“Are you not entertained?!”

The emblem of Rome, the Colosseum was the unsettling but glamorous home of Roman violence, used for gladiatorial bouts, naval reenactments, and by the emperors to re-stage popular myths. Built by the Flavian dynasty in the first century AD, it is both an awe-inspiring monument to the grandeur of antiquity, and a blood-spattered arena of death. But why was it built? What was the deeper meaning of the cruelty it celebrated? In today’s episode Tom and Dominic delve into the gory roots of the Colosseum, and the stories of the gladiators who fought and died there.

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor