A CHISELLED man, complete with weapons, faces off against a snarling wild beast as thousands of enraptured fans look on…
It’s a scene from ancient Roman times, recreated in Hollywood movies like Gladiator ad countless more, giving movie watchers a look into a horrific – yet thrilling – past.
But what if such gruesome battles between man and beast took place here, on our shores?
A talk at the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery in April will explore exactly that – and even how gladiatorial combat took place right here, in Dorset.
“Can we understand the reality of gladiator shows behind the modern myths, especially in remote parts of the empire like Britain?,” a spokesperson said.
“Maumbury Rings and other Romano-British amphitheatres impress us still, but what happened within them?”
Dr John Pearce, a lecturer in archaeology at King’s College, London, will be on hand to explore the questions and the evidence we have regarding Roman gladiatorial activity in Britain – and in Dorset.
“This talk will explore recent research by the speaker and others on new discoveries and older finds, including objects, images and skeletal remains,” the spokesperson went on.
“The evidence allows us to see not only the uncomfortable reality of death and mutilation in arenas like those of Dorchester.
“It also illuminates the networks which brought star performers, human and animal, to Britannia from the furthest corners of the empire, and reveals the fan culture which sustained the holding of spectacles in its cities and garrisons.”
The event in Dorchester, running between 6pm and 7pm on Thursday, April 24, is part of a public programme supporting the British Museum Partnership Exhibition with Colchester and Ipswich Museums: Gladiators of Britain, running from January 25 to May 11.
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