The Arena (2001)

While keeping many of these plot elements, the later version of the movie also makes several important changes. Firstly in place of the double capture scenes, we are introduced to Timarchus devastating the countryside and chopping down trees in order to build the new town of Durostrum, and we then have a flashback to one year earlier. Priscium is sent to Rome in order to purchase gladiators in this version, and Jessemina’s removal from her debt-ridden master’s home is shown. The long and cold journey to Durostrum then features, and another flashback is inserted, giving Boadicia’s back history and capture. This whole extra section draws attention to the setting, with its theme of Roman colonisation, and to the central role of Timarchus.¹

The next major deviation from the original plot occurs after the orgy scene, when Boadicia is summoned to Timarchus’ quarters and raped, leading her to attempt to escape. It is Flavius, the gladiator whose appearance is so similar to that of her old lover, and with whom she will sleep on the night before he is killed, who manages to persuade her from this attempt, adding another layer to the relationship between the two. Similarly, there is an additional scene inserted highlighting the growing love of Septimus for Lusinia while Timarchus watches broodingly, in contrast to the earlier movie in which they are already an established couple at the start of the movie. Such changes demonstrate greater tenderness between the couples, and more pathos, while at the same time helping again to demonise Timarchus.

Another important addition is the pair of scenes after Lusinia’s death, in which Deirdre is shown to have committed suicide, and Jessemina and Boadicea choose Septimus and Claudius as sexual partners. This is in accordance with the accepted custom that the gladiator has the right to choose a mate the night before he fights, but here it is an opportunity for the two heroines to attempt to persuade the men to help them revolt. Finally, where the first movie continues after the arena fight, portraying the flight and battle through town and catacombs, the later film culminates in the arena itself, with the death of Timarchus triggering rebellion and the overthrow of Roman rule. Both these changes show the women as more powerful in the second version, and depict the rebellion they started as leading to the overthrow of the evil Roman regime. The whole scale and impact of the women’s stand is therefore very different in the later version of the film. Mamawi, defeating Boudicea, had demanded only her freedom; the issue for her, while symbolic of the feeling of all the gladiators, was personal. Boudicea’s on the other hand is the struggle of the whole oppressed world again the Roman dictator.