{"product_id":"gladiators-book-fik-meijer-9780285637047","title":"Gladiators","description":"Superfit, muscled, macho, the gladiator was hero-worshipped for his  skill and courage as he fought to the death, yet despised for his humble  status. For over six cruel centuries, tens of thousands died in the  bloodsoaked arenas of Rome and its colonies, watched by enthralled  crowds, screaming for violence. Drawn from prisoners of war, slaves,  convicts and in later centuries, Roman citizens fighting for money and  excitement, the gladiators lived inside gladiator schools where they  trained in special fighting techniques: the retiarius with net and trident, the thraex with short sword and round shield, the secutor, the murmillo, the hoplomachus. Few lived to old age or found freedom again. Fewer still lived to tell their tale.   Professor Fik Meijer has ingeniously pieced together their true  stories from grave epitaphs, graffiti, mosaics, frescoes and engravings,  from artifacts found under the ashes of Pompeii, and quotations from  ancient Roman writers, as well as his close study of Greek and Etruscan  history. He describes the gladiators' origins, daily life, training, the  odds of their survival pitted against the emperors' lust for blood and  spectacle. He illustrates the vast, complex organisation and expense  incurred in staging the shows.   As more and more grandiose performances were staged, the Colosseum  was built and copied all over the Roman Empire, and the extravagant  spectacles became day-long. The morning show began with the 'hunting' of  wild animals, sometimes in their thousands, followed by wild animal  fights: bear against bull or captured slaves, Christians against  crocodiles, lions, tigers, hippopotamuses even, all shipped from Rome's  African colonies. At lunchtime came the public executions, and in the  afternoon the long-awaited, much applauded gladiator fights, the day's  main attraction.   Professor Meijer brings these events vividly to life and ends his  fasconating book by comparing the real evidence he has uncovered with  portrayals in films such as Spartacus and Gladiator.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49646798635281,"sku":"GOR001707139","price":19.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49662812127505,"sku":"GOR003283530","price":7.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50850144977169,"sku":"GOR011255242","price":12.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0285637045.jpg?v=1751165029","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/fr-fr\/products\/gladiators-livre-fik-meijer-9780285637047","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}