Caracalla

Caracalla
Relatives	Geta (twin brother)
Occupation	Emperor
Date of birth	Deceased
Place of death	Colosseum
Cause of death	Stabbed through the ear by Macrinus
Gender	Male
Portrayed by	Fred Hechinger
Appears in	Gladiator II

War! Real war!

—Geta, to Macrinus, upon seeing Lucilla's execution not going as planned, Gladiator II

Caracalla serves a co-emperor of Rome alongside his twin brother, Geta. In the film Gladiator II, he is portrayed by Fred Hechinger.

Profile

He and his brother Geta are both damaged goods from birth. The two of the threaten Lucilla's well-being as a means of controlling General Marcus Acacius. Their leadership is a harbinger of the end of Roman dominance.

He has a pet monkey called Dundus, which served as ‘yet another inspiration’ for Caracalla’s character.

Gladiator II - Emperors (2024 Movie) - Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington

History

He and his brother Geta at some point seized power following the death of Commodus. Under their rule, the leadership of Rome has become almost entirely corrupt, the influence of the Senate reduced to a shell of what it was once was. Marcus Aurelius's wish of a Rome for the people has not been realized and Lucilla has been forced to sit by and watch.

Under his and his brother's rule, Rome has continued to greatly expand its territory via conquest. Their latest capture is that of the city of Numidia in Africa, a campaign led by General Marcus Acacius. During this campaign, a number of the town's villagers are captured and pressed into service as Gladiators, including one "Hanno," who is secretly Lucius Verus, son of the hero Maximus Decimus Meridius and Lucilla and grandson of Marcus Aurelius.

Upon his return from Numidia, Marcus Acacius hatches a plan with Lucilla to lead his forces in the overthrow of Geta and Caracalla. The two, however, are warned of the plan by Senator Thraex and capture both Lucilla and Marcus Acacius, intending to kill the both of them, though wary, as Lucilla is highly respected by the people.

The two place Marcus Acacius in the Colosseum, matching him against Lucius Verus, who has made something of a name for himself as a Gladiator. At first, Lucius is full of rage for the man that he fought against at Numidia and who oversaw the death of his wife, Arishat. However, General Acacius reveals to him that he knows the truth of his parentage and tells him that he truly loves his mother, Lucilla. Drained of his rage, Lucius decides to spare the man. Aggravated, Caracalla and Geta call for his death and when Lucius will not do it, they order the Praetorian Guard to kill him instead and he is shot dead by multiple arrows from the stands.

Lucius addresses the crowd, asking if this is how Rome treats its heroes. The crowd is whipped up into a rage and Caraclla, Geta and those with them are forced to retreat. Caracalla and Geta take refuge inside their palace, even as an angry mob outside calls for their heads. Meanwhile, Macrinus, arms-dealer and Gladiator-owner, takes Caracalla aside, stoking him against his brother, Geta. He tells him that Geta is plotting against him, feeding Caracalla's own belief in his brother's treachery, claiming that he never had anything to himself and that Geta was against him even in the womb. He goes to Geta and, driven on by Macrinus, kills him.

Caracalla then goes before the Senate. There, he declares his monkey, Dondus, to be his first consort and Macrinus his second. He then, with Macrinus, arranges Lucilla to be brought to the Colosseum, where she is to be tied up and face off against the Praetorian Guard, defended only by a single Gladiator, her son Lucius. Lucius, however, manages to free his fellow Gladiators. When Lucilla and the Praetorian Guard arrive, it ends up being not a lone warrior that they face, but an entire mob of Gladiators. Caracalla, however, far from being annoyed, is delighted by the spectacle. His amusement, however, comes to an end, when he is stabbed in the ear and killed by Macrinus, who intends to seize power for himself.

Personality

Caracalla was a sadistic, tyrannical ruler who ruled Rome and all of the Colosseum's entertainment. He got amused easily by people fighting each other, as he enjoyed watching discord unfold among combatants in the Colosseum. His corrupt rule impacted the amount of bloodshed on the floors of the arena, showing his intense liking for war. Despite he is the older of two brothers in real life, he seems less-sane than Geta in the movie due to cognitive erosion in his brain, this may be to highlight his madness and brutality. Real life Caracalla was a serious and tyrannical ruler but also was a capable person and didn’t has some childishness manner like the movie.

Historical accuracy

In real-life, Caracalla was proclaimed joint emperor of Rome alongside Geta upon the death of their father, Septimius Severus. The two proved incapable of sharing power and Caracalla arranged the murder of his brother later that same year.

Gladiator II creator/director Ridley Scott describes the characters in the film as being the equivalent of the legend of Romulus and Remus, "the two lunatics who formed Rome but were bred from the milk of a wolf? [Caracalla and Geta] came up a different way, but were probably brain damaged."

Behind the scenes

In an interview with Empire magazine, Caracalla actor Fred Hechinger stated that Ridley Scott's influences for Caracalla and Geta were pretty varied and ranged from the real Caracalla and Geta (being very loosely based on the historical figures), to Beavis and Butt-Head, Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten, with Caracalla being the Beavis and Sid Vicious of the duo, being the less-sane brother.