The thumbs-up/thumbs-down gestures which stem from gladiatorial events had different if not opposite meanings to what they do today. A down-turned thumb by an official symbolized the winner burying his sword in the sand and the loser's life spared; an upturned thumb expressed delivering the killing stroke.
Pompeii is not located between Mount Vesuvius and the coast. The volcano is northwest of the city, while at that time, the coast was just to the west. The location of Pompeii in the film is more consistent with Herculaneum.
The festival going on at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius is portrayed as the Saturnalia, which is held in December (it was pagan Christmas). Vesuvius erupted on the 24th of August, a day after the Vulcanalia (a festival for the god of fire, Vulcan) ended.
Roman senators wore togas to show their rank, not armor. Additionally, senators were legislators. They had none of the life and death powers which Corvus displays in the film.
Title Card:
In the darkness you could hear the crying of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men. Some prayed for help. Others wished for death. But still more imagined that there were no Gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness. - Pliny the Younger, A.D. 79.
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[last lines]
Milo: [to Cassia as lava approaches]
Don't look. Just me.
Kit Harrington of Game of Thrones fame stars as a gladiator, whom fights to save the woman he loves, a wealthy merchant's betrothed daughter (Emily Browning) when Mount Vesuvius erupts.