04/03/2011

Issued by York Dungeons

The York Dungeon has announced a new Gladiators of York show opening 31st March in time for the Easter holidays.

Using multi-media effects, live actors and specialist theming, the York Dungeon's new show will throw visitors head first into the dust and blood of the Ancient Roman gladiator arena.

Based on the authentic findings of a Roman gladiator burial ground in the city of York last year, the show will demonstrate the ruthlessness of the gladiator arena in gory, graphic detail.

Helen Douglas, Manager at the York Dungeon, says: "The York Dungeon has hurled visitors into the heart of York's most horrible history for 25 years, and this year's new show is no exception.

"Everything in the York Dungeon is based on real history, and as the city of York was founded by the Romans in AD 71, a dynamic gladiator show was the natural choice for this year's new feature."

The show will see visitors come face to face with Aurelius the ‘Lanista', chief slave driver and responsible for providing gladiators  primed for combat to entertain the bloodthirsty crowds of Ancient Rome. 

Should visitors survive their knee trembling drilling as gladiator slaves, they will be plunged into a world of roaring crowds and brutal combat in the gladiator arena. Here they will witness first hand gladiators in glorious, grisly battle.

The city of York has strong ties with the ancient Romans. Historians argue the city itself was born when a Roman legion marching from Lincoln built their fortress where York now stands in 71 AD.

More recently, evidence that gladiator arena games actually took place in York itself surmounted after the grim discovery of a Roman gladiator graveyard near York city centre in June 2004.

The remains of eighty strong males were found showing wounds synonymous with gladiator combat.

Many had suffered death by decapitation, while others showed injuries inflicted by large carnivorous animals; ‘being thrown to the lions' was common in the gladiator arena.

The York Dungeon's new Gladiators of York feature will open doors 31st March 2011 in time for the Easter holidays. For further information or to pre-book tickets, please visit http://www.thedungeons.com/ or call 01904 632599 for details.

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