Successful gladiators were the movie stars ... had been a favorite entertainment of the Romans for centuries. The practice began as an ancient Etruscan funeral ritual: when a tribal chief died ...

Gladiators came from many different backgrounds. They largely came from the lower echelons of Roman society ... There were around 20 types of gladiator. Historians have gleaned these from various ...

Dress a gladiator for battle in the Roman arena of death. Your choice of weapons and armour will decide whether or not he is victorious. Will the emperor grant your gladiator his freedom ...

But I’m most interested in how the two films misrepresent the way Roman gladiators and their bodies were viewed by their republic-minded contemporaries. In the films, the brawny biceps of ...

These were more than life-and-death entertainment bouts: gladiators weren’t simply celebrities of ancient Rome. Instead, they were that most rare of figures: someone who could change their life ...