Gladiator  

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Pollice Verso (1872) by Jean-Léon Gérôme
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Pollice Verso (1872) by Jean-Léon Gérôme

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Gladiators (Latin: gladiatōrēs, "swordsmen" or "one who uses a sword," from gladius, "sword") were professional fighters in ancient Rome who fought against each other, wild animals, and condemned criminals, sometimes to the death, for the entertainment of spectators. These fights took place in arenas in many cities from the Roman Republic period through the Roman Empire.

Pollice Verso by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872, is the immediate source of the "thumbs down" gesture in popular culture. It is owned by Phoenix Art Museum.
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Pollice Verso by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872, is the immediate source of the "thumbs down" gesture in popular culture. It is owned by Phoenix Art Museum.

Games were an important celebratory element in the religious life of ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

See also

See also: arena - human hunting - bloodsport - bread and circuses - gladiator - violence - game - circus - Rome




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Gladiator" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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