This series chronicles the lives of Rome’s greatest gladiators - from Spartacus’s defiant rebellion to Flamma’s ultimate sacrifice in the arena. Their stories reveal the brutal rise and fall of gladiatorial combat, exposing how bloodsport shaped Roman power, culture, and identity. Through rebellion, spectacle, and survival, these warriors became legends in an empire built on violence and glory.
EPISODE 1: SPARTACUS
75 BCE, Spartacus rises from enslaved gladiator to rebel leader, defying Rome and sparking a legendary uprising that shakes the Republic to its core.
EPISODE 2: SPICULUS
In 60 CE, Spiculus, Nero’s champion gladiator, rises to fame and fortune, becoming a symbol of power, spectacle and deadly celebrity in Imperial Rome.
EPISODE 3: MARCUS ATTILIUS
Marcus Attilius, a Roman citizen in debt, becomes a gladiator in Pompeii. He rises to fame in deadly games, but a bigger threat looms - Vesuvius.
EPISODE 4: CARPOPHORUS
In 80 CE, Emperor Titus opens the Colosseum with 100 days of spectacular games. Among the stars is Carpophorus, a skilled African-born beast hunter who earns legendary status by slaying 20 predators in one day. But behind the glory lies devastation - enslavement, ecological ruin, and a legacy of violence masked as spectacle.
EPISODE 5: COMMODUS
192 CE, Emperor Commodus stunned Rome by becoming a gladiator, headlining 14 days of violent sport in the Colosseum. As he slays beasts and opponents, his obsession with fame spirals into megalomania. But behind the roar of the crowd, conspirators close in. The man who crowned himself Hercules may soon face a fate worse than anything in the arena.
EPISODE 6: FLAMMA
In the era of Emperor Septimius Severus, Flamma becomes a renowned gladiator. Born in Syria and once a soldier, he is captured after deserting and sent to fight in the arena in Sicily. With 34 bouts to his name, his career ends after a final fight before the emperor. He dies at 30, his legacy a symbol of Rome’s bloody obsession with spectacle.