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Most young people quickly see the parallels between the adoration experienced by gladiators and elite sportsmen and women today. They can engage with discussions about the transhistorical and transcultural attractions to violence as entertainment, notably boxing or cage fighting and hyper- violent TV programmes such as Peaky Blinders. However, there is far more to the story of gladiators than outlining their weapons and tactics. The voice of the gladiators themselves, as with all lower-class Romans, is hard to find and interpret. Gladiators were often slaves, criminals or prisoners of war, while others were volunteers who willingly signed binding contracts. All were seen as infames, people of ill repute, and their story must be carefully unpicked from scant sources. Pupils may be interested to discover that these top athletes trained on a vegetarian diet, and that there is growing evidence of the role of female gladiators in the arena.