Chronology
Introduction
How the gladiator games evolved
Chariot races and plays
Early gladiator fights
Spartacus
Gladiator games under the early emperors
The gladiators
Their prestige
Their backgrounds
Their training
Their life expectancy
Their love life
Female gladiators
What did it all cost?
Types of gladiator
The scene of action
The building of the Colosseum
Safety
Comfort
Copies of the Colosseum
The animals
A day at the Colosseum
The morning programme : hunting and animal fights
The interval attractions : executions
The afternoon programme : gladiator fights
Sea battles (naumachiae)
Dead meat
Gladiator burials
Carcasses : disposed of or eaten?
The end of gladiator shows
Objections to gladiator fights
The demise of gladiator shows
The decline and fall of the Colosseum
Gladiator films
Spartacus
Gladiator
Epilogue
Glossary
List of amphitheatres.