So this weekend I cheered and jeered for the gladiators at the Museum of London Gladiator Games.
It's been quite a few centuries since the Romans ruled London, sorry Londinium, but for the month of August the Museum of London along with Roman experts Britannia are bringing the theatre of the gladiator arena back to life in the Guildhall Yard - the home of London's only amphitheatre.
Now when I booked these tickets I wasn't really sure what to expect. When I think of gladiators I think of Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's film Gladiator (not my childhood favourite show with the Wolf and Jet) and although I knew Maximus wouldn't be showing off his moves to the crowd I was curious to see how they would bring it to life.
So did we just sit there and watch numerous bouts? Yes and no.
Firstly Draco, our awesome MC for the day and legendary fighter, introduced us to the key characters in a gladiator tournament. Starting with a musical fanfare Caesar entered on a chariot followed closely by his wife and family - sorry women but only Caesar gets a ride.
Whilst he gets comfortable in the royal box, the Priestesses of Fortuna enter the arena wafting incense to ward of evil spirits and bless the games.
Now the interesting characters and quite possibly two reasons why being a gladiator isn't as cool as Russell (my spell check wants to call him Mussel Crowe - he's from New Zealand not under the sea) makes it out to be. First there's Dis Pater, God of the underworld, who swaggers on dressed in black wearing a creepy mask and swinging a hammer. A hammer? Well this delightful feller's job is to smash in the head of gladiators who have been killed in the arena. He's followed closely by little Mercury who you think is sweet until you realise the poker he has in his hand is used to poke at the gladiator to check he is dead before Dis Pater practices his swing. After their antics, come the slaves whose unfortunate job was to take away the dead bodies and clear the arena.
Finally our champions entered to cheers from the crowds.
Two teams were performing for our delight today. First we had the gold team representing Camulodunum, Colchester, who followed their owner in regimental style in to the ring. Second came the red team representing Londinium, no need to explain that great city. I was cheering my home city and although I love Colchester I was probably booing and jeering the loudest.
With another round of fanfare the games began. Now the games weren't just about men fighting men! We saw champions defend their titles, female gladiators even took to the arena and one even took on a man. Two disgraced soldiers fought to the death and a group of gladiators re-enacted a famous battle for the Caesars viewing pleasure. Let's face it us ladies were most certainly swooning over the clone of Prince William who took up a spear and shield to defend his glory.
One thing was evidently clear, this audience loved violence. When a gladiator was defeated his fate lay in our hands. We could either choose to save him or let him die. As you can imagine the crowds called for the gladiator to head to Elysium, although the truth is they wanted to see fake blood splayed across the yard. You can't help but see how the Romans must have got caught up in the action although I think I'll stick to the Olympics and Rugby World Cup when it comes to spectating games.
Finally the games wouldn't be over without a surprise. Well it turns out our magnificent MC had in fact been having an affair with Caesars wife (naughty boy!) so he was called in to the ring to take on Caesar's bodyguard. Who was the victor? Well you'll have to go and find out for yourself.
At £15 a ticket (£10 for kids) you might be mistaken in thinking it's not worth it, but you really can't put a price on a great morning of entertainment and a touch of blood and gore. Britannia were incredible at bringing the crowd together and whilst we all loved the action, the MC provided us with valuable knowledge to help us understand the action and the history of the games. Personally, I could have stayed watching for hours.
If you have time after the games, take a trip into the Guildhall Art Gallery to see the remains of the original ampitheatre. It's spectacular and the digital display helps you to see the arena in all its glory.
The Gladiator Games runs till the 16th August and if you are keen to dig deeper into the past then why not join the Museum of London experts for a tour of Roman sites in London which are taking place this summer.
For those planning to go here's a run down of some key gladiator terminology.*
Gladius: The long straight sword held by a gladiator
Tiro: A gladiators first fight
Missio: A gladiator who accepts defeat and requests to be saved
Pollice Verso: When the crowd decides not to save a gladiator. Usually signified with thumb turned
Stantes missi: A draw
Lanista: Not Tyrion, Tywin, Jamie or Cersei, but the owner of gladiators
Liberatio: The freeing of a gladiator who has served their time
Rudis: The wooden sword given to a liberated gladiator
