Gladiators

Up to a million gladiators are thought to have died in arenas across the Roman Empire. And, apart from ancient Italy itself, Roman Britain had the highest density of purpose-built gladiatorial arenas in Europe. Interest in gladiators has been at an all-time high since Russell Crowe’s sword and sandals epic. But the details of the lives and deaths of gladiators remain fragmentary. Now, featuring sensational new archaeological discoveries, Gladiators: Back from the Dead vividly recreates the world of the Roman arena and how six gladiators lived, fought and died.

Albert Griffiths founded the Gladiators in 1966 after some success on his own. The group scored their first hit, produced by legendary producer Coxsone Dodd, with “Hello Carol” in 1968. During the ’70s the Gladiators made their way through releases on labels like Studio One, Upsetter, Virgin, and Groovemaster. 1980 found the Gladiators working with producer, and pre-“Electric Avenue” hitmaker, Eddy Grant on the album Gladiators, which also featured members of the band Aswad lending a musical hand.

This set, with its powerful melodies, brilliant playing (note the superb horns) and all round attitude, is a sparkling reminder of how reggae sounded when it first influenced the world music scene in the Seventies. But it afso bears testimony to the sophisticated consciousness, wisdom and Afrocentric worldview that were the trademarks of the Rasta rebel soul at that time. This music had weight. That 'Roots' and 'Culture' became pilloried cliches at the beginning of the 80s says something about the rot that had set in at the heart of reggae - and just as much about, how times had changed. The idea of Roots - kind of personified by Alex Haley's mid-Seventies book and TV series of the same period - typified the search for an African identity, after centuries of physical and then economic slavery, amongst Jamaican youth.

A compact e-guide to everything you want to know about the gladiators of ancient Rome. With amazing facts; fantastic photos; and warm, lively, humorous text, this mini e-guide will absorb even the most reluctant reader.