Archaeologists Make Virtual Reconstruction of Gladiator School Discovered in Austria
Posted on February 26, 2014
Archaeologists have virtually reconstructed a gladiator school discovered in Carnuntum, Austria along the south bank of the River Danube. Excavations in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries have revealed many of the major elements of the extensive complex. A research paper about the virtual reconstruction is published here in the journal, Antiquity. Archaeologists from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute say the school is "on a scale to rival the famous ludus magnus, the gladiatorial school behind the Coliseum in Rome."
The Daily Mail reports that researchers believe the school was home to about 80 gladiators at a time. It had heated floors, plumbing and a nearby graveyard. The school also acted as a prison so gladiators in training could not escape. The school featured individual cells for the gladiators and a circular training arena in the middle. Take a look: