Gladiators are stepping back into the arena this summer, only metres away from the remains of a Roman amphitheatre where they fought for real thousands of years ago.

The Gladiator Games, at Guildhall in central London this August, features members of a Roman re-enactment group who starred in the hit Russell Crowe film Gladiator.

The ruined remains of the capital’s amphitheatre lay forgotten for centuries until they were discovered by archaeologists in 1988 under the Guildhall site and can be seen by visitors in an exhibition in its basement.

The Museum of London, which is organising the event, is also putting on displays of Roman cooking and music in the build-up to each day’s battle.

Its senior Roman curator Caroline McDonald said: “It is a thrill to be able to bring some of the power of the relentless gladiatorial battles back to the city and for people to experience what life might have been like in Roman London. The fact that the events will take place on the very site where gladiators fought 2,000 years earlier is very special and adds a real authentic edge to proceedings.”

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