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Craig Barker, Head, Public Engagement, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney

Gladiator II features a naval battle held in the Colosseum. These brutal spectacles really happened

Paramount Pictures

It’s one of the most thrilling sequences in Ridley Scott’s new film Gladiator II, the long-awaited sequel to the 2000 Oscar-winning blockbuster.

Water gushes from the Colosseum’s fountains and floods the arena. A crew of men led by the film’s hero, Lucius Verus (played by Paul Mescal), row a warship while firing arrows at another ship. Sharks loom in the surrounding water, while the Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) watches on laughing.

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