Which actor played Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator?

Richard Harris played Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator.

Harris appears as the elderly Roman emperor at the beginning of Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic. In the film’s fictionalized story, Marcus Aurelius plans to pass power to the general Maximus rather than to his son Commodus. Commodus discovers this plan, murders his father, and seizes the throne.

The historical Marcus Aurelius ruled from 161 to 180 AD and was the last of Rome’s so-called Five Good Emperors. He did not appoint a fictional general named Maximus as successor, and ancient history does not support the film’s depiction of Commodus murdering him. Marcus Aurelius died during a military campaign, probably from an epidemic illness.

Harris was an acclaimed Irish actor known for films including This Sporting Life, A Man Called Horse, The Field, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. A common mix-up is confusing him with Derek Jacobi, who played Senator Gracchus, or Oliver Reed, who played the gladiator trainer Proximo.