Researchers in Ireland and the United Kingdom have identified the first physical evidence of ancient Roman human-animal gladiatorial combat in Europe: a human skeleton with bite marks on its ...

Contrary to the "strength and honor" depicted in Hollywood films "Gladiator" and "Gladiator II," some ancient Romans considered gladiators the embodiment of amoral tyranny.

In April 2025, archaeologists announced the discovery of the first hard physical evidence of gladiatorial combat head-to-head against dangerous wild beasts.

Marcus Tullius Cicero used gladiators’ physiques not to celebrate the republic’s valiant heroes, but to deride their bloated muscles as the embodiment of amoral tyranny.

Ancient Roman gladiators were often pitted against animals in the arena—animals capable of killing a human being. Skeletal remains in a Roman burial ground in northern England were found to have ...

There have been a few freelance efforts. In 1994, passionate fans of ancient Roman military and gladiatorial life began putting on small pageants outside the Colosseum.

But we did have to learn ancient Roman history as part of the class, so this next story caught my attention. A Roman man will train a few dozen tourists as gladiators at the Colosseum in Rome.

Fearsome Roman gladiators dueling for the entertainment of a roaring amphitheater looms large in the cultural imagination, perhaps now more than ever with Ridley Scott’s blockbuster Gladiator ...

Gladiators reenacted fights in the amphitheatre of the ancient Roman city of Carnuntum whose archaeological remains stretch over 10 square kilometers (3.86 square miles) in eastern Austria.

Archaeologists pieced together an “ancient jigsaw puzzle” of more than 100 artifacts and reconstructed a Roman piece of armor in Scotland, according to the National Museums of Scotland. Photo ...

In the films, the brawny biceps of gladiators Maximus and Lucius reflect “strength and honor” – to reprise the motto of the franchise – as each of these heroes fights to overthrow self ...