Conflict

Marcus is old and dying, and wishes for Rome to be restored to a republic that is ruled by the Senate. It is an ambitious change, that he knows Commodus is unprepared for. He asks for Maximus to take his powers as emperor because he knows that Maximus wont abuse those powers, make the necessary changes, and then relinquish those powers to the Senate. This creates an internal conflict within Maximus because he despises the politics of Rome, and all he wishes is to return home to his wife - yet he knows that he is the only one who can make this happen.

Furthering this internal conflict, when Commodus kills his father, Maximus knows that he was murdered and didn't want Commodus to be emperor. Maximus doesn't speak out against Commodus, but nor does he pledge his loyalty.

Commodus issued the order to kill both Maximus and his family (Romans were ruthless in how they punished their enemies). Maximus, after escaping and racing home to save his family, is too late and comes upon his burnt house and loved ones. Maximus loses the will to live without them, and no longer fears death, as that will enable him to join them in the afterlife of the Elysium Fields. But it is their death that spurs Maximus to seek revenge once he realises that he can still orchestrate a meeting with Commodus, even though he is a mere slave...

Proximo, even though he bought Maximus as a slave is drawn to Maximus' leadership and skill, and shares his story of how he won his freedom from being a gladiator by drawing the attention of the emperor. This scene showed Maximus the path he needed to take to get revenge on Commodus. It showed that if Maximus could succeed as a gladiator in Rome, then he would have his chance at earning his freedom. He did not care about freedom, he wanted to meet Commodus in person so that he could kill him. Maximus' path of action starts here.

Lucilla was the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and sister of Commodus. She also knew Commodus murdered their father, but feared her brother and his violent tendencies. She worked to undermine Commodus by working with Senator Gracchus to try and free Maximus to lead his old armies against Commodus. Even though she fails, she is a moral figure that makes Maximus aware of his power to lead the 'mob' (common people of Rome) and his armies, and that he has a duty to fulfill Marcus Aurelius' dream of a peaceful Roman Empire under the rule of a just Senate. This duty weighs on Maximus as Internal Conflict that makes him attempt to abandon his immediate desire for vengeance, and attempt to escape.

This point in the film represents a low point for Maximus. He thought that he could escape, join his armies, march again Commodus, kill him and then fulfill Marcus Aurelius' dream. Commodus however, was paranoid, and detected the plot and killed all of Maximus' friends - the gladiators, Hagan, Proximo, and his loyal servant Cicero. This failure weighed heavily on Maximus as he now thought that he was going to fail, and his failure had led to the death of good people and Rome being ruled by the tyrant Commodus.

After all of the Internal Conflict that had been heaping up on Maximus, he finally got the chance to finally settle the score with Commodus. Commodus was bound by the will of the 'mob', the people of Rome, and couldn't kill Maximus without earning their hatred, as that could spell a rebellion and the end of his rule. Commodus decides to kill Maximus in front of the crowds in the Colosseum after first inflicting a slow mortal wound on Maximus. This act would serve Commodus in two ways; he would be free of his mortal enemy, and he would win over the people of Rome through defeating their champion. Maximus however is superior to Commodus even though he is mortally wounded, and finally slays him before a stunned crowd. By finally being able to externalise all of that internal conflict, he turned it against the cause of all of his pain. In the silence that follows, he declares the changes that Marcus Aurelius wished for, in front of the crowd as a witness, leaving Rome forever changed.