Zuccabar, current day Miliana Algeria – Slave market where Maximus was sold
After Maximus fainted near his house in Spain(Hispania), he was shipped to Zuccabar, current day Miliana Algeria and he was sold as a slave to a former gladiator and current gladiator tournament promotor Proximo.
Maggot therapy – treating wounds
Juba, a hunter from Numidia who was also caught as a slave helped Maximus heal his wounds by treating him with maggots.
Maggot therapy or larval therapy has surprisingly extraordinary healing effects and it is under further research as well. Maggot therapy has multiple effects such as physical and chemical removal of tissue under necrosis called Debridement.
Maggot therapy also enhances cell growth stimulation and has antibacterial effects and even decrease inflammation.
Thus it isn’t pseudoscience for Zuba to treat Maximus’s wounds with maggots and maggot therapy even in modern times is under research for its extraordinary effects.
Zuccabar, Carthage and Numidia map – Gladiator
Zucchabar or Zuccabar is the city where Maximus was sold as a slave that is current day Miliana, Algeria. Zuccabar was a province of Mauretania Caesariensis of the Roman Empire. Zuma, the black hunter who was also kidnapped as a slave who helped heal Maximus came from Numidia.
Numidia was the ancient kingdom in the Northwest Africa adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea that is current day Algeria and Tunisia.
Numidia became one of the major provinces of the North-western Africa of the Roman Empire. Carthage was one of the major port cities of Numidia and it is the currently part of Tunisia.
Carthage was once a state-city and capital of the Carthage state(country) that ruled the northern regions of Africa that even threatened the Roman Republic.
Past of Proximo, owner of Maximus and promoter of gladiator tournaments
Proximo or Antonius Proximo was the grand master of the animals and gladiators at Zuccabar in Numidia. Proxmio bought both Zuba and Maximus and trained them as a gladiator.
Antonius Proximo himself was once a gladiator and received the wooden sword known as a Rudis, a sword given as a token for freedom by Marcus Aurelius.
In the movie, Marcus Aurelius banned gladiator tournaments so Proximo had to relocate to Zuccabar for a living. Proximo both owned gladiators and animals that enter tournaments and even ran a gladiator training school.
Ban of gladiator tournaments by Marcus Aurelius
In reality, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius didn’t’ ban gladiator tournaments.
There were some records that Marcus Aurelius eased the rules of gladiator tournaments but there weren’t any records of him completely restricting gladiator tournaments and this is rather a movie adaptation.
Life of a slave in Rome
Slaves were considered property and didn’t have any rights as a free person. Although there weren’t much moral obligations nor slavery abolition movements, however discrimination against slaves in Roman era was rather moderate and not harsh.
Slaves and free people shared many roles and blended in the Roman society. Slaves were considered humans being but they lacked the legal statue to assert certain rights such as filing a lawsuit and owning property.
Why did Maximus resist becoming a gladiator at first
Maximus was in despair as his emperor Marcus Aurelius was murdered (as stretched Gladiator doesn’t portray history accurately and this didn’t occur in history) by his son Commodus.
Also, Commodus and Maximus’s old friend Quintus betrayed Maximus and attempted to execute him while they’ve murdered Maximus’s family as well.
Maximus had no reason to live on and simply wanted to give up on life so he resisted taking other’s orders and wished to die.
Spaniard and the Hispania region of Rome
The Romans called the Iberian Peninsula Hispania that is current day Spain and Portugal.
The exact location of Maximus’s hometown is unknown, however Maximus only mentions that he lived on the hills of Trujillo that refers to multiple locations in Spain.
As Maximus was born and lived in the Hispania region, he earned the nickname Spaniard that means a person from spain.
Why did Maximus eventually fight as a gladiator
During the first gladiator tournament, Maximus’s actions were based on his natural instincts as a warrior.
The poet that could speak multiple language who became chained partners with the giant Germanian gladiator Hagen also refused to fight like Maximus at first.
However the poet soon after facing death at the gladiator tournament feels the urge of survival instantly as well. Maximus also by instinct focused on survival right after he saw the blood of the gladiator tournament.
His null emotions and void transitioned to wrath and anger and Maximus started a killing spree as a gladiator although he had no purpose nor a clear motivation yet.
Why did Maximus arouse as a gladiator
Maximus soon became famous or infamous as the Spaniard, acknowledged and popular among the public and his fellow gladiators. Still, Maximus had no clear purpose and only killed because he had to.
Proximo calls out Maximus and told him the stories of himself as a gladiator and when he was freed. Maximus hears that Commodus started to open gladiator tournaments at the Colosseum and noticed that Proximo planned to enter the Colosseum.
Maximus then realizes that he could achieve his revenge of his wife, son and the emperor Marcus Aurelius, To participate in the gladiator tournaments and face Commodus for his revenge, Maximus arouse and awakens as a gladiator.
Proximo reminds and urges Maximus to win the crowd as an entertainer, not a warrior. Maximus bears Proximo’s words and uses the Roman crowd politically against Commodus in the Colosseum
Rudis – wooden sword and symbol of freedom
Proximo shows the rudis, a wooden sword that Marcus Aurelius gave him as a token of freedom to Maximus.
A rudis was a sword that gladiators would use to train but it was also used as a symbol of freedom for enslaved gladiators. Not all gladiators were slaves but those slaves who became gladiators could receive a rudis and become freed.
Maximus’s tattoo – SPQR – symbol of the Roman Empire
SPQR means Senatus PopulusQue Romanu that translates as the Senate and the People of Rome. The SPQR flag was the flag of the Roman military as well.
Although the movie gladiator mentions that it was the symbol of a deserter, this wasn’t real in actual history.
Also, having the SPQR tattoo wasn’t general nor a required task for Roman soldiers serving in the Roman military. Maximus takes off his SPQR tattoo off his skin for he was betrayed by Rome.
