A spectacular number of column inches have been devoted to Marcus Nonius Macrinus, the supposed inspiration for the film Gladiator, over the past few days thanks to the discovery of his monumental tomb on the via Flaminia, north of Rome. A brief trawl finds stories in the Independent, Telegraph, Daily Mail and the Times. Even FoxNews covers it.
What is actually known about Macrinus? Er, not that much. First off, all of it is epigraphic, and the majority comes from ILS 8830, the base of a statue found in 1903 in the agora in Ephesus. It is in Greek and in pretty good condition. It describes him as "consul of Rome, proconsul of Asia, quindecimvir sacris faciundis", and "legate and battlefield companion of Marcus Aurelius". He is also described as consular governor of Pannonia Superior, governor of Pannonia Inferior and commander of Legion XV. The inscription then lists his other honours. The original inscription is here with a translation in French.
Pretty much everything else is a handful of inscriptions found around Brecia. For example:
CIL 05, 04300 which reads: M[arcus] Nonius / Macrinus / ex voto
CIL 05, 04325 which reads: M[arco] Caecilio / Fabia / Privato / amico / M[arcus] Nonius Macrinus / t[estamento] f[ieri] i[ussit]
or CIL 05, 04864: Dis / Conservatorib[us] / pro salute / Arriae suae / M[arcus] Nonius / Macrin[us] consecr[avit]
No mentions of gladiators anywhere.
The ruins of Macrinus' tomb copyright AP
Marcus Aurelius said in his meditations that people should not have favourite gladiators, but apparentl Marcus Nonius was an exception. The story mentions that Nonius was a battlefield companion of Aerilus. But I suppose this means that they talk stragetegies together and not actually fighting with weapons together.
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