Before there was Troy, or 300, or somehow two Hercules movies in 2014, or whatever that Jon Snow Pompeii movie was, there was Gladiator. In an age where 1960s movies about Ancient Greece and Rome had become synonymous with incoherent scripts and short-short tunics, Ridley Scott and Russel Crowe delivered a sophisticated film that used Imperial Rome to explore modern relationships with violence and spectacle. The empire came alive again, from Germania to Hispania to North Africa to the Colosseum in the heart of Rome. And in a small conservative school in a small conservative midwestern town, the Latin teacher (and principal!) bought tickets for his high school students and snuck them illicitly into the R-rated movie, and a certain future Classical Studies professor was born (it’s Dr. Thill!). To answer your question, Maximus: Yes, we were entertained.

Want to see the movie that started it all? Join the Classical Studies Program on Tuesday, May 02, 7:30 PM for a special big-screen showing of Gladiator at the KanKan Cinema and Brasserie in downtown Indy, sponsored by the IUPUI World Languages and Cultures Department. CLAS faculty Dr. Elizabeth Thill and Dr. Andy Findley will be hosting a pre-show discussion. So come see the original epic film, before the planned sequel inevitably ruins everything again.