On the brink of death, the emperor Marcus Aurelius chooses the general Maximus Decimus Meridius to return power to the people of Rome, unleashing the envy of his son Commodus. When the young man usurps the throne and orders Maximus and his family killed, the general escapes wounded only to fall into slavery and be sold as a gladiator. From the arena, forging his fame by the sword, Maximus rises to the Colosseum with a single purpose: to exact his revenge on the man who took everything from him. Ridley Scott delivers an epic peplum of honor, pain, and redemption that restored to the great screen the splendor of ancient Rome.