The Gladiators
A Victorian Historical Romance of Ancient Rome, Judaea, Imperial Brutality, and the Struggle Between Pagan Power and Christian ConscienceBy George J. Whyte-Melville
Length19h 55m
About this audiobook
George J. Whyte-Melville's The Gladiators is a historical romance set amid the imperial grandeur and violence of ancient Rome, extending its imaginative field toward Rome's encounters with Judea and the early Christian world. The arena functions not merely as a setting for adventure but as a concentrated image of a society governed by spectacle, slavery, military authority, and unstable moral allegiance. Combining political intrigue, erotic and religious conflict, action, and social observation, the novel adopts the expansive, melodramatic manner characteristic of Victorian historical fiction while retaining Whyte-Melville's keen interest in codes of courage, honor, and masculine conduct. Its fascination with antiquity also places it within the nineteenth-century revival of classical subjects, through which contemporary anxieties about empire, power, faith, and civilization could be explored at a safe historical distance. Whyte-Melville (1821–1878) brought to fiction the experience of a cavalry officer, country gentleman, and celebrated sportsman. His military service and intimate knowledge of hunting society informed his recurring attention to hierarchy, discipline, physical risk, and the rituals by which men establish status. Although best known for sporting novels such as Digby Grand and Kate Coventry, he repeatedly turned to historical settings, where his vivid sense of action could be joined to broader reflections on social order and belief. The Gladiators thus represents both an imaginative departure from and a natural extension of his literary career. Readers interested in Victorian historical romance, classical antiquity, religious conversion, or the cultural meanings of public violence will find the novel especially rewarding. Its combination of energetic narrative, richly staged spectacle, and moral seriousness makes it valuable not only as an adventure tale but also as a revealing document of nineteenth-century attitudes toward Rome, empire, and civilization.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.6 (11)
Includes Goodreads
GenreHistorical Fiction, Romance
Length19 hrs 55 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateFeb 18, 2022
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Beric the Briton (Annotated)
26III. "Furens Quid Foemina"
2Book I. Eros
27IV. The Loving Cup
3I. The Ivory Gate
28V. Surgit Amari
4II. The Marble Porch
29VI. Dead Leaves
5III. Hermes
30VII. "Habet!"
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6IV. Aphrodite
31VIII. Too Late!
7V. Rome
32IX. The Lure
8VI. The Worship of Isis
33X. From Scylla to Charybdis
9VII. Truth
34XI. The Rules of the Family
10VIII. The Jew
35XII. A Master of Fence
11IX. The Roman
36XIII. The Esquiline
12X. A Tribune of the Legions
37XIV. The Church
13XI. Stolen Waters
38XV. Redivivus
14XII. Myrrhina
39XVI. "Morituri"
15XIII. Nolens Volens
40XVII. The German Guard
16XIV. Caesar
41XVIII. The Business of Caesar
17XV. Red Falernian
42XIX. At Bay
18XVI. The Training-School
43XX. The Fair Haven
19XVII. A Veiled Heart
44Book III. Moira
20XVIII. Winged Words
45I. A House Divided Against Itself
21XIX. The Arena
46II. The Lion of Judah
22XX. The Trident and the Net
47III. The Wisdom of the Serpent
23Book II. Anteros
48IV. The Masters of the World
24I. The Listening Slave
49V. Glad Tidings
25II. Attack and Defence
50VI. Wine on the Lees
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