Gladiators 1st–5th centuries ADThis 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