After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiator and battle to the death against other men for the amusement of paying audiences.
Cinema Atlas Connection
When you are doing an epic film, you do look at historicals for inspiration... films like 'Ben-Hur', 'Gladiator', '300'... for the visual grandeur, scale and action choreography, they are definitely reference points.