By Christopher Hadley
William Collins £20
In the muscular movie Gladiator, which I recently re-watched with my far-tooyoung son, the hero Maximus harangues the jaded Roman spectators. ‘Are you not entertained?’ he bellows, after butchering his rivals in the arena. To his surprise, he finds they are.
Yet what made that film a hit in 2000 wasn't, I think, just the bloodshed. It was also the vision it presents of a noble ideal behind Roman imperialism. ‘I have
