Those Who Are About To Die - review

Our review of Those Who Are About To Die: Gladiators and the Roman Mind, by Harry Sidebottom, first published in August 2025. An exuberant jumble sale of a book, stuffed full of gladiator rememorabilia and random facts of Roman life.If you don‘t know anything about Roman gladiators and you don‘t really care where you start you may enjoy this book! ★★☆☆☆ 24 hours in the life of a history book author: Gladiators and the Writing Mind... Chapter 1: Tempus Postmeridianum (Afternoon). Oxford, England The author pauses, waiting for his muses to gather. The air is cool, fresh, with the scent of cut grass and tree pollen blown in through an open window. The breeze seems to whisper to him: ‘remember, remember...’ He closes his mind to everything else and lets his sub-conscious take over. That’s the key: to remember. His eyes shut, he reclines on the couch, silk dressing gown lolling open at the chest, mobile phone dictating app set to record, and he remembers... “The gladiator takes counsel in…