Areas, including the Colosseum, were flooded with water for staged fights. These mock naval battles, known as naumachia, began during Julius Caesar's rule in Rome.

When it comes to the Colosseum sea battle in "Gladiator II," Scott is surprisingly not deviating too far from history. A form of ancient Roman theater was called "naumachia," in which sea battles ...

Scott, who has never shied away from being snide about his decisions, had joked at the Alien: Romulus premiere about how they would’ve gotten sharks in the Colosseum. He said, “That’s easy.

That battle between the Corcyreans and Corinthians precipitated the Peloponnesian War, in 434 BCE, so would have taken place a little over 500 years before it was recreated in the Colosseum.

"Gladiator II" shows the Roman Colosseum as it likely never was: filled with water and sharks in order to host bloody sea-battle re-enactments.

It turns into a battle with gladiators and the Emperors’ guards falling into shark-infested water. To set it up, Mathieson explains the sequence was actually shot twice.

Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator 2’ has been accused of peddling ‘total Hollywood bulls***’, but many aspects of the film are backed up by historical record ...

It turns into a battle with gladiators and the Emperors’ guards falling into shark-infested water. To set it up, Mathieson explains the sequence was actually shot twice.

When it comes to the Colosseum sea battle in “Gladiator II,” Scott is surprisingly not deviating too far from history. A form of ancient Roman theater was called “naumachia,” in which sea ...