Ridley Scott explains why emperors in his films are all ‘crazy’ – the answer is in their water

‘Your choice is water or wine. When you drink water, it’s through a lead system that by then could be 200 years old,’ he says

Ridley Scott has revealed why the emperors in his films all tend to be a bit unstable – turns out it’s all the lead in their water pipes.

Scott’s recent directorial venture Gladiator 2 stars Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta and Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla, alongside Paul Mescal, who plays the lead role of Lucius, the son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus from the original Gladiator.

In a new interview, Scott explains that there is a historical reason behind all his emperors being at least a little bit “crazy”.

“People forget that all the wealthy, high-end senatorial Roman aristocracy would live on water which was piped through lead pipes and lead tanks,” Scott said to The Hollywood Reporter.

“People don’t think about that. Your choice is water or wine. When you drink water, it’s through a lead system that by then could be 200 years old. No wonder they’re f****** crazy. They’re all going halfway to Alzheimer’s.”

There may be some truth to Scott’s words, as scientist Jerome Nriagu suggested back in 1983 that the lead in the pipes and tanks caused erratic behaviour and gout among emperors and aristocrats, which he believed triggered the fall of the Roman empire. In addition to physical problems, lead poisioning can also cause behavioural issues, like depression, irritability, and trouble with concentration and memory.

Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn in Gladiator 2 (Paramount Pictures)

He also said that in order to sweeten wine as well as their food, Romans boiled down grapes into syrups, which were also simmered slowly in lead pots or lead-lined copper kettles.

While the theory that lead poisoning directly contributed to the fall of the empire has fallen out of favour recently, the presence of high quantities of lead in the food and drink that high-born Romans would have consumed has been confirmed.

A team of archaeologists in 2014 also found after measuring lead isotopes in sediments from the Tiber River and Trajanic Harbour, that the piped water Romans drank contained “had 100 times more lead than local spring waters”.

Gladiator 2 follows Lucius’ journey to reclaim Rome and restore it to its former glory. It also features Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington, with the latter touted to be a major awards contender.

Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal in Gladiator 2 (© 2024 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

In a four-star review forThe Independent, Clarisse Loughrey writes: “Gladiator 2 is equal in scale and spectacle, and weighted with metaphor, but it’s also shot through with the kind of wry, absurdist slant that’s come to dominate Scott’s work of the last decade and a half.”

On the other hand, The Independent’s Patrick Smith called it “an awful mess” and questioned what Scott was thinking. “I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Terribly vexed, even,” he wrote. “Scene by scene, Gladiator II just feels... undercooked. There’s no panache, no bombast, no indelible lines.”

Gladiator 2 is playing in theatres now.