Gladiator: Street Fighter

Name: Gladiator: Street Fighter
Rating: 4.4 (979 reviews)

by Simon Scarrow Book 2 in the Gladiator series.

First published 2012

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4.4(979)

Rome, 61 BC. Marcus enters Julius Caesar’s household and continues his combat training while the city is divided by gangs acting for political patrons. Caesar uses him to infiltrate a rival organisation after evidence emerges of a murder plot. Marcus must learn the codes of the street as well as the arena, knowing that discovery would endanger both his attempt to find his mother and everyone who has helped him.

The Roman street gangs give Marcus a different kind of arena. Fighting skill is useful, but infiltration depends on reading loyalties among men whose violence serves politicians rather than spectators. Caesar's decision to use a young fighter also shows how elite rivalry reaches down into the lives of dependants and slaves, making Marcus's personal search for his mother vulnerable to larger ambitions.