The unrealistic ending

be fair. it was a 1950s Hollywood religious epic entertainment within a very loose historical framework. And if you're unhappy with unrealistic and inaccurate endings, Gladiator wasn't much better in that respect. Don't expect much historical accuracy from such far, enjoy it for the spectacle that it is, the great sets, Susan Hayward pouting and bursting out of her bodice, Michael Rennie being noble, and most of all Jay Robinson mincing and strutting as Caligula.

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You obviously haven't been keeping up with your ancient Roman history. Claudius was a much better ruler than his predecessors (which wouldn't be hard, I'll grant you) and was nowhere near as bad as Caligula. His ony mistake was trusting his second wife too much.

So ridiculous robe is, bullsh*t!

Oh my God! And here's another shocker--Victor Mature wasn't really a Gladiator! Matter of fact, he wasn't even Roman! Good Lord!

Some documentary this turned out to be!!

There's also the fact that he was able-bodied, as he was disabled in real life

Just reading the words "Roman History" above sent shivers down my spine - flashbacks to tedious hours wallowing in ignorance at school. Now I find it interesting, but I don't know much about it.

The much praised BBC series "I, Claudius" depicted Claudius as bumbling, stammering and handicapped but kindly and wise. Is this not accurate?

The fact is that none of these films portrayed the emperors as they really were. Tiberius was far from the benevolent figure that Hollywood created. Although one of the so-called, "Good Emperors", Marcus Aurelius actually persecuted Christians (the irony is, his son, Commodus, an evil man, who thought of himself as equal with the demigod, Hercules, did not). If we're going to nit-pick on this film, here's another historical inaccuracy: Caligula was not the first Roman emperor to persecute Christians. That would be his nephew, Lucius Domitius Aherobarbas, or as history knows him, Nero. Yes, Caligula did think of himself as a living god, and even ordered a statue of himself placed in the Temple in Jerusalem (which was never carried out, because of his death). However, some historians have come to doubt the notion of his so-called, "madness", because ancient sources contradict one another. As for Claudius, it was generally thought by members of his family that he was mentally handicapped, because he stuttered and drooled, and as a result, was isolated from the outside world until he succeeded his nephew in 41 A.D. And, he did not allow the insectuous behavior of Messalina go unpunished, as he had her killed. Unfortunately, it was his second wife, Agrippina the Younger (Nero's mother) who poisoned him.

These inaccuries, however, don't take away from the film. What counts is the message, which is what the filmmakers are trying to convey to the audience. The message in this case is that Jesus Christ, not Caesar, was/is God in human form, and it is only through Him that you have eternal life.