ABSTRACT
The ancient Romans were known for their magnificent buildings, especially their coliseums. Spectators watched violent displays of gladiators sword fighting and prisoners fighting wild animals. They were very bloody but very popular sports, and the coliseums were full for every event. But in the early years of the first century B.C., an emperor named Tiberius became the ruler of Rome. He hated the blood and death of gladiator fighting and outlawed the sport. The citizens protested. The instant the ban was lifted, a man named Atilius started building a new stadium in the town of Fidenae, Italy. The day of the fight, people crowded into the new stadium. A cracking sound exploded in the air. It was a scene of death and destruction, but it wasn’t the gladiators who fought to the death; it was the audience. After the disaster, the Roman Senate banned people with a fortune of less than 400,000 sesterces from hosting gladiator shows.
