It was a mythical scene; the essence of a film contained in just a breath of footage. Maximus Decimus Meridius, played by the famous Russell Crowe, fights to the death against Tigris on the warm sand of an amphitheater. The gladiator, as colossal as he is dangerous, fights with a weapon in each hand: ax and ‘gladius’. The edges shine and the steel resonates in the wind; Swords and knives fly. How can we forget the most famous fight in ‘Gladiator’? However, and as much as the passage is already counted as one of the great battles in the history of cinema, historical reality has little to do with these images. All lies.
This is how they explain it to ABC Fernando Lillo Redonet, doctor in Classical Philology, and María Engracia Muñoz-Santoshistorian and doctor in Classical Archaeology. And they know what they are talking about, because they have just published ‘Gladiators, courage in the face of death’.
In this documented essay edited by ‘Desperta Ferro’ they analyze from the first moments in the arena of these guys, to their weapons and the fame they had at the time. “No. There was no gladiator who fought with an axe. If you see it in any movie, even in ‘Gladiator II’, doubt it,” they say.
The types of gladiators, we are told, were few and did not vary much over the years. Today, these two experts analyze in ‘We are in history’, the ABC podcast, the most common types of gladiators who fought during the Empire. Without tricks, cardboard or exaggerations.
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Script and voiceover: Manuel P. Villatoro, Andrea Morán and María Romero
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Production: Manuel P. Villatoro
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Sound Helper: Íñigo Martín Ciordia
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Mounting: Andrea Moran
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Collaboration: Fernando Lillo Redonet and María Engracia Muñoz-Santos
All episodes of ‘We Are in History’ can be found on the main audio platforms, such as Spotify, Ivoox, Apple PodcastsAmazon Music and We could. They are also available in YouTube. The next episode, in 15 days.
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