 At one point, Commodus mentions the emperor Claudius to Lucilla and  Lucius. Derek Jacobi (qv), who plays Gracchus in this film, played  Claudius in the BBC TV series _"I, Claudius" (1976) (mini)_ (qv).  Brian Blessed (qv) who played Caesar Augustus in "I Claudius" has  a cameo appearance as a Coliseum spectator during the games.