Sharks? Maybe not. But sea battles, semi-aquatic creatures and plenty of other eye-popping spectacles were part of the real-life games at the ancient Roman Colosseum.

Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” is full of a memorable action scenes, from a bloody showdown featuring CGI baboons to Paul Mescal outsmarting a charging rhino in the Roman Colosseum. But one sequence that is sure to leave audiences with the most questions is a rather insane set piece in which the Colosseum is filled with

Fights also included staged hunts, and it’s conceivable that gladiators rode exotic wildlife. In Gladiator II, a gladiator rides on a rhinoceros in one fight. In real ancient Rome, soldiers might have brought back animals from the places they conquered. More likely, the animals hunted in the arena were wild boars from the local countryside.

Director Ridley Scott has never been one for subtlety in his big screen epics. But the “Gladiator II” director may have outdone himself with the new release, staging one of the sequel’s biggest battles in a Roman Colosseum filled with water,