"Gladiator" is a Ridley Scott classic that blew the box office away when it released in the summer of 2000. Scott recently returned to the Roman saga with a sequel, "Gladiator II," that stars Paul Mescal and a scene-stealing Denzel Washington . While the "Gladiator" franchise is a fixture of cinema, though, one common question is whether it's based on a historical true story, or whether it's mere fiction. In the case of Russell Crowe's titular Gladiator," in particular, is Maximus' harrowing tale a bona fide reality, or is it made up of whole cloth?

The short answer is that it's mostly the latter. "Gladiator" is not based on a true story, and neither is its sequel. However, this is tricky answer because Scott did borrow heavily from real history to create his story. (Kind of like how

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