Changes

The gladiatorial games of ancient Rome are well-known today due to the numerous films produced over the last few decades where they play a role. The fictional accounts of the gladiators do in fact show a lot of truthful elements of the games, but often mix different events from various periods of Roman history.  The reality is that the gladiatorial games played a major role in Roman culture from the early days of the Republic well into the days of decline in the Empire. Archaeological, art historical, and textual evidence have allowed modern scholars to trace the evolution of the gladiatorial games from small private occasions that were associated with religion and rituals to the major events most people think of, which were for the most part designed to keep the people content and to eliminate enemies of the state.