a book on gladiators: the sorrow of the ancient romans

An interesting read, both as Google Book and in print: The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster.

“This inquiry into the collective psychology of the ancient Romans speaks not about military conquest, sober law, and practical politics, but about extremes of despair, desire, and envy. Carlin Barton makes us uncomfortably familiar with a society struggling at or beyond the limits of human endurance. To probe the tensions of the Roman world in the period from the first century b.c.e. through the first two centuries c.e., Barton picks two images: the gladiator and the ‘monster’. ”

I found reviews at JSTOR only, with just one out of four positive, by Richard E. Mitchell (University of Illinois),  in The American Historical Review ,Vol. 99, No. 2  (Apr., 1994).

He concludes his review with this interesting and provocative comment (link):

So, take your chances…