Click2Flicks - Commodus and the Gladiator - Chapter 1 - Preface

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top><table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff cellpadding=5> <tr> <td align=center valign=top><div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b><i>GLADIATORS OF ANCIENT ROME</i></b></p>  <table width="590"> <tr> <td align="CENTER" valign="top" bgcolor="000000" colspan=2><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="3" color="FFFFFF"><b>STORY CHAPTER LINKS</b></font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align=center valign=top width=50%>  <table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" border="0"> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><a href="#preface"><b>1. STORY PREFACE</b></a></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="50%"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="gladiator_ch2.htm">2. MARCUS AURELIUS</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="50%"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="gladiator_ch3.htm">3. HIS LEGACY</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="gladiator_ch4.htm">4. COMMODUS - IN CHARGE</a></b></font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> <td align=center valign=top width=50%>  <table width=100% cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 border=0> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="gladiator_ch5.htm">5. THE ROMAN GAMES</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="gladiator_ch6.htm">6. COMMODUS IN THE ARENA</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="gladiator_ch7.htm">7.THUMBS DOWN FOR COMMODUS</a></b></font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table>  <p><b><font size="3"><u><a name="preface">PREFACE</a></u></font></b></p> <div align=center><b><i><font face="Times New Roman" color="000000" size="3">Hail, Caesar,<br> Those about to die<br> Salute thee</i><br><br> (Or, in Latin,<br> the language of the day:<br><br> <i>Ave Imperator,<br> morituri te salutant)</i><br><br> <a href="http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/writers/art9.htm" target="_blank"><b>Suetonius</b></a>,<br> Historian of Ancient Rome</font></b></blockquote></b><br> </div> <center> <table width="90%"> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"><p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">Usually "<a href="http://www.ancientsites.com/er/ave.html" target="_blank"><b>those about to die</b></a>" in the Roman <a href="http://www.athenapub.com/romecol2.htm" target="_blank"><b>Colosseum</b></a> were condemned prisoners, professional gladiators, <a href="http://www.ancientsites.com/er/martyrdom.html" target="_blank"><b>Christians</b></a>, or <a href="http://www.ancientsites.com/er/bestiarii.html" target="_blank"><b>animals</b></a>. The spectacle of the "<a href="http://www.bates.edu/~mimber/blood/gladiator.sources.htm#Plutarch" target="_blank"><b>games</b></a>" was often <a href="http://www.ancientsites.com/er/retiarius.html" target="_blank"><b>bloody</b></a>, a tradition likely started in Rome by its earlier conquerors, the <a href="http://www.comune.santamarinella.rm.it/museo/html/inglese/a1.html" target="_blank"><b>Etruscans</b></a>.</p> <p>But not until the reign of <a href="http://www.ece.arizona.edu/~justin/Emperors/Commodus.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Commodus</b></a> (180-192 AD) did Roman citizens witness wholesale slaughter by a Caesar himself, dressed as a gladiator and acting like a madman. Who was this Emperor, this Caesar, who thought of himself as a god? And who were the gladiators of ancient Rome?</p> </div> <p align="right"><font size="2"><a href="gladiator_ch2.htm">GO TO CHAPTER 2</a></font></p><br>  </table>  </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table>  </body>