Lots of moments from “Gladiator II” are fiction. But some scientists think mock naval battles in the Colosseum totally happened. This is an article from our newsletter “Science Goes To The Movies.” To ...

When Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 arrives in cinemas this week, some viewers may assume that the spectacular scenes of the ...

It is also true the Colosseum was flooded periodically to recreate famous naval battles, a demonstration known as naumachia. Andrew Scott, a classical studies professor at Villanova University ...

or mock sea battles. The Romans re-enacted these naval engagements with scaled-down warships maneuvering in water three to five feet deep. To create this artificial lake, Colosseum stagehands ...

goes to battle in "the greatest temple Rome ever built — the Colosseum". He comes up against naval warfare, a cutthroat promoter (Denzel Washington) and a stampeding rhino. But how much of this ...

In one of Lucius' clashes, the Colosseum is filled with water — and man-eating tiger sharks — as dozens of gladiators fight for their lives on ships in a staged naval battle. Ginsberg says ...

the Colosseum was the venue for numerous shows, including gladiator fights, wild animal hunts and re-enactments of famous ...

“We built three full-sized ships — they could move 20 miles per hour,” Scott says of the Colosseum naval battle. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures For all its over-the-top ...

It is well known that the Colosseum hosted brutal to-the-death battles between gladiators. But a different category of fighter, not a gladiator but more of a hunter, would sometimes be put in the ...