Gladiator
Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, a native of Hispania, leads the Roman Army to victory against Germanic barbarians in the year A.D. 180, ending a prolonged war, and earning the esteem of elderly Emperor Marcus Aurelius. As the battle ends, a son and daughter of the Emperor arrive, Commodus and Lucilla.
The dying Aurelius decides to appoint leadership to the morally-upstanding Maximus, with a desire to eventually return power to the Roman Senate, effectively reviving the Republic. Aurelius informs Maximus before telling Commodus, who, in a bout of jealousy, murders his father. Declaring himself the emperor, Commodus asks Maximus for his loyalty, which Maximus, realizing Commodus' involvement in the Emperor's death, refuses. Commodus orders Maximus' execution and dispatches Praetorian Guards to murder his wife and son. Maximus narrowly escapes, but is injured in the process. He races home to discover his wife and son crucified in the smoldering ruins of his home. After burying them, Maximus succumbs to exhaustion and collapses.
Slave traders find Maximus and take him to Zucchabar, a rugged province in North Africa, where he is purchased by Antonius Proximo, the head of a gladiator school. Maximus initially refuses to fight, but as he defends himself in the arena his formidable combat skills lead to a rise in popularity with the audience. Known as "The Spaniard", he trains and fights further, and befriends Hagen, a Germanic barbarian, and Juba, a Numidian hunter.
In Rome, Commodus reopens the gladiatorial games to pay tribute to his father and gain the favor of the people, and Proximo's gladiators are hired to participate. During a reenactment of the Battle of Zama from the Second Punic War, Maximus leads Proximo's gladiators, in the guise of Hannibal's forces, to a decisive victory against a more powerful force to the amazement of the crowd and emperor. Commodus descends into the arena to meet the victors and instructs "The Spaniard" to remove his helmet and tell him his name. An angry Maximus shows his face and reveals his identity. The Emperor, unable to kill Maximus because of the crowd's approval for him, leaves the arena. As the games continue, Commodus pits Maximus against Tigris of Gaul, Rome's only undefeated gladiator, in an arena surrounded by chained tigers. Maximus defeats Titus, and by not killing him, deliberately insults Commodus by directly defying his orders. The crowd cheers Maximus, bestowing him the title "Merciful". Commodus becomes more frustrated at his inability to kill Maximus, let alone stop his ascending popularity.
Maximus finds his former servant Cicero, who reveals that Maximus's army remains loyal to him. Maximus forms a plot with Lucilla and Senator Gracchus to rejoin his army and overthrow Commodus. Suspecting his sister's betrayal, Commodus threatens her young son and forces her to reveal the plot. Praetorian guards immediately storm Proximo's gladiator barracks, battling the gladiators while Maximus escapes. Hagen and Proximo are killed in the siege while Juba and the survivors are imprisoned. Maximus escapes to the city walls only to witness Cicero's death and be captured by a legion of Praetorian guards.
Commodus challenges Maximus to a duel in front of a full audience in the Colosseum. Acknowledging that Maximus's skill exceeds his own, Commodus stabs Maximus with a stiletto, puncturing his lung, and has the wound concealed. In the arena, the two exchange blows before Maximus rips the sword from Commodus's hands. Maximus drops his own sword, but Commodus pulls a hidden stiletto and renews his attack. Maximus then kills Commodus with his own stiletto, plunging it into his neck. As Commodus collapses in the now-silent Colosseum, a dying Maximus begins seeing his wife and son in the afterlife. He reaches for them, but is pulled back to reality by Quintus, who asks for instructions. Maximus orders the release of Proximo's gladiators and the reinstatement of Senator Gracchus, instructing him to return Rome to a Senate-based government. Maximus then dies and wanders into the afterlife to his family. Senator Gracchus, Quintus, and Proximo's gladiators carry his body out of the Colosseum, leaving Commodus behind. That night, Juba returns to an empty Colosseum, and speaks of seeing Maximus in the afterlife.
