Rome, in the year AD 80. And the newly built Colosseum. One man who appeared in the Colosseum's inaugural games was a gladiator called Verus. So memorable was his fight that it was immortalised by one of the greatest poets  of ancient Rome. Verus' words and actions in this film are based on the latest historical evidence on the lives of the gladiators. This is Verus. And this is his story. Many gladiators came from the fringes of the Roman Empire, countries like Moesia, Rome's troubled frontier  in the Balkans. One day in Spring the Romans attacked our village. Our women and children fled. We stayed and fought. But we never stood a chance. And so I became a slave. It took 50 days to reach Italy. We were all sold off at auction. I was still strong and ended up in a quarry  outside of Rome. We called it the pit. At midday it felt as if you were being baked alive. We had a saying: There are no old bones in the pit. We worked from sunrise to sunset, every day. But they didn't break me. The slaves in the quarry were cutting stone for a vast new construction project in the centre of Rome. It was financed from here, the imperial treasury which contained loot seized from the temple of Jerusalem during the Judean wars  seven years before.

A newly deciphered inscription shows us what the treasure would be used for. A vast new amphitheatre holding over fifty thousand people - the largest yet built. It was commissioned by the new emperor Vespasian, and his son, Titus. Its role would be much more than just entertainment The Roman arena was the most important political tool in the hands of an Emperor. It was the place where he met and controlled the people of Rome. To build this new arena, over three and a half million cubic feet of stone were required. And breaking it out  of the rock face was destroying men like Verus. I did ten months in the pit. I started to lose hope. But then one day, we had visitors. he word went round he was a lanista, the owner of a school of gladiators. They were looking for new recruits for the arena. He'd brought his trainer with him This had to be my way  out of the pit. But they didn't go for me. It's said that to become a gladiator is to make a pact with death. But for me it was freedom compared with the pit. This way my fate would be  in my own hands. I'd picked a fight with him, but I didn't even know his name. In only two days we were in Rome. It felt like I'd arrived  in another world. I'd heard that Rome had more people in it than all the cities  of Italy put together. And they all seemed  to be out that day... Verus was taken to one of the many gladiator schools that flourished in and around Rome. The lanistas bought  and sold gladiators as football clubs buy and sell players today. It was one of the most lucrative businesses in the empire. So I swore total obedience  to the Lanista. The oath of the gladiators. Half of all gladiators were volunteers, known as contract gladiators.

They sold their freedom for up to five years, either to pay off debts or to pursue famein the arena. In the evening, Drusus, the trainer, ordered us to bathe ourselves. After toiling in the quarry I'd come to a place where they had masseurs... The man I'd fought was called Priscus. He was a Celt. He'd never seen a bath before. And so they bent us to their will. As Verus was about to commence his training, Vespasian's new amphitheatre was taking shape. Nothing in the empire  was more important to Vespasian than this building. He believed that if he built the best arena, put on the best shows, it would ensure the success of his dynasty for generations to come. And all his citizens knew it. At the time they didn't call it the Colosseum but the Flavian amphitheatre after Vespasian's own family name. And the emperor didn't  just want his arena to be the biggest ever built, but also the most sophisticated. The pit under the arena's wooden floor dropped to a depth of 36 feet. In later years, it would hold a system of supply lifts for the animals, props and stage scenery used in the performances. Splendidis. But Vespasian was  in his late sixties. Desperate to see the Colosseum completed in his father's own lifetime Titus ordered the building work to be speeded up. The pressure was on us now Priscus was the toughest  in our group - he was born for this place. Drusus, a former gladiator,  was my model. He'd won the wooden sword - his freedom - after a brilliant fight  in the arena. If he could do it, so could I. It was the morning  of the final test. Then my name was called. After several months  of training and, only after satisfying the lanista, a gladiator would be selected to fight in the arena. And always the night  before the fight, there was a feast. Many Roman women became obsessed with the stars of the arena Women even paid to meet the men who might die in front of them the next day Many were divorcees or widows who enjoyed relative sexual freedom in ancient Rome The games themselves were paid for by a sponsor, usually an aristocratic politician seeking popularity. Salutamus. Priscus had a new admirer. No doubt he was generously rewarded for his efforts. It was not in the centre of the city, but in one of the small  arenas around Rome that gladiatorial novices often made their first appearances. Before the fight, some made offerings to Nemesis, goddess of chance, fortune and revenge. Gladiatorial contests were by far the most popular form of entertainment in ancient Rome. Men like Verus embodied the Roman virtues of bravery, the quest for glory, and the contempt of death In this predator society, a display of mortal combat perfectly represented what it meant to be a roman. Fights were not without rules.

