The Gladiators: History's Most Deadly Sport

You will find this book the perfect reading experience. It is informative, a good read, and a fast paced page turner. You could find the same information in a stuffy academic treatise - but without the enjoyment. The author makes generous of illustrations and contemporary sources. He also answers that age-old question: Did the Romans ever use the thumbs up, thumbs down during the fights? This reviewer will not spoil the answer; it is not what you would expect the answer to be. Just buy the book and find out.

Huge Roman history buff. I love reading about their lifestyle, culture and history....especially gladiators. Books like this are hit or miss. All books of this nature are extremely informative, however they can be read in two different ways....attention keeping and monotonous/boring. I hate the books that feel like I'm back in my college lectures with some old fart preaching the same crap that he's been preaching for years and has lost all enthusiasm. This book was NOT like that. The author switches topics quite frequently to keep you reading. I don't want to read 69 pages about the armor they used....just give it to me in 10 pages or less...and that's what he does! Read this! You'll really like it and IT WILL keep your attention.

Fik Meijer teaches Ancient History in the University of Amsterdam and he truly wrote a wonderful book where almost every chapter is extremely well thought. Not only the subjects are displayed in a competent succession, the images are inserted in the relevant parts of the text and have been exquisitely picked to maximize the learning factor and illustrate the points of view the author is conveying (contrary to most recent publications, which prefer to insert a central block of images, saving in costs and being able to print them in different higher quality paper, but losing something much more valuable – the insertion of images and maps in the relevant section). The author discusses many issues including the origins of gladiatorial combat, the evolution of their popularity and dimension, all facets of the life and death of a gladiator (including their recruitment, backgrounds, training and types of gladiator, gladiatrixes, life expectancy and even career opportunities after leaving gladiatorial combat…if you’re lucky). The author uses modern investigation and ancient testimonies in a remarkable way which makes this book one of the most interesting regarding this subject. The author also delves into a typical game day in the colosseum, the history of the Amphitheatrum Flavium and the spread of other buildings dedicated to gladiatorial combat through all the Roman Empire and also the gradual decline of those shows. Among other subjects abridged you will also find the various methods of executing a criminal in the arena, naumachiae, hunts and combats between bestiarii and wild animals, etc. And this leads me to some small remarks about this book. The English title is “The Gladiators – History’s most deadly sport”, but an enormous amount of the book isn’t dedicated to them but to other roman entertainment or judicial systems that had nothing to do with proper gladiatorial combat or lives. Possibly the Dutch version has a different title and the author had absolutely no say regarding this slight mistake. There are other small issues that need correction such as the mention that Vestal’s must be virgins for life (untrue, only while they remained vestals; although it was considered a bad match marrying an ex-vestal) or the translation of the Graffiti of the fight between Marcus Attilius against Hilarus, which the author states that the latter had 14 wins which is incorrect; he fought 14 times and won 12. With a good glossary of Latin terminology, a fair list of amphitheaters and their dimensions, very good black and white pictures this is truly a fascinating book regarding the Roman games.

Why did I give this book 5 stars??? I wont even get into the hundreds of lions and leapords and bulls and bears in Collosium at one time, below are just facts on gladiators, the book mentions both and more. Did you know in one on one gladiator matches there was ALWAYS A REFEREE? You dont see that in the movies. Did you know a gladiator had a 90% chance of walking out alive from any match, rarely they were killed until over centuries the mob wanted more blood Did you know The best gladiators wernt undefeated, a gladiator had a record of 36 wins, 9 draws and 4 losses Did you know a popular gladiator disarmed his opponent, the referee re-armed him, and when the opponent disarmed him, he was let killed Did you know some gladiators were volunteers but only paid 10-20% of their earnings, their Trainer/Dominus/Lunista got 80-90%. Most were slaves. On the cover is says "Meijer (author) understands exactly what readers want to know about gladiators and anticipates every question" - The New York Times when I was finished with the book i couldn't think of a single thing more ide like to know, even as I read facts came up that if I knew were potentially there i would have asked the question, but i didnt see it comeing.

the title says it all: gladiators were fierce warriors prepared to fight for their lives and they didn't care if you were already hurt their job to move on to fight another day was to to end your day. this book goes into the history of their combat and a must read for any fan of gladiators

The most striking thing is that stark contrast between the Roman world and the modern one. Jesus’ enormous impact on society boggles the mind!

Of the several works that have appeared on the topic of the gladiator and his world, I have found this particular one the most comprehensive without being written in the pretentious style that most writers on aspects of the ancient world go in for. In light of the popularity of the Starz series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand", this book is and absolute "must read".

I really enjoyed this book. I learned much more than I ever dreamed went on in ancient Rome. I have been enjoying the series "Spartacus Gods of the Arena" and I wanted to learn more about gladiators. This book did not disappoint.

A very good account of the life of the Roman gladiators. The book is well documented yet reads easily. I did not find it as good however as the book called Gladiators the unofficial guide, which I think gives you a better sense of the actual life of a gladiator.

A good read.

Well researched and entertaining