Gladiators: 100 Bc - Ad 200 (Warrior, 39)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent handy reference
Review: Gladiators 100BC-200AD is an excellent addition to the prolific Osprey series of military books. A nice summary of the superb (but a tad costlier) Gladiators and Ceasars, Gladiators 100Bc-200AD combines much of the latest information on these showmen of the arena with magnificent illustrations by the legendary Angus McBride. The descriptions of training and living conditions of the gladiators is nice and concise, with some good asides based on grafritti findings and written records. The descriptions of the various fighters are good, with the illustrations doing much to imprint the differences in the reader's mind. Probably the only real failing of the volume is the lack of photographs of either actual gladiatorial armour, especially the helmets, or the excellent reproductions done under Dr Marcus Junklemann's supervision. An image of the myrmillon helmet described with the "scale-like" pattern on the bowl would have been really appreciated. All-in-all, an excellent addition to my growing gladiator library. Now, if only someone would translate Junklemann's Das Spiel mit dem Todt into English and make it available to purchase.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent handy reference
Review: Gladiators 100BC-200AD is an excellent addition to the prolific Osprey series of military books. A nice summary of the superb (but a tad costlier) Gladiators and Ceasars, Gladiators 100Bc-200AD combines much of the latest information on these showmen of the arena with magnificent illustrations by the legendary Angus McBride. The descriptions of training and living conditions of the gladiators is nice and concise, with some good asides based on grafritti findings and written records. The descriptions of the various fighters are good, with the illustrations doing much to imprint the differences in the reader's mind. Probably the only real failing of the volume is the lack of photographs of either actual gladiatorial armour, especially the helmets, or the excellent reproductions done under Dr Marcus Junklemann's supervision. An image of the myrmillon helmet described with the "scale-like" pattern on the bowl would have been really appreciated. All-in-all, an excellent addition to my growing gladiator library. Now, if only someone would translate Junklemann's Das Spiel mit dem Todt into English and make it available to purchase.

Rating:
Summary: A good book,but not the best.
Review: I found some mistakes in this book. The historical research is not good but the illustrations of Angus Mac Bride are gorgeous!
Unfortunatelly,there are few illustrations. If you like ancient Rome and gladiators,buy Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome by Eckart Kohne.