The film Gladiator【B1】______epic battle in the forest of Germany. On one sid

The film Gladiator(26)opens with epic battle in the forest of Germany. On one side are the Romans, in(27)disciplined units with uniform equipment. They wait in full view, in silence, and prepare their relatively high-technology weapons. Their watchwords are "strength and honour". As orders are issued from a(28)set hierarchy of command, they shoot as one, and advance(29)in line. In combat they help each other, and display courage. On the other side are the barbarians. They have no units, and clad in furs, no(30)formality. Some carry stolen Roman shields, but they lack the catapults that represent the top level of military technology.(31)Initially they conceal their force in the woods. Surging backwards and forwards, each man clashes his weapons on his shield, and utters wild shouts. Their yells are just gibberish. The only(32)indications of hierarchy are close-ups of a particularly large and hairy warrior. They rush into combat as a mob, and fight as ferocious individuals.
    On one side is civilization, on the other(33)savagery. The Romans are portrayed as practicing what is often described as "the Western Way of War", where the aim is an open, decisive battle, which will be won by courage instilled(34)in part by discipline. The Germans practice a "skulking" kind of war. They aim to ambush. They fight without discipline, but with an irrational ferocity. Viewing the battle, it seems "true" to us, because it seems "natural". Yet it is not "natural". "The Western Way of War" and its opposite are cultural constructions. It is important to ask where this concept of a Western Way of War originated, why it was constructed, and why(35)maintained.