Continuity mistake: When Richard Harris is talking to his daughter about her future, the fire lamp behind them changes positions between shots. (00:20:15)
Continuity mistake: When Aurelius says "Enough with politics. Let's pretend I'm a father." to Lucilla, she smiles and looks down. When it cuts she is still looking down, but in the next shot she is suddenly facing Aurelius again. (00:20:20)
Continuity mistake: When Lucilla says "Did you know, I still remember you in my prayers?" she looks up at Maximus with a serious face. When it cuts she is smiling. (00:28:35)
Continuity mistake: When Maximus is finished praying for his son and his wife, he calls for Cicero. We then see Cicero walk in to Maximus from behind while holding a cloth in his right hand. When it cuts he is holding it in his left hand. (00:30:05)
Continuity mistake: When Commodus goes to see his father thinking his father would pass his powers onto him, if you look closely when he enters, there's a white sheet blowing rather vigorously in front of the camera. When it cuts to a shot of Commodus, the sheet now is hardly blowing at all. (00:30:35)
Continuity mistake: When Commodus is holding Aurelius and says "Father.", he is holding Aurelius by the top of his head. When it cuts to a close-up of Aurelius looking up at Commodus, right before Commodus kills him, we see Commodus holding his chin instead of his head. (00:33:55)
Continuity mistake: When Commodus is choking Aurelius we see Aurelius placing his hands on Commodus' shoulders. When it cuts back to a frontal shot of Commodus the hands are gone. (00:34:20)
Continuity mistake: When Maximus comes back to his tent after seeing Aurelius dead he tells Cicero to wake Gaius and Falco. Then he says "Sword" and Cicero gives Maximus something and walks away as Maximus turns around. When it cuts Maximus turns around again. (00:37:05)
Continuity mistake: When the soldiers take Maximus out into the woods to be executed, when Maximus says to the soldier "a soldiers death ", Maximus can be seen lowering his head, yet in the following shot, he is lowering his head again. (00:38:20)
Continuity mistake: Maximus is about to be executed in the forest in Germania. Maximus kneels on the floor. The swordsman steps behind him and lifts the sword above his head to drive it down into the back of the neck of Maximus. When Maximus stands up and head-butts the swordsman the swordsman's arms are now by his side and the sword gone. The next shot shows the arms back in the air, with the sword, and Maximus grabbing the sword. (00:38:35)
Continuity mistake: When Maximus has killed the Praetorian and got wounded himself, we see him getting down on his knees and leading his right arm to the wound on his left arm. At this time we can see the sleeve on his right arm is by his elbow. When it cuts to a close-up of his hand we can see the sleeve is down by his wrist. (00:39:30)
Continuity mistake: When Proximo is talking with the slave dealer and he says "You sold me queer giraffes, I want my money back.", you see him holding a cup with his index finger pointing up. When he takes a sip from the cup his finger is down. (00:46:35)
Continuity mistake: At the slave market when Proximo is checking Juba, he grabs Juba on his wrist above the lock. When it cuts he has grabbed him below the lock. (00:47:20)
Continuity mistake: When Hagen tests Maximus in the sword fighting, watch closely the scene behind them. At the time when Hagen strikes Maximus for the first time you can see gladiator behind taking a glass. At the time of the second strike you can see only a glass. When Hagen stopped his third strike you can see the same gladiator holding a glass and looking around. This time he is turned toward the camera and you can see a red spot on his chest. (00:49:55)
Continuity mistake: The first time Maximus is about to fight as a gladiator we see him grabbing some dirt in his right hand and pouring it into his left hand. When it cuts we can see both his hands covered in dirt before he start rubbing his hands, as if he already has rubbed his hands in a previous scene. (00:52:55)
Continuity mistake: During the first gladiator battle Maximus grabs another gladiator's sword by the blade. Two shots later he is holding the sword by its handle with no time to change grip. (00:54:20)
Continuity mistake: During the first gladiator battle there is a shot of Hagen striking a man with an animal skull on his head. In the next shot sand is suddenly 'raining', from out of nowhere, all over Hagen. (00:54:25)
Continuity mistake: When Lucius descends the stairs to greet his mother and Commodus, there is a brief close-up sideways which shows, behind them, a banner, and two stones with hieroglyphs. There are in fact several Egyptian obelisks in Rome, that were taken there in antiquity. The only trouble is, it doesn't match with the long shot at all. (Commentary track confirms this was not shot on one existing location - only the four top steps of the stairs were really there). (00:57:31)
Continuity mistake: When Commodus and Lucilla are talking while Commodus sits on his throne, the shots change from in front of Lucilla and behind her. When it's behind her it is the wind is blowing through her shawl. When it's in front of her it's not blowing. (01:00:50)
Continuity mistake: In the middle, Commodus is sitting in a big chair and talking to Lucilla who is standing up. At the end of this scene, Commodus extends his right arm. In the following shot, the arm is a lot higher than the previous shot. (01:01:25)
Chosen answer: Because they would be the ranking soldiers, and accustomed to being given orders. Being disciplined, they would obey Quintus without question. The legions would necessarily have soldiers assigned to following orders at different times, similar to how a captain would give an order to a full room, and the first mate would be the one to carry out the order.
rswarrior