Every few years, I like to rewatch one of my favorite films...

05:34:00 06.05.2026

Every few years, I like to rewatch one of my favorite films. Gladiator, of course, is a mix of historical reality and artistic fiction. There really was a wise emperor, Marcus Aurelius, who had a son named Commodus. However, the emperor died of illness, not at the hands of his son. Nor did there exist a general named Maximus Decimus Meridius, who later becomes a gladiator and attempts to overthrow Commodus.

In any case, Gladiator is a favorite film for many, and I have definitely watched it more than ten times. But only during my most recent viewing did I more clearly understand why Marcus Aurelius wanted to pass the throne to Maximus rather than to his own son, Commodus. The reason is not only that Maximus is more moral, honorable, and courageous than Commodus. Aurelius wants to entrust him with power because he is also a  general from Spain—someone outside the corrupt political system of Rome, a man who had not been immersed in that polluted swamp.

Aurelius tells Maximus: “I will empower you to one end alone—to give power back to the people of Rome and to end the corruption that has crippled it.” But Maximus refuses, saying: “There should be a senator—someone who knows the city and understands her politics.” Aurelius replies: “But you have not been corrupted by her politics.”

The wise emperor understood well that when a system is corrupt and rotten to its very foundations, only someone entirely outside of that system—an honest man untouched by its politics—can uproot corruption and restore the dignity of the state.

Seeing the widespread corruption and degradation in our own country, especially in the repulsive political arena, it is hard not to agree with Marcus Aurelius’ approach...