But I’m most interested in how the two films misrepresent the way Roman gladiators and their bodies were viewed by their republic-minded contemporaries. In the films, the brawny biceps of gladiators ...

This rare depiction may be the greatest surviving monument to women in the Roman arena. -The famous Roman satirist Juvenal wrote during the 1st Century AD, around the same time as the poet Martial.

Maximus sees his family before dying after killing Commodus, restoring Rome’s hope, and finally reaching peace ...

Ridley Scott may have been ridiculed for portraying gladiators riding rhinos and scrapping with sharks in his latest film. But it seems the real Roman fighters did pick fights with a colourful array ...

The death of Emperor Commodus didn’t result in Rome becoming a Republic again in either real life or in Ridley Scott’s fictional Rome. We know because his 2000 classic Gladiator is finally getting a ...

Secrets of the Dead is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, ...