The six piece Roman General costume worn by Russell Crowe, as Maximus Decimus Meridius, in the opening scenes of the Ridley Scott's Gladiator movie, is up for sale at Heritage Auctions on 17 December with a $128,000 - $192,000 estimate.
The six pieces comprise the chest and back shell with leather belts and metal buckles, a short sleeve tunic, a pair of pants, cape, and helmet with visor. It was ultimately decided Crowe would not wear the helmet during filming.
The majority of the outfit was worn during the opening scenes of the Oscar winning movie, when Maximus commanded the Roman army against the Germania army in a stunning woodland batlle sequence.
The item is from the collection of British costume designer Janty Yates, who won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on the Gladiator movie in 2000.
In September 2015 Heritage auctioned Maximus' short sleeved Roman Officer tunic which was worn in the scenes following the Germania army battle. The tunic sold for $19,200 at the time.
Gladiator's famous arena helmet, worn by Maximus at the Colosseum during the Battle of Carthage scenes, was sold by the PropStore in 2022 for a huge £225,000 after some frenzied bidding.
The same auction saw Maximus' cuirass, an armoured breastplate, sell for £20,000. In the movie the cuirass was gifted from Proximo (Oliver Reed) to Maximus in a scene at the Colosseum.
About your Author:
Adrian Roose has over 30 years’ experience covering all aspects of the rare stamp & memorabilia industry during which he has sold over £50m of unique items, helping build collections for Royalty, household name celebrities and 1,000s of collectors around the world.
Adrian was previously a Director at Stanley Gibbons, a Board Member of Stampex, and Executive Director of Paul Fraser Collectibles, PFC Auctions and JustCollecting, prior to founding The Memorabilia Club.