How the gladiators inspired evangelicals’ sense of persecution

By Cavan W. Concannon, Professor of Religion and Classics, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

With the release of Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” audiences will be plunged back into the cinematic excitement of the Roman amphitheater so vividly captured in its predecessor, “Gladiator.”

Scott’s film will undoubtedly capture the thrills of this spectacle. But as someone who studies the Roman world, I think it’s worth remembering that its cultural legacy goes beyond the cinematic pleasures of the big screen.

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