Gladiators: Warriors of the Ancient World

Emperor Commodus shocks Rome by casting aside tradition and becoming a gladiator. Over 14 days of extravagant games, he slays wild beasts, spars with helpless opponents, and indulges his fantasy of godhood - dressed as Hercules, demanding adoration. Behind the spectacle lies growing discontent: the Senate scorned, the treasury drained, and power abused, as he trains as a gladiator in his country estate. When Commodus plans to inaugurate the new year from the gladiators’ barracks, his inner circle panics. Poisoned by his mistress Marcia and strangled by his trainer Narcissus, Commodus dies; a far cry from the hero he imagined. His death sparks civil war, ushering in the Severan dynasty. His legacy is condemned, and Commodus remains one of the most bizarre figures in Roman history, an emperor who tried to rule from the arena, not the throne.

In the later Roman Empire it was gladiators and emperors alike frequently came from overseas. Emperor Septimius Severus was born in Africa and his wife in Syria, as was a gladiator named Flamma who was captured and sent to fight in Sicily. There, in the ludus, he fights alongside fellow gladiators such as Delicatus, forging bonds that define his career. His epitaph records 34 fights: 21 victories, 9 draws, and only 4 defeats. After his final bout, he dies at the age of 30. His gravestone exposes not only the brutal realities of gladiatorial life but also the comradeship and loyalty of the gladiators. Flamma’s story embodies the grandeur, violence, and complexity of Rome’s obsession with bloodsport.