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Podcast: Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography, & More
Episode: Gladiators
Description: You’ve probably seen a movie or a TV show that took place in ancient Rome where gladiators fought in the coliseum or an amphitheater. At the end of the fight, the emperor or some other official would extend their thumb to see if the defeated gladiator would live or would die.But how accurate is that depiction of gladiatorial contests? Did gladiators always die in the arena? Did the emperor determine their fate? How exactly did the entire system work, and perhaps most important, why in the world did they do this in the first palace?...