Gladiators 4th–1st centuries BC
Gladiators 4th–1st centuries BC

Author: Francois Gilbert

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-08-18

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1472850904

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This new study lifts the veil on the high-profile but often misunderstood gladiators of ancient Rome, from their origins to the dawn of the Principate. Originating in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the Roman gladiator games have come to symbolize the spectacle and savagery of Republican and Imperial Rome. Increasingly elaborate rules and rituals governed the conduct of gladiator combat, with an array of specially armed and armoured gladiator types pitted against one another, either singly or in groups. While many gladiators met a grisly end, some survived to achieve celebrity and make huge fortunes. Despite the wealth of literary and archaeological evidence, many misconceptions about the gladiators and their violent world remain. Featuring eight plates of stunning specially commissioned artwork alongside photographs and drawings of key items of visual evidence, this fully illustrated account recreates the little-known and under-represented gladiators of the centuries leading up to the dawn of the Principate, correcting myths and casting new light on the roles, lives and legacy of these legendary arena fighters.

Gladiators 4th–1st centuries BC
Gladiators 4th–1st centuries BC

Author: Francois Gilbert

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-08-18

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1472850904

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This new study lifts the veil on the high-profile but often misunderstood gladiators of ancient Rome, from their origins to the dawn of the Principate. Originating in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the Roman gladiator games have come to symbolize the spectacle and savagery of Republican and Imperial Rome. Increasingly elaborate rules and rituals governed the conduct of gladiator combat, with an array of specially armed and armoured gladiator types pitted against one another, either singly or in groups. While many gladiators met a grisly end, some survived to achieve celebrity and make huge fortunes. Despite the wealth of literary and archaeological evidence, many misconceptions about the gladiators and their violent world remain. Featuring eight plates of stunning specially commissioned artwork alongside photographs and drawings of key items of visual evidence, this fully illustrated account recreates the little-known and under-represented gladiators of the centuries leading up to the dawn of the Principate, correcting myths and casting new light on the roles, lives and legacy of these legendary arena fighters.

Gladiators 1st–5th centuries AD
Gladiators 1st–5th centuries AD

Author: François Gilbert

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2024-11-21

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1472862783

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This illustrated study lifts the veil on the gladiators of ancient Rome, who provided a bloody spectacle for the people of the Eternal City and its vast empire. By the start of the Principate in 27 BC, the gladiator games were a long-standing part of the social and political life of Rome and its sprawling empire. In the wake of reforms enacted by Augustus, the games continued to be at the heart of Roman culture and politics during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. While prominent citizens harnessed the opportunities offered by the gladiator games to enhance their own reputations and reward their clients, the emperors soon assumed a near-monopoly on the provision of games; several even entered the arena themselves, most notoriously Commodus. In the quest for novelty, prisoners, criminals and women came to participate in this grisly 'sport'. Only after the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in AD 380 did armed combat between gladiators enter a decline, and even then beast hunts persisted into the 6th century. Although much evidence remains, both literary and archaeological, the gladiators and their world continue to be misunderstood. Featuring full-colour reconstructions of these legendary arena fighters, this book draws upon the latest research and the author's own findings to cast new light on these formidable arena fighters and their legacy.

Gladiators 4th–1st centuries BC
Gladiators 4th–1st centuries BC

Author: Francois Gilbert

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-08-18

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1472850882

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This new study lifts the veil on the high-profile but often misunderstood gladiators of ancient Rome, from their origins to the dawn of the Principate. Originating in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the Roman gladiator games have come to symbolize the spectacle and savagery of Republican and Imperial Rome. Increasingly elaborate rules and rituals governed the conduct of gladiator combat, with an array of specially armed and armoured gladiator types pitted against one another, either singly or in groups. While many gladiators met a grisly end, some survived to achieve celebrity and make huge fortunes. Despite the wealth of literary and archaeological evidence, many misconceptions about the gladiators and their violent world remain. Featuring eight plates of stunning specially commissioned artwork alongside photographs and drawings of key items of visual evidence, this fully illustrated account recreates the little-known and under-represented gladiators of the centuries leading up to the dawn of the Principate, correcting myths and casting new light on the roles, lives and legacy of these legendary arena fighters.

Gladiator
Gladiator

Author: Konstantin Nossov

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2011-10-04

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0762777338

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From the author of Ancient and Medieval Siege Weapons comes an eye-opening new look at one of the most popular spectacles of ancient Rome. This detailed, fascinating guide covers every aspect of the gladiator phenomenon from the types of equipment the different classes of gladiator used to the high place in society these sportsmen came to occupy.

