Gladiators, the Cursed Stars of Ancient Rome

    Gladiator fights are definitely among the favourite subjects tackled both by professional and        amateur historians. All the more that new aspects of this horrific practice come to light.    Archaeologist Georges Ville believes that the phenomenon is far worse than we had imagined,  explicable through reasons quite different from those that led to other horrors such as the  Inquisition, the Holocaust or the gulags. Sadistic behaviour has always been a constant  component of humanity, but gladiator combats exploit it in a seemingly original manner.