Download PDF Gladiator The Roman Fighter [Unofficial] Manual Philip Matyszak 9780500051672 Books

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Product details Hardcover 208 pages Publisher Thames & Hudson; 1st Edition edition (April 15, 2011) Language English ISBN-10 0500051674

Gladiator The Roman Fighter [Unofficial] Manual Philip Matyszak 9780500051672 Books Reviews

• Because I’m an author I do a lot of research. Sometimes doing research is enjoyable, other times boring, but at all times, it’s painstaking. What’s the point of doing something unless it’s done right? The last thing I want is a reader grimacing and closing my book in disgust because I didn’t take the time and effort to learn what I should have before I wrote about the subject. As a reader, I can’t say how often I’ve done the same, especially when reading books by indie authors. But I digress; I’m getting off-course. Back onto the proper path…
  
  One of my most enjoyable areas of research includes the Roman Empire, gladiators specifically (those of you who know what books of mine are forthcoming will understand why). “Gladiator The Roman Fighters (Unofficial) Manual” is surprisingly good. No, scratch that. The information it gives goes beyond good and that information is related in a wholly entertaining fashion. There were times reading this when I could literally see myself on the sand because the book puts the reader in the point-of-view, taking the reader from induction into a ludus right on through to the games.
  
  REALLY well done this book
• This is a very entertaining book that is written as a how to guide to being a gladiator. It is full of information on the training and equipment that was used as well as some of the details that one would not think of but that were just as important to the event such as the negotiations that would take place before a bout and all of the support staff. I found the different strategies that gladiators used especially interesting. The book has a lot of illustrations many of them reproductions of contemporary artwork and graffiti depicting the gladiators as well as primary source quotes about gladiators. While it provides lots of details, it is written in a way that makes it light reading and entertaining. The author manages to provide plenty of detail and information while keeping the reading light and entertaining. After reading this book I look forward to reading the other books in this series.
• I was highly impressed with this book. While the work might seem simplistic at first glance, a great deal of thought and scholarship went into Gladiator, the Manual. To begin with, the author makes history interesting by delving into the subject matter at the level of being "in the reeds." That is, the author's approach is to do a sociology of the past. In fact, the work took a knowledge of history and culture to a new level by viewing it from the perspective of a denizen of the ancient world.
  
  Other books handle the peripheral facts of Roman culture in more depth. But this book well fills the niche topic of Roman gladiators not just from a cultural point of view, that of ancient Rome and its institutions set up for entertainment as a form of social control and government propaganda, but from the perspective of the individual gladiator or potential gladiator. In other words, it really could have been a manual for a gladiator. And as such, there's extensive treatment of, for example, the politics of getting along with one's lanista (manager) and doctore (instructor), other gladiators in training, and how to gear up psychologically for an upcoming bout with another contender from the same ludus (school), and why the food on offer was what it was. The physician Galen didn't like giving gladiators too much barley in their diet because it made them bulk up too much. Hmm. wasn't that the idea? But there are some finer points to the matter.
  
  Also, the book makes clear some things that are commonly misunderstood. For example, the rudis is the staff of a referee--not a wooden sword. And sine missione did not mean a fight to the death, rather it meant a fight that had an ending, as when one of the pair conceded the match by raising two fingers. And matches were usually lost, not due to lack of skill, but due to a deception that worked. That's why even good fighters were eventually doomed if they stayed on long enough because luck had something to do with it. About one fight in five ended in death, so a gladiator usually won his freedom after winning about five combats.
• If you're looking on information on how to be a gladiator, the training, what you'll face and how to (possibly) survive and deal with your opponents, this book is a good way to find out. Written in a lively, humorous but very informative style this book presents the training and life of a gladiator without taking away from the brutality and pain and often shame that a gladiator faced fighting in the various arenas of the Roman Empire. If you've read other books about the gladiator life and wish to know more or would like a balanced approach that movies and television don't depict, this book is definitely worth the read.
• Philip Matyszak always has a great way of writing on any historical subject. His books move write along with a lot of information without bogging the reader down without overdoing the material. The material covers every aspect of the gladiator's life, training, lifespan, etc. Even though the gladiators were looked down on by the Romans they were also at the same time the rock stars of their time.
• Matyszak is an accomplished professional historian of Rome. In this book, he brings to the page all the useful information. A young athlete might wish to know, as he is considering a career in the Roman arena.
  
  (Approximately one-third of gladiators were volunteers, seeking their dust and eight on the sands of the arena for a variety of personal reasons.)
  
  I have read a substantial number of books about gladiators, and Matyszak tells the story as well as any, with a sense of humor appropriate to his subject. Highly recommended.
• This book will educate and entertain the curious from middle school to adult. I would recommend it highly as a way to really bring the history of Rome and Romans to life. It gives a great window into the culture and history of Rome and the Roman world. You'll even get a little Latin vocabulary. This is a great book in a great series.