For each bout  there was a referee. Priscus was fighting Septimus, a retiarius from another school. He was famous for his skill with net and trident. My turn I was against a Murmillo,  heavy armour. It's a myth that every bout resulted in the death of a gladiator. If a fighter was killed the games' sponsor had to pay for his replacement. As a gladiator you had a near ninety percent chance of surviving a fight. Ah, Verus. And if a gladiator was injured, he was given some of the best medical care available in Rome. Roman doctors were renowned for their treatment of flesh wounds. Doctors who worked  with gladiators helped to pioneer the treatment  of fractures, and they used  an opium based anaesthetic for operations. Priscus told me not to feel sorry for myself. But I needed a win. I asked for a second chance, so I could prove myself  as a gladiator. I was up against a Thracian called Ferox. He already had two victories  to his name. I knew that if I lost again, the sponsor wouldn't spare me a second time. Victoria! Victoria! For winning a single bout, a gladiator could be paid the equivalent of a Roman soldier's annual salary. After two victories a man like Priscus was able to afford more luxurious accommodation in the gladiator school - even a statue for his prayers. But there were also the unlucky ones. If a gladiator received internal injuries, there was little the doctors could do and death was all but inevitable. A proper burial was of great concern to all Romans. Gladiators often formed burial clubs to pay for comrades killed in the arena. Much of what we know about the lives of the gladiators comes from their tombstones. They often provide details of a gladiator's age and origin, his fight history and how big a star he was Many gladiators had wives  and children. Their families sometimes received compensation if a fighter was killed  in the arena. So we said farewell to Severus, who'd started out with us.

Priscus and I promised his widow Claudia that we would always protect her You see, our family of gladiators was strong. But my heart still longed for my real family back in Moesia. By AD 79, the preparations for the new amphitheatre's inaugural games were nearly complete. Titus, the emperor's son, was in control. Titus, the emperor's son, was in control. Like many Roman noblemen, Titus was obsessed with gladiatorial combat. As a young man, he had trained with gladiators and had even fought a mock fight in the arena. Titus encouraged those around him to share his love of bloodshed. I'd been in the school  for over a year when I was summoned to a wealthy nobleman's villa. The guards said there'd be important people there who wanted to meet me. At the villa, there was  a party going on. No expense spared. The host announced the start of the entertainment. Everyone looked at me. Some of the most powerful people of Rome were chanting my name. But I just felt numb... It was the first time  I'd killed a man: not in the arena, but at a party for the rich Prisce! I went back to the school to tell Priscus what had happened. But all his belongings had gone - even his prayer statue. Ubi Priscus? He'd been sold to a school  in the south. I was told it was just business. In AD 79, Vespasian died, just before the Colosseum  was completed. It now fell to Titus, the new emperor to fulfil his father's greatest dream. Titus had made  many enemies in Rome.

He believed that the Colosseum's inaugural games would outface them. So he planned  the most spectacular games Rome would ever see. But as Titus knew well, spectacular games required more than just gladiators. Salute. Salute. The killing of wild animals  in the arena was hugely popular. The beastmaster had one of the toughest jobs in the arena. He had to train the lions and tigers to do something that was unnatural to them. In front of a screaming crowd they had to attack and eat people So they got to like the taste they were even fed human flesh I went well with the preparations for the opening inaugural games. Until one night  in the Spring of AD 80. It was the smell  of smoke that woke me. The wind was driving the fire to the Suburra, the area where  Severus' widow, Claudia, had gone to live. I kept my promise to her In the fire of AD 80, large parts of Rome burnt for three days and three nights. It was the second disaster of Titus's new reign. The previous year, a volcanic eruption  in the south of Italy had destroyed the city of Pompeii. According to the writer Suetonius, the people of Rome began to wonder whether the new Emperor had fallen out of favour with the gods. Titus told his advisers that he was finished. He knew that the penalty for failure would most likely be death through assassination. But he still had one asset that offered him a chance to save his reputation,  even his life. One great building in the centre of the city had not been touched by the fire. The Colosseum was  close to completion. Now, Titus could announce the inaugural games. In the Summer of AD 80 the Colosseum opened its gates for a hundred days  of games.

The tickets were free, allocated to all the privileged households of Rome. Gambling was encouraged, gifts were showeredupon  grateful citizens. But families never sat together - women were for the most  part relegated to the worst seats on the top floor of the arena. It was time for the entertainment  to begin In the Colosseum's underground cells, hundreds of criminals awaited their fate In Roman games the animals were  often so frightened by the roar of the crowd that they refused  to attack their victims And if that happened, the beastmasters would be held responsible. The morning had gone badly. We were sure the emperor would want to make up for it in the afternoon. It was now the turn of the lesser known gladiators to fighten masse. These games were different The emperor wanted blood, so it was the gladiators'  duty to die. According to the writer Suetonius, Titus let the audience choose the outcome they liked best. The highlight of the day was to be a fight between two of Rome's  finest gladiators. And this is where is  where my story ends. Titus has asked for me by name. I don't know  who my opponent will be, just that the loser will  not be spared. The contest between Verus  and Priscus was the only fight in the Colosseum which was ever recorded in detail. The fight was described by the poet Martial. As Verus and Priscus  drew out the fight, the emperor obeyed his own law - the bout goes on without shield, until a finger raised. An end to the even  strife was found: equal they fought,  equal they yielded. To both the emperor  sent wooden swords and to both victory palms. This has happened under no prince but you, oh emperor: two fought and both won. A simple wooden sword, a palm leaf and my freedom. The fight was one of the highlights of the inaugural games. When Titus succumbed to a mystery illness six months later, he died as one of the most popular emperors in history.