Many commentators have criticised the film Gladiator II on technical aspects of the fighting. But there was so much more to gladiators than that.
The gladiator troupes, mostly criminals or enslaved prisoners of war, were housed in cramped cells in secure barracks, made to swear an oath to ‘be burned by fire, bound in chains, beaten and die by the sword’ and then put through the most rigorous training procedures to put on a good show. Their owners wanted to please not only the crowds but also the emperor who saw this as good government – punishing the wicked and thrilling the people all in one go (food for thought, Sir Keir?).
Cicero disapproved, but justified it as a fine example of the way to face ‘pain and death’ because how a man died – your choice of death – revealed the true stature of the person.
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