All posts tagged: gladiator

The Gladiator!

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Ancient Rome’s gladiators have both fascinated and horrified generations of historians in equal measure.  The concept of the gladiator came from the funerals of rich and powerful, where slaves were forced to fight as a funeral gift for the departed shade.  Ambitious politicians, such as Julius Caesar, realised what a powerful tool these fighters could be in gaining popularity from the masses, and the gladiator was born. The Romans loved to match gladiators with different fighting styles against one another, in order to produce the most dramatic and exciting contests.  Therefore there were a number of different types.  Here are ten of them: lottie52occache.wikia.com Thraex “The Thracian” Relatively lightly armoured, the Thraex carried a curved blade, small round or square shield, and helmet.  He was given small leg greaves as well, but the rest of his body was otherwise unarmoured and therefore a tempting target.  The Thracian needed to be light on his feet and be able to rely on his dexterity to survive in the arena. hotdog.hu Murmillo “The Sea Fish”  Often matched against the lightly …

10 Types of Bad guys!

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The Lord of the Manor – “What shall we do with the scullery maid we found reading a book, Lord Dastardly?” “Have her dismissed, force her parents off my land, and send her brothers and sisters to the local poor-house.  That should stop her getting ideas above her station…” You can’t beat the arrogance and sense of entitlement of the English Lord and Lady, unless….. The mean King – Unless he is the king of course! The English normally supply most these bad guys as well, and you have plenty to choose between.  From Edward 1st ‘Hammer of the Scots’, Richard III locking his nephews in the Tower (then murdering them), to Henry VIII and his severance package for estranged wives. The decadent Emperor – Ancient Rome with all its wealth and power needs a good insane Emperor to keep things ticking along.  Making a horse a senator (Caligula), killing his mother (Nero), or being deluded into thinking he was Hercules (Commodus), you have plenty to choose from, and that’s just Rome… Ancient China, The British …

A fun packed read, starting at the beginning – Gates of Rome, Conn Iggulden #historical #fiction #gladiators

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When a famous character of the past is depicted in a novel, where do you start?  Normally the proscribed path would be to research the history books, find out where he or she first comes to the attention of the historians and start your story there.  However, with some historical figures that means that you don’t pick up their story until they are approaching middle age, and you learn nothing of what shaped their character or motivated them through their youth.  That’s certainly the case with Julius Caesar; by the time he started conquering Gaul he was already in his forties and often bemoaned the fact that Alexander the Great managed to achieve so much – he conquered all the lands from Greece to India – by the age of thirty. So rather than wait until Julius Caesar has become a successful Senator and skillful politician, Conn Iggulden, in his novel ‘Gates of Rome’ has gone right back to the beginning and starts his story when Julius – or Gaius as he goes by then …