Gladiator combat had become a martial art by the beginning of the first millennium. To amuse the crowds around the arena the gladiators would display broad fighting skills rather than fight for their lives. “Gladiatorial combat is seen as being related to killing and shedding blood. But I think that what we are seeing is an entertaining martial art that was spectator-oriented.”.

it would be interesting to pit the panem et circenses of those times against the ESPN of today. some starting points

• Uncategorized