Historical Nonfiction

The first verified cemetery for gladiators, discovered five years ago in Epheseus, has proven to be very informative about gladiators’ lives. Since Roman traditionally cremated their dead, skeletons are rarely available for historians to test. Some show three-point death blows on their heads, indicating tridents were used to kill them. Others were killed with a blunt, hammer-like instrument. One historian theorized it was a mercy killing, for severely injured gladiators. More gruesomely, gladiators whose deaths were demanded by an angry crowd for poor fighting or cowardice, were killed by a sword thrust through their neck to their hearts.

Besides their gruesome and early deaths, gladiators were treated comparatively well. Their diets show they were well-fed, especially before matches. Bone analysis show high levels of strontium. This indicates a strict vegetarian diet, likely high in barley and beans. Strontium also strengthens bones and speeds the healing process. The Romans knew more about the human body than previously thought.

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