The great spectacles of Ancient Rome have become proverbial for their cruelty, bloodlust and glory. Games and Triumphs were savage and brutal: gladiators fought to the death; animals were put to fight each other or hunted down for sport; criminals were executed in inventive and cruel ways; prisoners of war were sacrificed to the gods. Gladiators looks at these savage spectacles and traces their development from entertainment to hysterical obsession until their eventual decline and disappearance. It explains how, even today, they have their influence on public life.
