Centurion (2010) with Michael Fassbender, an interesting mix of fact and folklore, reveals a historian. Directed by Neil Marshall, this historical action film follows a small group of Roman soldiers in Northern Britain after their legion is destroyed by a brutal ambush. Fassbender leads the Centurion Cast as Centurion Quintus Dias, with supporting cast including Olga Kurylenko, Dominic West, Andreas Wisniewski and David Morrissey.
In a recent video for History hit On YouTube, historian Tristan Hughes analyzes scenes from Centurionrevealing that the film is a personal favorite of his. Despite this, Hughes reveals that the film has some inaccuracies, especially as it relates to the destruction of the Ninth Roman Legion, a story that lacks supporting archaeological evidence.
The film, however, blends other elements of real history into an exciting mix, including aspects of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and the story of BoudicaAn ancient tribal leader who rebelled against the Romans. Watch the video or read selections from Hughes’ commentary on Centurion below:
“Here, the setting is supposed to be Scotland, Northern Britain today. Where is unclear. But the legion, the Ninth Legion, have marched north from Hadrian’s Wall and I think it is to try to flex the military power of Rome in the north .What I love about this story is that it is a combination of three of my favorite stories from Roman history. You can see elements of Boudica in a small part … and it has elements of a disastrous battle that is Occurred in the forest of Germania in 9 AD.
“Flaming coals, the flaming coals, there is no direct evidence that they are used, I do not see why they would not be used, how they could not be used. But it would be necessary to clear the forest a lot. To make sure That they rolled down… it’s certainly possible that they could have done them.
“And this is very Teutaburg forest vibes, the barbarians coming out of the trees, hit-and-run ambushes. They showed quite a lot with big brutal weapons, throwing axes, big two-handed weapons, but interestingly quite a lack of spears Still would have been an essential weapon of the attackers.
“It’s brutal, it’s absolutely brutal the battle scene, I must admit. But I like it because it gives Teutoburg forest vibes and I find that battle really interesting….
“The history of the Ninth Legion is an interesting one. Archaeologically, in Britain, evidence for the Ninth Legion disappearing in 108 AD, I think the last archaeological evidence for it is a dedication … which talks about the Ninth being involved in The rebuilding of the Ninth Legion. The legionary fortress in York, we then never hear of the Ninth Legion again in Britain. It is not building Hadrian’s Wall a few years later in 122 AD, which suggests that the Ninth Legion is no longer in Britain.
“The popular story today…is that the Ninth Legion headed north before the building of Hadrian’s Wall and was destroyed in Northern Britain. However, archaeological evidence suggests that actually the Ninth Legion was relocated to elsewhere in the empire.
“There is evidence of a detachment at Nijmegen, there is a beautiful tomb from Petra…all of which suggests that the Ninth Legion existed in the second century and was probably just relocated somewhere or disbanded or destroyed somewhere else. The likelihood that it is Destroyed in Northern Britain as depicted in the film is very, very little.”
What Centurion’s mixed historical accuracy means for the film
The 2010 Michael Fassbender movie was not a hit
Centurion Earned somewhat lukewarm reviews from critics at the time of its release and currently sports a 60% score on Rotten tomatoes. The audience, however, was less forgiving, awarding the film only 43%. Key arguments of critics mostly revolve around the fact that, though Centurion Featuring plenty of bloody, gruesome battles and some impressive vistas, the story and characters aren’t particularly compelling or three-dimensional. Made on an estimated budget of $12 million, the film failed to break even at the box office, earning only $6.9 million worldwide.
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The film’s Roman Empire historical accuracy, or lack thereof, is apparently not one of the reasons for its poor performance critically or commercially. One key problem is that Centurion It lacked any great actorsApparently, not enough time alone with Fassbender himself. This would be proven again a few years later, in 2016, with the disappointing Assassin’s Creed movie, which has the added benefit of drawing from popular source material.
Our take on Centurion’s historical accuracy
The deviations of history do not serve the characters
Often, a film or television show will make changes to the story in the interest of telling a more dramatically-compelling story. Unless a film is selling itself as a completely accurate depiction of an event or figure, I’m generally okay with that, because The primary purpose of a film is to entertain, not to serve as a picture-perfect recreation of something in the past..
Centurion Features a grab-bag of real historical elements and pure fiction, as Hughes explained above, and this obviously results in an entertaining battle sequence. The film’s deviations from history, however, do not serve the story or the charactersAnd these are the elements that elevate a movie beyond being something disposable.
Source: History hit