OK, so this isn’t really movie news, but I thought it was cool enough to share you all of you, my bestest friends.

The Scotsman is reporting that archeologists digging in Rome on a site where a warehouse had just been demolished to make room for a new housing development have discovered the tomb of Marcus Nonius Macrinus — the man for which Russell Crowe‘s character Maximus in Gladiator was based!

While both share similarities, they also share many differences. Both were major figures and the Maximus that we see at the beginning of Gladiator is very accurate to what Macrinus was in life. The relationship between them and Emperor Marcus Aurelius was also accurate, but this is where the similarities end. Marcus Nonius Macrinus was never a slave who battled back to face and kill the evil son of the Emperor. He actually lived his life again as we saw at the beginning of the film and he died a very rich and famous man.