A white wash? The Commodus described on Wikipedia sounds like a saint compared to the one in the film.
Gladiator may have gotten the details of the period right, but the plot felt like a parody to me. I didn't like it at all, though I can't deny it's quality.

Kingdom of Heaven seemed really interesting, and I set time aside to watch it both times it played on History Television, but both times I fell asleep during the first act and woke up to hear Saladin assure that guy he wouldn't send his soldiers into the city the way the Christians did. I thought that part was true, History on Film said it was, but I wouldn't know the Levant from a savant.