When in Rome... Royal Armouries celebrates might of the gladiators

Ancient Rome comes to Leeds with a summer of activities, screenings, talks and a free Roman Festival at the Royal Armouries.

- by Charles Brown

The museum will celebrate the original gladiators with a new internationally acclaimed exhibition, Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum, developed in collaboration with the Colosseum.

Over the August bank holiday weekend, the museum explodes into a celebration of ancient Rome, with daily puppet show Androcles and the Tiger, gladiator training schools, hobbyhorse chariot races and even a dig pit for budding archaeologists.

Designed to feel like the Roman Forum, the square outside the museum will be host to food and drink with a Roman twist, and mead tasting from Nidhoggr Mead Co.

Set inside the museum and on its open-air amphitheatre, this free, family-friendly event immerses visitors in the drama, spectacle and tastes of the ancient Roman world.