Proximo - A Character Analysis
From 2000 Ridley Scott's movie "The Gladiator"
Proximo is the latin word for “forthcoming, nearby”.
Why is he an interesting character?
In the movie, Proximo is a former gladiator who won his freedom by “winning the crowd” inside of the arena and he is now a “lanista”, aka one who buys slaves and trains them to become gladiators and perform in the arena.
It’s Proximo who finds Maximus half-dead in the desert after finding out his family got murdered by the emperor’s soldiers. Proximo takes him with him, probably after noticing the SPQR mark on Maximus’ arm, proof of his potential value as a gladiator. (This is not clearly shown but kinda hinted at, since Proximo treats Maximus with a certain regard even after he refuses to defend himself in the next event’s selections, overviewed by Proximo himself)
“Enough. His time will come”
In the speech Proximo gives to his men minutes before the first event in the province “arena”, he shows Maximus that he could still have reasons to carry on and not just let himself die. Notice that his speech isn’t uplifting by any means, it’s just plain honesty:
“After all, we are all dead men. It is not within our power to decide when we die, but we might have a say in how we meet out faith.”
Proximo, having no personal interest whatsoever for Maximus’ situation, represents the archetypical “Guru/Teacher”, and, as the rule seems to go (when the student is ready, the teacher appears), he shows up when Maximus is ready.
(I don’t really like Guru/Teacher since the words are usually seen in a sort of superior/subordinate relationship, but you know how it goes.)
Proximo is someone who understands the facts of life. “We mortals are but shadows and dust”. Maximus gets the ugliest demonstration of that statement by having everything he ever cared or longed for destroyed by Commodo. He loses every trace of will to keep living. He gets rid of his arm tattoo - his “sign of the Gods” - as he recognizes the tragedy of his situation. He is hollowed out, his dearly held attachments have been severed against his will and he is overwhelmed by grief and an undeniable sense of futility.
And comes Proximo which basically tells him how things always were: “yeah, that’s how it’s always been, you’re kinda late to the party. It was you who saw things that weren’t really there, fought for ideals that were obviously false, gave life permanence, stood for a man whom you idolized to the point of divinity, even if he refused to grant you the only wish you ever had and asked you to accept a burden you never asked for - the transitioning of Rome to a Republic state - when the only thing you ever asked for was to be finally reunited with your family”. I mean, Maximus goes from someone who completely believed everything he ever did and had been doing all his life had meaning/substance, and gets absolutely rammed in the face by life. Proximo just confirms what Maximus has clearly been shown: there is no sense, no purpose, no meaning.
Everything is futile, shadows and dust.
Now, Maximus obviously doesn’t realize the part about Marcus Aurelius egotistical and absurd request and goes on to embark upon the mission that he was given: to restore Rome’s republic (by winning the crowd and eventually killing Commodo).
The interesting thing to notice there is the fact that believes are, essentially, what Maximus is, not what he has, so detaching from them is as hard as detatching from his bones or organs. Maximus gets as far as he needs to get in order to fulfill his role, play his game and complete his character arc.
A more interesting topic is: why did Proximo, at the end of the movie, go on to accept Maximus’ request, eventually giving his life for him?
He firstly rejects Maximus’ request to aid him in his conspiracy to kill Commodo (the dialogue is actually really good: “I know you would die for honor, I know you would die for Rome. I, on the other hand, am an entertainer”) since Proximo’s point of view is way up in the sky compared to Maximus’, but he goes on to help him anyway, why?
The only answer I came up with is that, to him, that had to be the way things had to go. It must have been indicated to him that that was the path to be taken. At the end of the day, Maximus’ completes Proximo’s character arc in the same way the other way around is also correct.
He finds someone who shakes him out of his boredom (I guess that in Ancient Rome there couldn’t have been many entertaining distractions for a man with a hyena and three giraphes as pets), brings him back to the Coloseum, gives him an outstanding spectacle who probably seals him as the greatest lanista of all times, and gives him a chance to play a role in Marcus Aurelius’ (who donated him his freedom) legacy. Not that he really cared for that last point, but at least he can, faithful to his own words, decide how to meet his end.
“Shadows and dust”. His character arc is also complete. That’s pretty cool.