The kids have been talking about Gladiator School the entire trip and they were not disappointed. The School is located in an old section of Rome called Appia Antica. This is where all the catacombes exist. The Gladiator School is operated by a historic society. They keep an old and dusty museum and have members that provide the historical lesson and the training.
We arrived early due to the fact that we did not know how long it would take to get to the School from our hotel. We took a taxi and the driver [Cinzia] spoke excellent english and traveled abroad [including a trip to Canada] singing opera with a company. She asked if we sang and Ella performed a song in the cab. Cinzia was overwhelmed with Ella and gave us her phone number in case we needed anything in Rome.
Our instructor Marco was very personable and knowledgeable. He was "in character" the entire time [almost] as a Roman Legionnaire and than a Gladiator Trainer. We were given tunics and spent an hour discussing Roman history. The kids were very interested in the stories of battle, gore and the weapons [which were displayed in the museum]. Here we are just before the training started:
We ran an obstacle course and than had 1/2 hour training that included 5 offensive sword strikes and the 5 defensive positions. Cristin really got into it. Here she is attacking me:
And here she is improvising a 6th offensive attack called "smacking your opponent on the knuckles":
We soon were back in the swing of things and practiced with the swords [in 40 degree heat] for about an hour. At the end we were provided with scrolls as evidence that we completed the training.
Here are a couple pictures of the kids:
It was a really fun afternoon and was complemented by a quick trip to the Colosseum earlier in the day.
I am pretty sure this will be one of the trip memories that the kids will cherish for a long time.
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