Heartwarming / The Eagle (2011)

• When Marcus first arrives as a new cohort centurion at the fort, almost everyone working alongside him seems hesitant to accept him, given his family history. After the failed ambush on the fort, that changes, and even Galba, the one who was almost nonstop badmouthing Marcus’ lineage from the beginning, comes to respect him.
  • Furthermore, he shows this the morning after the battle, when Marcus is mourning the Roman soldiers that didn’t make it through, and merely comes up to the centurion, reminding him that without his wise leadership, many more of them would be laying there.

• Lutorius has his moments of heartwarming, one of them being rather small, but poignant nonetheless—right before the fort ambush, Marcus wakes the generals, sensing something is wrong. As he’s scanning the seemingly empty field, Lutorius, obviously not pleased about being woken up so early, comes to his side, but when Marcus assumes aloud he woke the others for nothing, he still asks what he heard. It’s clear that he cares about the men just as much as Marcus does, and wants to be sure they’re safe.

• Though it turns into a Tearjerker, Lutorius coming to visit Marcus with news after his leg injury , telling him right away that the men at the fort have been asking after him, wanting to know if he’s alright.

• Marcus evidently taking pity on Esca during their first sighting in the arena, whereupon he proceeds to convince the gladiator to let him live by getting the others in the stands to put up their thumbs with him.

• Once Marcus’ leg truly begins healing, he and Esca, now his slave, begin to bond with a boar hunt. From the looks of it, both men are enjoying it greatly.

• When Marcus is captured by the Seal people and declared Esca’s slave , he’s treated with nothing but cruelty and contempt by the vast majority of the tribe. The only one who doesn’t seem to treat him this way is a healer he meets upon being thrown into her tent. Though she has no lines of dialogue, she first gives him a kind smile, beckons him over and gives him some sort of broth while dabbing gently at his wounds. Regardless of what the Romans have done to her people and others like them, she shows Marcus compassion anyway.