’s character, Macrinus, in theGladiatorsequel is anarms dealer and businessmanwho is well known throughout the Roman Empire. He’s responsible for supplying the armies with food, weapons, and manages a collection of gladiators on the side. Director Ridley Scott has indicated that Washington’s Macrinus is particularly cruel, especially to his stable of gladiators. If true, this points to a a particularly bleak movie overloaded with villains, which might be a rather accurate representation of Ancient Rome.
It’s known that Emperor Caracalla (played by Fred Hechinger), working alongside Emperor Geta (played byStranger Things’Joseph Quinn), will also be antagonistic characters who strive to control Acacius (played by Pedro Pascal), a Roman general who served under Russel Crowe’s Maximus. One thing is for sure, Washington’s Macrinus will be a suave, charismatic man who’s capable of getting what he wants. Scott talked toVanity Fairabout Washington’s character, saying:
Denzel is an arms dealer who supplies food for the armies in Europe, supplies wine and oil, makes steel, makes spears, weapons, cannons, and catapults. So he is a very wealthy man. Instead of having a stable of racehorses, he has a stable of gladiators
Ridley Scott’sfirstGladiatoronly loosely adapted historical events (very loosely), so it’s likely to be the same forGladiator II. Sadly, not much more is known about Macrinus other than what has been seen in the trailer and what Scott has said about the character. Until the movie debuts, fans will have to speculate based on information from history books.
Was Macrinus a Real Person?
Macrinus was quite a person in Rome’s history and clearly not the same man portrayed by Denzel Washington inGladiator II. Ancient Rome commonly found its emperor through the senate, Rome’s ruling body, or noble bloodlines. Macrinus didn’t come from the senatorial class. In fact, he was bestowed the title ofemperorfrom his own army.
Before he became a praetorian prefect under Emperor Caracalla (played by Fred Hechinger inGladiator II), he was a lawyer. His skill as a lawyer got him noticed by others and helped him garner political fame. As a praetorian prefect he conspired against Caracalla and alledgedly had him assassinated while he was dealing with the Parthians in what is now Iran.
Shortly after Caracalla met his end, the army named Macrinusemperor of the entire empire. Macrinus finished up Caracalla’s efforts with the Parthians, ending with a peace agreement that didn’t favor Rome in the slightest. Macrinus’s tenure as emperor was a series of poor decisions and policies, including a pay cut for his soldiers, keeping many of them stationed in Syria rather than sending them home. He was not liked by his subjects and only served as emperor for a single year from 217 to 218 C.E.
His unfavorable policies, on top of a rumor that Caracalla had an heir, saw that his own armies turned against him. While fleeing to Italy (Macrinus had never been to Rome) he was captured and executed. Meanwhile, Caracalla’s alledged heir, Elagabalus, was named Rome’s new emperor by the Gallic Third Legion.
Was Macrinus in the First Gladiator Movie?
Obviously, Denzel Washington himself wasn’t in thefirstGladiatorfilm. And he’s not replacing another actor because Macrinus wasn’t in the first movie at all. At the time of the film, historically, Macrinus would have been fulfilling his duties as a lawyer. Actually, to be historically accurate, Macrinus would have been 16 years old by the end of Marcus Aurelius’s reign, which was in 180 C.E.
Depending on how far Macrinus in the film strays from reality, he could have been making moves on the black market to position himself as a well-known businessman already during the events of the originalGladiator. People came of age much earlier and didn’t live nearly as long back then as they do in modern times. Portions of the film took place in Zuccabar, not terribly far from Numidia where Lucius is residing at the opening of the sequel. Macrinus could have easily been around Proximo (Oliver Reed), assisting with the gladiators and learning the ropes,. Who knows,Washington’s character could have met Crowe’sat one point.
