Bestselling author Harry Sidebottom takes readers on a thrilling journey through a day in the life of the most iconic figure of the ancient world: the Roman gladiator.

Wonderfully panoramic, endlessly informative, rich with unexpected detail but never heavy to read, this book blends extensive research with a talent for vivid storytelling to distill 700 years of gladiator history into the 24 hours around match day, from eve-of-fight rituals to stripping the corpses.

Dressed in armor and clutching a bloody sword, the Roman gladiator was a deeply controversial character, at times hated and idealized – and always at the heart of Roman culture. This book explores what the gladiator really meant to the Romans and what they saw in the spectacle of the games.

Brilliantly written and meticulously researched, it tells the stories of the gladiators and those who observed them – from grand emperors to lowly slaves – illuminating and analyzing the all-consuming passion of the Roman Empire for the spectacle of mortal combat. In doing so, it reveals Roman ideas about everything from freedom and servitude to sex and desire, from courage and cowardice to death and the afterlife.

Taking readers on an unforgettable twenty-four-hour adventure – beginning the night before the games and ending the evening after – "Those Who Are About To Die" provides a blow-by-blow account of what life was really like in the brutally unforgiving arena of the ancient world.

Pages: 416, Dimensions: 16.3x16.3cm