How did Verus become a slave?
For what major project were the slaves quarrying stone?
Why did Verus want to be a gladiator?
What was the difference between a contract gladiator and a regular one?
Why did Vespasian want the Colosseum?
What qualified Drusus to train the gladiators?
Who paid for most of the games?
Before battle, gladiators often paid tribute to Nemesis, goddess of chance, fortune, and revenge. In your opinion, why would they pay homage to her instead of Nike, goddess of victory?
What went wrong in Verus’s first fight?
Most contests did not end in death. Why not?
Why did Verus feel he had to win the second bout?
Verus was summoned to meet a wealthy nobleman. What did he want from Verus?
Even though many of the most powerful people in Rome were chanting his name, Verus just felt “numb.” What bothered him?
Why could Verus not discuss his problems with his friend Pricus?
Why was the beastmaster’s job difficult?
There were several disasters in the first few years of Titus’s reign, making the people feel he had fallen out of favor with the gods. One of the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii. What was the other?
How were the wild animals used for entertainment?
If the animals failed to “perform,” who did they hold responsible? What was the punishment?
How did Titus decide which gladiators lived or died?
They saved the best gladiators for last. The loser would certainly die. Who was Verus’s opponent in this contest?
How did the battle end?
At the end, where do you think Verus was going?