Origin Of York’s Roman “Gladiators” Traced

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The skull of one of the bodies found in York, thought to have possibly been a Roman gladiator. York Archaeological Trust

In what was then a far northern outpost of the Roman Empire, young men in England were fighting to the death for the entertainment of others. Just before, or after, their death the young men’s heads were cut off and the bodies buried on the outskirts of what would become the city of York.