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Gorgon:
The Fik Meijer book is alright for a reasonably good general view of the gladiators. Susanna Shadrake's book is better for its greater detail, much of it culled from Junkelmann's work. Also worth adding to your library is Luciana Jacobelli's "Gladiators at Pompeii". Of special interest in Jacobelli's book are the numerous examples of the watercolour records made of the frescos (sic) that once adorned the podium wall of the Pompeii amphitheater (all sadly destroyed by frosts over a hundred years ago).
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Thank you Martin!
Do you have anything to say about "Gladiators: Violence and Spectacle in Ancient Rome" by Roger Dunkle and "The Roman Games: A Sourcebook" by A. Futrell ?
So based on your response can I deduce that Susanna Shadrake's book is perhaps the best well rounded one-book source on the subject?
Thank you again for your advice.
Pedro Pereira
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Couldn't hold myself on my pants so I went ahead and ordered Susanna Shadrake's book.
Thanks a lot again for the imput, Martin!
Pedro Pereira
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Pedro
I haven't read the books by Dunkle or Futrell, so I can't give you any input. I'll have to check them out myself. Enjoy your purchase when it arrives.
Martin
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Pedro:
Looks like I won't be reading the Futrell book. It's $90.00 from Amazon, and at this point I can't justify the expense. Be sure to consider "Gladiators at Pompeii".
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I purchased A. Futrell's book "The Roman Games: A Sourcebook" after it was recommended by Jasper here on the forum. It is really worth reading when getting deeper into the topic of gladiators because it contains many quotations from original sources and putting them into context. For a beginner I would recommend definitely the book by Susanna Shadrake because it is not as much in-depth as the Junkelmann book (the latter still not being published in English so far).
Jacobelli's "Gladiators at Pompeii" is concentrating of course on... gladiators in Pompeii :lol: But when visiting Pompeii in Oct. 2007 I was walking around with this book as well although many frescoes etc. already disappeared.
Never heard about "Gladiators: Violence and Spectacle in Ancient Rome" by Roger Dunkle, so I would appreciate any reviews on this book.
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I finnished reading Shadrake's book one or two weeks ago (thanks for the sugestion!). Some of the info is very good (mainly on equipment) but some of the other stuff was somewhat vague and not very clear. A glossary would have been welcome too. Overall I liked it but I feel I need a more comprehensive book.
I'm probably going to get Dunkle's book in the comming months. It seems to be more "complete" regarding other aspects of roman games and spectacles, like Naumachia (~9 pages, maybe covering water shows too) and Venationes (~50 pages). I certainly would like to read a review too.
It would be good to get Junkelmann's book in english. Someone here said it was going to get a translation, but I guess that went the way of the dodo.
Pedro Pereira
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I just ordered Dunkle's "Gladiators: Violence and Spectacle in Ancient Rome". If anyone want's a brief overview of contents or some particular info regarding the book I can do that when it arrives. It will be a while before I read through it, though.
Pedro Pereira
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I ordered it, too. Couldn't wait for your comments so I risked it :mrgreen: Will compare my opinion then with Gorgon's.
) 