Most Surprising Facts about Gladiators

Thumbs, blood medicine, and freedom

By Unknown author — Livius.org, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3479030

I did a lot of research on ancient Rome, the games, and the Colosseum for my upcoming novel, A Gladiators’ Oath. Usually, when I dive into research on a historical topic, there are surprising facts, and some popular ideas turn out to be false. This was no exception. Here are some tidbits I uncovered from the fascinating to the downright…