Take this with a grain of salt. After all, Europeans could only contemplate why Colosseum was needed somewhere at the start of XX century. Before that, the mode

Take this with a grain of salt. After all, Europeans could only contemplate why Colosseum was needed somewhere at the start of XX century. Before that, the modern concept of "stadium" as a place of mass watching of sport performed by professionals was unknown. Yes, we only then caught up to Rome. Gladiators were perhaps boxers and ice hockey players of Roman age. Yes, it was dangerous and traumatic, but rarely lethal and very famous.