Movie Review: Centurion

Movie Review: Centurion I chose this movie because it was about the Romans which I enjoy studying. I also enjoy movies about war. There was lots of blood such the reviews told. The reviews on this move were positive except for the ones talking about how the movie was quite historically inaccurate. This movie was loosely based on the massacre of the ninth legion and centered on the supposed disappearance of the Ninth Legion in Caledonia in AD 117. The ninth legion was commanded by Quintus Petillius Cerialis originally, but in the movie it is shown that it was first commanded by General Virilus before being captured and taken over by Quintus Dias. The ninth legion had a total of about 5,000 men, but it is unlikely that Quintus called all of them on such short notice since they were trying to relieve the siege on Britain. He probably called on the first unit and maybe some others. This would have totaled to be about 2,500- 3,000. They went to fight the Caledonians or in other words, the Picts who lived in Britain. The Picts were highly trained and ruthless. The Romans have defeated them as well as they have defeated the Romans. The legion was defeated by these British tribes wiping out the entire infantry. Tacitus writes that Quintus and his men escaped though which is what this movie is based upon. This attack is a significant even, but it was not well recorded. The directors could only base the movie on what is recorder making most of this movie incorrect. One of the major themes is trust and betrayal. The characters in the movies had many cases where their trust with other people disintegrated. For example, the Romans trusted Etain to help them with hunting down the Picts. It turns out that actually the Picts sent her to Rome to gain their trust, so she could lead them right into the Pict’s trap. She wants revenge because the Roman armies killed and raped her family and then cut out her tongue. Another example would be when Thax cuts Macros’s leg. Since he is