Anglo-Saxon Kings and Warlords AD 400–1070
Anglo-Saxon Kings and Warlords AD 400–1070

Author: Raffaele D’Amato

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-10-26

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 1472855345

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Richly illustrated, this title describes Anglo-Saxon monarchs, warlords and their warriors and households in Anglo-Saxon Britain, from the first post-Roman mercenaries to the Norman Conquest. In a country fragmented by Roman withdrawal during the 5th century AD, the employment of Germanic mercenaries by local rulers in Anglo-Saxon Britain was commonplace. These mercenaries became settlers, forcing Romano-British communities into Wales and the West Country. Against a background of spreading Christianity, the struggles of rival British and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were exploited by the Vikings, but eventually contained by the Anglo-Saxon king, Alfred of Wessex. His descendants unified the country during the 10th century, however, subsequent weak rule saw its 25-year incorporation into a Danish empire before it finally fell to the Norman invasion of 1066. Scholars of the early Church have long known that the term 'Dark Ages' for the 5th to 11th centuries in Britain refers only to a lack of written sources, and gives a false impression of material culture. The Anglo-Saxon warrior elite were equipped with magnificent armour, influenced by the cultures of the late Romans, the Scandinavian Vendel people, the Frankish Merovingians, Carolingians and Ottonians, and also the Vikings. In this volume, co-authors Raffaele D'Amato and Stephen Pollington access their extended knowledge to paint a vivid picture of the kings and warlords of the time with the aid of colour illustrations, rare photos and the latest archaeological research.

Gladiator
Gladiator

Author: Philip Matyszak

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Published: 2014-05-12

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 0500771715

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Experience at first hand the spectacular, brutal life and savage death of the most iconic figure of ancient Rome.This manual will take the reader from the first faltering steps over the threshold of gladiator school, and through training to become a man of the sword. Find out how to get thousands to idolize you as the strongest, meanest fighter in the Roman empire. Learn why you should become a gladiator, how to join the profession, who will try to kill you (and what with), which arena of the empire is right for you, when and how often you will fight and what happens before, during and after the bout.

Armies of Julius Caesar 58–44 BC
Armies of Julius Caesar 58–44 BC

Author: Raffaele D’Amato

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-09-16

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1472845250

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Gaius Julius Caesar remains the most famous Roman general of all time. Although he never bore the title, historians since Suetonius have judged him to be, in practice, the very first 'emperor' – after all, no other name in history has been synonymous with a title of imperial rule. Caesar was a towering personality who, for better or worse, changed the history of Rome forever. His unscrupulous ambition was matched only by his genius as a commander and his conquest of Gaul brought Rome its first great territorial expansion outside the Mediterranean world. His charismatic leadership bounded his soldiers to him not only for expeditions 'beyond the edge of the world' – to Britain – but in the subsequent civil war that raised him to ultimate power. What is seldom appreciated, however is that the army he led was as varied and cosmopolitan as those of later centuries, and it is only recently that a wider study of a whole range of evidence has allowed a more precise picture of it to emerge. Drawing on a wide range of new research, the authors examine the armies of Julius Caesar in detail, creating a detailed picture of how they lived and fought.

Roman Shields
Roman Shields

Author: M.C. Bishop

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-08-20

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1472839609

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The introduction of the scutum in the 4th century BC revolutionized the way the Romans fought. Instead of being purely defensive, the shield became a weapon in its own right. Using the top edge or boss to punch an opponent, or the lower rim to smash down on their feet, it served to unbalance an enemy and allow the sword to do its work. The versatility of the scutum was characterized by the testudo, a formation the Romans used offensively like a pedestrian tank. Meanwhile, other shield types equipped the auxiliaries who fought alongside the legionaries. The curved, rectangular scutum survived into the 3rd century AD, only to be replaced by an oval, slightly domed shield derived from the oval shields of Early Imperial auxiliaries. Drawing together historical accounts, excavated artefacts and the results of the latest scientific analyses of the boards and fittings, renowned authority M.C. Bishop reveals the development, technology, training and use of the scutum and other Roman shield types.

Roman Heavy Cavalry (1)
Roman Heavy Cavalry (1)

Author: Raffaele D’Amato

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-11-29

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1472830032

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From the army of Marc Antony in the 1st century BC, Roman generals hired Oriental heavy armoured cavalry to serve in their military alongside the legions. These troops, both from the northern steppes and the Persian frontiers, continued an ancient tradition of using heavy armour and long lances, and fought in a compact formation for maximum shock effect. They were quite distinct from conventional Roman light cavalry, and they served across the Empire, including in Britain. They became ever more important during the 3rd century wars against Parthia, both to counter their cavalry and to form a mobile strategic reserve. Displaying these impressive and imposing cavalry units using vivid specially commissioned artwork, this first book in a two part series on Roman Heavy Cavalry examines their use over the Imperial period up to the fall of Western Empire in the 5th century A.D.