Gladiators

One of the true paradoxes of Roman civilization is the dichotomy between its contributions to the areas of government, law, literature, philosophy, & art & the brutally savage institution of arena spectacle sports in which human beings killed each other for entertainment. Yet, even at its barbaric worst, some good emerged from the almost unmitigated evil of gladiatorial combat: it produced countless acts of individual courage, created one of the world’s greatest architectural forms & inspired a number of men to protest against the overwhelming tide of brutality in Rome. Written by an acknowledged expert in the area of classical civilizations, this account traces the bloody 800-year history of the gladiators, or bustuarii, from their rise during the 3rd century BCE to their eventual abolition at the end of the 5th century CE. Illustrations of mosaics, statues, reliefs & architectural remains illuminate the text.