Life of the week: Spartacus
History Extra podcast
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Gladiators: Origins and Perception
This chapter discusses the significance of gladiators and blood spectacles in Roman politics during the second century BCE. It explores the different sources from which gladiators were obtained, including being sold as slaves or volunteering. The chapter emphasizes the dangers and humiliations involved in gladiatorial training, as well as the perception of gladiators as shameful and degrading by some elite Romans.
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