In this scene, Maximus has just bested Tiberius in gladiatorial combat. Maximus stands right in the middle of the shot with the audience all around him, representing not only our focus on him but also the crowd's. Light radiates from the sky unlike most of the movie, which I believe represents well the mercy Maximus is about to give Tiberius. His expression, however, is not one of mercy, but of contempt. It's made clear that Maximus doesn't particularly care about the life of his opponent (as he's had no problem slaughtering countless people in the arena prior to this), but instead cares more about spiting Commodus' command to execute Tiberius. Finally, his ax has been moved to his right hand instead of both, which shows that his decision to spare Tiberius has been made after some consideration.
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