The catalogue is issued to accompany the exhibition at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli on the gladiators, the ‘fighting machines’ of antiquity, whose myth endures through the centuries. From fighting to everyday life and the most recent discoveries and restoration works. An aspect of the ancient Roman world that is still a major part of its image today, described through objects, many for daily use, which document the gladiators’ extraordinary popularity. The essays present the gladiators’ fighting techniques and the course of the performances. They also shed light on nutrition, families and areas of origin, showing the human side of these fighters.

The volume includes both updates and news on the amphitheatres of Campania and Pompeian finds, as well as insights into the spread of gladiatorial themes in the day-to-day life of antiquity. The catalogue ends with the presentation, for the first time in Italy after its recent restoration, of the large mosaic floor from Augusta Raurica, near Basel, which demonstrates that no corner of the empire was exempt from acclaim for the gladiators.