Swords cross, and the clang of metal drowns the noise of traffic in the background. It is 2007, but a corner of the Eternal City is still practicing the skills of ancient Romans.
The place is the Gladiator School of Rome, along the Via Appia. Here, two athletes, wearing traditional armour, fight with their short swords, under the vigilant gaze of their magister and of fellow students who don’t miss a move.
Flags fly on the edge of the field, while the flames of torches shed light on the sweating faces of the fighters. The fighters have jobs or go to school during the day. But in the evening they leave the present and plunge into the past, recreating the mythical duels that took place in the Colosseum of Imperial Rome.
They leave behind their names, too, donning – with their home-sewn tunicae – a Latin name; Caius, Siculus, or Maximus, like Russell Crowe’s character in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator.
The gladiator school, established in order to study and recreate the techniques and equipment real gladiators used in training and combat, has a library with classic texts on wars and battles, a workshop, a museum, and even a kitchen preparing meals for the fighters.
The courses have a well-defined curriculum; there is a theoretical component, consisting of a monthly lesson on the history of gladiators, and a practical component with two weekly lessons of two hours each on combat movements, training bodies to assume the duelling positions, both in attack and on defence. Students then learn to handle weapons, starting with the short sword (initially made of wood), the shield, the net, the trident and the axe. Attendance is taken, and every six months there is an exam in order to advance to the next level.
Following a two-week trial period, a student’s fitness is assessed. After passing an entry exam, students start training for the first advancement test. In this first semester, they all get trained in the use of the rudis (a wooden staff), devoting special attention to leg positioning, six standard body moves for defending and attacking, a combination of four forms to execute in sequence, and theoretical knowledge of gladiatorial combat techniques.

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