The Way of the Gladiator: Inspiration for the Gladiator Films

I recently finished Daniel P. Mannix other book, The Hell Fire Club. Could not put it down! Downed it three days. Was curious about "Those About To Die"--what a topic! From the ad in the back of the 1958 paper-back copy of "The Hell Fire Club" reads: The Full truth of the sadistic Roman "games", where two armies of 5,000 men fought to the death, girls were thrown to crocodiles, leopards and bulls were taught to ravage woman. The wildest public massacres in history.-- The author shows how the "public entertainment" escalated over a period of a few hundred years, the grand economy which was built up around these events. This is definitely a piece of history we want to be aware of as so not to repeat. This was also a quick, smooth, easy (but intense) read. Good writer.

This book is a reprint of "Those About to Die," which was published back in the late 50's, when Mannix was in his heyday as a writer. I came to know Daniel P. Mannix through his many articles for the 50's publication "True: The Man's Magazine." He was a competent writer on many subjects, and his stories were always entertaining. "The Way of the Gladiator" is nothing if it is not entertaining. But it is NOT a piece of sober history. The book is not so much historical fiction as it is fictionalized history. Historical fiction is a make believe story told against the backdrop of historical events. Mannix takes historical events and relates them in "documentary" fashion, but unabashedly invents details and descriptions which, if they are accurate, are accurate only by accident. If you understand from the outset what you are dealing with, "The Way of the Gladiator" can be great reading. If you're looking for a well researched, scholarly study of gladiators, check out Michael Grant's "Gladiators."

A previos reviewer commented this book was a "string of titallating vignettes without redeeming historical context", but I beg to differ. This book has wonderful historical context. It describes the rise and fall of the Roman games. Maddox uses historical data and does a wonderful job acurately reporting the history of the games by relating fictional stories of know characters of the time in a realistic way. For example, the names and victory histories of charioteers exist along with their status as sportsmen, so a chapter is dedicated to a historical fiction piece of one such character. He describes not just the gladiator, but the charioteers, the beastiarii who fought with and against animals of all kinds, and other groups who fought either voluntarily or by force. Some animals are extinct today due to the Romans' thirst for more and more unique forms of bloodshed during the few hundred years of their more bloody gaming period. No redeeming historical context?? I wish history classes were like this back in highschool! This is the way to read history!

In this short and easy to read work, the author introduces the Roman gladiatorial games in all of their glory and terror. Relying heavily on primary sources, the author takes genuine stories from the games, and weaves them together to create stories that take the reader back to what the games were really like. Along the way, Mannix shows the evolution of the games, from challenges of skill and courage to mere orgies of carnage and destruction.Warning: this book is NOT for the faint of heart! The author presents the full spectrum of events, which includes the in-depth description of events of extreme sadism. However, if you are interested in really understanding what the gladiatorial games were like, then this is the book for you. Not academic in style, this book takes you right to the Coliseum!

Mannix does a great job of making you feel like you are a part of the crowd at a Roman spectacle. His descriptions of chariot races and gladiator games are well done. He takes real gladiators, whose name has been recorded in history, and creates a "biography" and career for him. The only knock on the book is that some of the themes are adult in nature. Otherwise, it is a great insight into our times as well as those of ancient Rome. Good companion piece to the movie Gladiator.