The first reports of gladiators (the name comes from the type of sword they ... they were still considered to be lowly types, and Roman citizens of good standing wouldn’t want their sons or ...

Successful gladiators were the movie stars of the first ... gladiatorial contests are often seen as the dark side of Roman civilization. Given they belonged to such a civilized and sophisticated ...

It seems a violent death was a risk worth taking for them. VIII. The strangest volunteer gladiator was a Roman Emperor. His name was Emperor Commodus, who you might recognise from the movie Gladiator.

Valentinus, a name connected with the military legion ... In fact, other recently-unearthed artifacts from Britain depicting famous Roman gladiators include a 2,000-year-old knife with a gladiator ...