258 GLADIATORS: 1st-5th Centuries AD

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Examines gladiators, who provided a bloody spectacle for the people of ancient Rome and its vast empire. While prominent citizens sponsored games to enhance their own reputations and reward their clients, the emperors soon assumed a near-monopoly on the provision of games. Several emperors, most notoriously Commodus, even entered the arena themselves. In the quest for novelty, contests included prisoners, criminals, and women. Only after the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in AD 380 did armed combat between gladiators enter a decline, and even then beast hunts persisted into the 6th century. Contains eight color artwork plates, as well as black and white color photographs and illustrations.