Developed from a funerary human sacrifice, gladiator gaming became a massive form of entertainment, intimidation and execution in the late republic and early Roman empire. With up to ten per cent of the empire's inhabitants being enslaved, training some of them to become deadly killers became a liability and gladiator uprisings started happening. In this episode, we discuss the historical context of these events and the political and religious perspectives behind the adoption of gladiator uprisings in propaganda up till this day. Gil and Rutger review the classics Spartacus (1960) and Ben-Hur (1959), the epic Gladiator (2000), and several surprise bonus movies. More visual content with this episode at: https://www.ourpodacademy.com/post/gladiators-rising

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