Popular interest in ancient Rome has surged in recent years, boosted by pop culture phenomena like Ridley Scott’s box office hit Gladiator II and the 2023 viral TikTok trend asking men how often they think about the Roman Empire. Constant reminders of Rome’s wide-reaching influence—from its road networks and grid-like town layouts to commonly used Latin phrases like “status quo,” “et cetera” and “vice versa”—ensure modern Europeans, and Americans, too, remain fascinated by this timeworn yet familiar world.
It’s worth pointing out that, beyond poppy fads, our understanding of the Roman Empire is constantly shifting as archaeologists and historians unearth new evidence and offer new interpretations of existing material. Decanting the latest is a multi-institutional collaboration between the British Museum and Colchester and Ipswich Museums called “Gladiators of Britain,” which is currently touring the U.K. and presenting fresh findings centered around public spectacle and blood sports on the northern periphery of the Roman Empire.
On display are artifacts like the Colchester Vase, which depicts a number of arena scenes, including a gladiator fight between Valentinus, a retiarius (a “net-man” with a net, trident and dagger), and Memnon, a secutor (a “chaser” who fought with a shield and sword). New analysis shows that this vase was made of Colchester clay and fired in Essex, eastern England; as such, the exhibition suggests that, contrary to prior belief, Roman gladiatorial fights did take place on British soil.
“It was presumed the vase was made by craftspeople on the European continent because of the high quality of the depictions, and the familiarity with the gladiators’ armor. But the evidence points to the vase being a bespoke-made souvenir, from a real fight by real gladiators that may have been based in Colchester,” Jill Birrell, curator at Northampton Museums & Art Gallery, tells Observer. She augmented the touring display with touches of local Northamptonshire history like the 2nd-century clasp knife found at nearby Piddington Villa and engraved glass fragments discovered by the village of Nether Heyford—objects that help to paint a broader picture of Roman life in England’s East Midlands.
“It gives an insight into a way of life for people living locally… they were engaging in different aspects of Roman life, they were interested in these games and collecting objects embellished with gladiators signified high social status,” she adds. “The amphitheaters were very large, and the games that happened were quite barbaric… it wasn’t just gladiators fighting each other but beast fights as well, a real range of activities, and it’s something that people wanted to keep a memento of.”
The exhibition arrives, coincidentally, at a time when the likes of Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal have enlivened the image of the gladiator in the public eye. But according to Greg Jenner, an author, historian and broadcaster who hosts the popular history podcast You’re Dead To Me, it’s easy to overplay the magnitude of this recent Roman revival.
“I don’t think interest in the Roman Empire is higher, but I wonder if it’s more focused,” he tells Observer. “Rome is this constant drumbeat that sometimes goes quieter, and occasionally it’s this loud crescendo where we all agree that Romans are really important, but they never go away. Their legacy endures in our institutions, our memory, our language, the physical spaces we encounter… if you go to a law court, a stately home or an art gallery, chances are it’ll have some Romanesque columns or a Romanesque dome or art… they are both distant and unknowable and also somehow still with us.”
This certainly seems true of gladiatorial fights; while their sense of grand spectacle and passionate arena-based fandom is familiar to us, their severe brutality feels alien, and therefore fascinates us. There also remain several misconceptions around the gladiator role, from understandable confusion about their unique social status (as a vulnerable, typically enslaved fighter who nonetheless holds the potential to win glory, fame and freedom) to the assumption that most clashes would end in death (which would’ve left sponsors seriously out of pocket).
“There was a strange disconnect between the glory that could be achieved by a great gladiator or charioteer, and the fact that the moment you went into the arena, you were tarnished socially; potentially you were enslaved, or a foreign captive, or a criminal,” Jenner says. “This idea that gladiators were sacrificial lambs for Rome’s bloodsport is a fabricated notion that we get from 18th- and 19th-century paintings, and we still carry around these ideas; Hollywood perpetuates them.”
“Gladiators of Britain” attempts to debunk some of these popular myths, shedding light on the realities of Roman spectacle in Britain in a smart, spacious display; alongside simplistic cream scrolls hanging from the walls, glass cabinets present artifacts that help define our understanding of Roman Britain in new ways. For example, British Museum experts have made a high-quality brass faceguard for the famous Hawkedon Helmet, which dates to A.D. 43-69, was found in Suffolk, eastern England in 1965 and is thought to be the only known piece of Roman gladiator equipment found in Britain.
“I really like how the British Museum’s specialists have been able to recreate the whole piece that would’ve covered the gladiator when he was fighting, conserving objects but also adding meaning and interpreting them with modern understanding,” says Birrell. “That really detailed analysis can give you insights that just research can’t.”
Perhaps the most exciting thing about this exhibition is that it represents an opening of new doors that could lead anywhere, rather than a resolution to age-old questions. New discoveries relating to Roman Britain are frequently being made, and “Gladiators of Britain” shows how images of the ancient world can be tweaked and adjusted over time.
“The reason we keep getting drawn to Rome is because it keeps changing in front of us,” says Jenner. “It’s everything you want it to be, but also it’s often surprising, and it often pulls the rug out from underneath you. There’s a lot to be said for accepting that we’re often going to be wrong about Rome.”
The British Museum’s “Gladiators of Britain” will be at the Grosvenor Museum in Chester from September 20, 2025, through January 25, 2026, before moving to the Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery in Carlisle.
More exhibition reviews
-
One Fine Show: ‘Why Look at Animals?’ at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens
-
At the British Museum, India’s Ancient Heart Meets Contemporary London
-
Where Ink Breathes With the Universe: Hung Hsien’s Cosmic Abstractions at Asia Society Texas
-
Steve McQueen’s ‘Bass’ at the Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager Basel
-
At Tate Britain, Edward Burra and Ithell Colquhoun Are a Two-for-One Deal
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
