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Title: good fiction - but that's all
Review: Like one of the other reviewers, I too am an archaeologist (of the Classical sort) but from the statements in the book and the descriptions of the objects (they were displayed on the London Museum website a little while ago - I too wish that there could have been illustrations) I just cannot see how anyone could be so sure that these remains were of a female gladiator. Throughout, the English curators and other academics emphasised caution and even suggested other interpretations (such as the 'incriminating objects' found with her remains being related to her faith or funerary ritual and not her profession - both eminently sensible, I would think) but Zoll seems fixated on a sensationalist approach which has little to do with archaeology and more, I suspect, to do with box-office and book sales. Archaeology is full of good, honest stories so it shouldn't be necessary to tell tall tales!!!
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