Gladiator

(Cleveland) This is so well written and about much more than gladiators. It is about human societies, "civilization", moral complexity, and the culture which gave contemporary America much of our language, values and laws. Scary, and important. Here is a sample: "At its height, the Roman Empire controlled all of southern Europe, Britain, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and North Aftrica. Cities were established, trade was regulated, taxes were collected. Rome built 53,000 miles of roads, bridges, aquaducts, and sewers, some ofwhich are still in use. Its laws, manners, and customs were adopted all over the empire. But for all its glory, it's difficult to ignore the fact the the Roman Empire was won by military force and built by the labor of millions of slaves. To the average Roman citizen, life was hard, war was a contant threat, and slaves were just another piece of property. And in spite of their sophistication in government, business, and the arts, Romans had a crude taste for violence and cruelty. For almost a thousand years Roman society represented both the best and the worst of human civilization." I guess I am going to spring for the hardcover so I can offer it to my children and their children and schools and friends.

Gladiators by richard watkins is a great book. It has some intresting information on what gladiators are, what they do, and how the do it. I learned from this book that not only did gladiators fight to the death, but most of the time thier lives depended on the crowd. I really enjoyed reading this book. It had alot of intresting facts in it. If your thinking about getting it I highly reccomend getting it.

I wish Mr. Watkins would write and illustrate other books / this must have been a labour of love. The drawings are masterful!I work as a children's librarian and I'm scared for the little ones to take this out. It's pretty irreplaceable/ unlike any other.

Richard Watkins' book on the gladiators of Rome is a welcome addition to the sparse literature on these most fascinating 'sports figures' and the 'games' they engaged in. Targeted principally for the younger readers, it is still an enjoyable read for anyone interested in the professional swordsmen of the arena. The illustrations are quite good, although a more colourful and detailed medium than graphite might have better served to capture the parade-like splendour of the events. Gladiator is an worthwhile companion to Michael Grant's harder to find (and more detailed) Gladiators (also highly recommended).

This book is not solely intended for the young reader. It contains numerous well illustrated aspects of gladiators in the arena as well as other Roman games.