Ridley Scott’s Gladiator drew visual inspiration from Jean-Léon Gérôme’s 1872 painting Pollice Verso, particularly its depiction of a Roman arena, a victorious gladiator and a crowd deciding a defeated fighter’s fate. The connection matters because the painting helped shape one of modern cinema’s most recognisable visions of ancient Rome, despite reflecting Victorian-era assumptions as much as historical reality.

Gérôme’s work presents Rome as a spectacle of violence, power and public appetite, themes echoed throughout Scott’s film. Its famous “thumbs down” association is historically disputed: Roman gestures used to determine a gladiator’s fate may not have worked in the simple way later art and popular culture suggest. The painting’s dramatic imagery nevertheless influenced how audiences imagine both Roman entertainment and imperial cruelty.