 Maximus, the general, still manages to kill Commodus and then dies himself. Maximus says that it was the wishes of Marcus Aurelius that the government of Rome should be returned to the Senate, which is very unhistorical. But that means there's hope for Rome. And the final shot in Gladiator is sort of a morning sunrise, which is a symbol, a cliched symbol, of hope for better things to come and such. There was a dream that was wrong.