Gladiator II opens with a Roman fleet brutally laying siege to a city in the north African kingdom of Numidia. On the big screen we see ships set ablaze by pots of burning oil and defenders impaled by man-sized iron bolts. The so-called barbarian inhabitants are eventually enslaved and carted off back to Rome.
Upon his victory, General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) declares “I claim this city for the glory of Rome, Numidia is no more.” But, historically, by AD200 Numidia had been a thoroughly integrated part of the Roman empire for over 250 years. First as part of the province of Africa Nova, and later as a province in its own right.
