The movie “Gladiator” left something to be desired. To my mind, “Gladiator” did not ring true. During the lifetime of philosopher/emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 121-180), the early Christians were being slaughtered by the Romans for amusement at the games in
The movie “Gladiator” left something to be desired. To my mind, “Gladiator” did not ring true.
During the lifetime of philosopher/emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 121-180), the early Christians were being slaughtered by the Romans for amusement at the games in Rome. Historian Edward Gibbon writes, “During the whole course of his reign, Marcus despised the Christains as a philosopher, and punished them as a sovereign.” The Hollywood Dream Works team that produced this film ignored and omitted the Christian persecution. It was not important, apparently. In Hollywood, some kinds of holocausts are relevant and others are not.
The murdering Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius, who became emperor at the death of Marcus, was not killed in the arena by a gladiator as shown in the movie. One of his concubines, fearing for her life, gave him wine laced with poison. While sick in bed, Commodus was strangled by a young hired wrestler.
Hollywood butchered Roman history; it should stick to what it knows best: Mickey Mouse.
What does ring true in “Gladiator” is the ancient Roman opinion polls known as the vox populi, or the “voice of the people.” The Roman ruling families provided the city dwellers with ongoing violence, pornography and gambling. Then they asked the people if they wanted more of this bestiality for entertainment, and the people rallied for more of their “fun.” Should a losing victim live or die at the hand of the winning gladiator? Thumbs up or thumbs down? The decision is made democratically.
Democracy can be tyranny, along with the channeling of manufactured public opinion polls, which is the usual way for ruling insiders to manipulate and propagandize people.
Ruling a population by military force is not necessary. All that the plutocrats need do is get a majority of citizens to enslave themselves.
Decades ago, the British agent and writer, Aldous Huxley, showed in his novel, “Brave New World,” how social control or slavery could be had through drugs.
In the U.S. today, the use of cocaine, marijuana, Ritalin, Prozac, etc. results in creating a class of slavish wimps incapable of exercising their duty as citizens in a constitutional republic.
This wacky flotsam can only beg for more druggie experiences such as “medical marijuana.” Being alert citizens of a nation-state republic would truly be an out-of-body experience for this new Roman mob.
In back of the drug inducements are globalist “free trade” plutocrats intent on dumbing down a whole class of U.S. citizens, just as the ancient Roman ruling families dumbed down the Roman masses by hooking them onto the blood and gore of games.
These conditions make it easy for shrink demagogues to create popular beliefs. Through state institutions and the mass media, invented public opinion becomes the gospel, and anyone who disagrees is “emotionally imbalanced” and should fear for his freedom.
We are becoming a nation of Roman mob zombies. Look at the way Americans tolerate the choices given to them for president. What is the difference between a Gush and a Bore? Thumbs up or thumbs down, either way the American mob gets an errand-boy clerk owned by the “free trade” plutocracy of London and Wall Street.
DOUGLAS E. RAPOZO, Kapa’a
