Such a spectacle has always been considered quintessentially Roman by nature. But surprisingly, gladiator fights did not actually originate in Rome. The tradition started in Rome in 264 B.C. after ...

Roman historian Suetonius records that the emperor Domitian made female gladiators ... including lions, tigers, bears, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, and even giraffes - fighting each other.

Bloody, brutal but popular, gladiatorial contests are often seen as the dark side of Roman ... fight to the death before cheering crowds of thousands. As the contests became more organized ...