2. Rome’s first Christian Emperor brought the age of gladiators to an end in the year 325 – though gladiators remained slaves
Gladiatorial games were finally brought to an end in the year 325 by Emperor Constantine. He was the ruler who adopted Christianity as the sole religion of the Empire. Officially, Constantine ruled that such bloody games were unnecessary at a “time of civil and domestic peace”. However, most historians agree that, since Rome was fighting fewer wars by this point, there was no longer a regular supply of victims to play the role of combatants. Far from being set free, slaves who were destined for the arena were simply made to work in the Empire’s mines.
