We tend to forget that history is long.
“It makes about as much sense for Rome to be invading ‘Numidia’ (which, again, the film treats as a town and not a large region) in 200 A.D. as for a film to open with dramatic footage of the initial European settlement of Tennessee in 2024”
https://acoup.blog/2024/12/06/collections-nitpicking-gladiator-ii-part-i/