Warning! This Article Contains Spoilers For Gladiator 2!Maximus Decimus Meridius rubs dirt into his hands and smells it before each battle in Gladiator - and the ritual is incredibly important for understanding his character. Ridley Scott's Gladiator stars Russell Crowe as Maximus, a betrayed Roman general who endures the long path to vengeance by becoming a gladiator of great renown. From the battlefields of Germania to the Roman Colosseum, Maximus begins each and every battle in Gladiator with an unusual pre-match ritual. He spends a few moments of silence before the fighting commences crouching down to scoop up a handful of dirt. He'll then massage the soil into his palms, and usually take a sniff.

It's one of several aspects of Maximus outside the many great Gladiator quotes that have become synonymous with the character - and the pre-match handful of dirt also returned in the 2024 sequel Gladiator 2. While it's not revealed in the movie itself, there is an explanation for the dirt ritual in Gladiator. While many viewers have theorized that Maximus picks up a handful of direct to test the soil before he has to move on it, or possibly to give him better grip on his weapon, the real reason has a much more thematic meaning.

Maximus Scoops Up Dirt In Gladiator To Remind Himself Not To Give Up

The Dirt Ritual Allows The Former General And Farmer To His Roots

Maximus' Gladiator dirt ritual may, at a glance, look similar to modern athletes rubbing chalk - covering their hands in the stuff for better grip. While the dirt certainly might give Maximus a stronger grasp on his hilt, that wouldn't explain why the general gets his nose right in there. Instead, Maximus' ritual is intended to remind the character of his reason for fighting.

When he's not setting Germania on fire or murdering Emperors, Maximus is actually a farmer. In the introductory scenes between Maximus and Richard Harris' Marcus Aurelius, Russell Crowe's hero states his deep desire to go home, describing family and crops with vivid detail. In the same sequence, Maximus tells a mocking Quintus "dirt cleans off a lot easier than blood." Rubbing and smelling the dirt before each fight connects Maximus to his home and his family.

Why Picking Up Dirt Before Every Fight Is So Important To Maximus

Being Reminded Of What Commodus Took From Him Fuels His Anger In The Arena

The dirt ritual pushes Maximus through each deadly conflict because it triggers memories of the most peaceful time of his life and the happiness that Commodus took from him. Having the dirt on his hands and the smell of soil in his nostrils, Maximus can't help but be reminded of his humble farm in Trujillo, and of the wife and son that lived there.

When Maximus is still a centurion in Gladiator's opening act, these memories of Trujillo motivate him because the sooner Germania is conquered, the sooner he can return home. After his betrayal and enslavement, the feel and smell of dirt becomes a reminder of everything stolen from Maximus by Commodus, inciting a deep desire for vengeance.

Although Maximus Decimus Meridius has an unquestionable affinity for killing, he's no bloodthirsty brute. He is often seen empathizing with his enemies (replying "would you?" when Quintus claims the Germanians should know when they're conquered). It's also clear that Maximus values his bond with Marcus Aurelius far more than any blind loyalty to the Roman Empire.

Maximus doesn't want to fight but is compelled to by circumstance. By reconnecting himself to home through the dirt, he's compelled to survive one more battle, then another, then another, until he finally gets back to the soil - and, more importantly, the people - he calls home. It's a subtle, yet incredibly effective, motif that gives great unspoken insight into Maximus as a character, and serves to underline why Ridley Scott's Gladiator is so widely respected two decades on from its release.

How Gladiator 2 Changes The Meaning Of The Maximus' Dirt Sniffing

The 2024 Sequel Redefines the Pre-Fight Ritual

Gladiator 2 arrived in 2024, 20 years after Ridley Scott's epic historic action movie debuted in 2000. The sequel to Gladiator is set 16 years after the original, with a plot focusing on Maximus' son, Lucius (played by Paul Mescal). In Gladiator 2, Lucius is captured by the Roman army and, like his father, enslaved to fight as a Gladiator in the Colosseum. Witnessing him fight, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) realizes that Lucius is the long-lost son she gave birth to after her brief affair with Maximus - a truth she learns due to Lucius using Maximus' tactics and fighting style in the arena, including his signature dirt-sniffing ritual.

Gladiator further and turn it into a trilogy in the future.

In Gladiator 2, Lucius doesn't scoop up dirt to trigger memories of a former life as a farmer. He wasn't present at Trujillo with Maximus. Lucius grew up in Numidia after Lucilla sent him away from Rome as a child, which she did because she knew he was the true heir to the Roman Empire and, as such, was almost guaranteed to be the target of assassins. For Lucius, the dirt ritual is an act of respect and homage to his father, Maximus, and the legacy and legend of Maximus among the Gladiators of the Colosseum.

By the time of Gladiator 2, Maximus and his quest for vengeance against Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) has become the stuff of legend among other Gladiators, as well as the general populace of Rome. There is even a shrine to Russell Crowe's Gladiator character underneath the Colosseum. The dirt ritual performed by Lucius is a nod to the heroic actions of his father. It's also something other Gladiators may end up imitating too. In this way, the Gladiator sequel changed the meaning of scooping up dirt before a fight in an arena - it's no longer the deeply personal ritual performed by Maximus, but is now a symbolic tribute to the man himself.