Roman Gladiator School: Learn How to Become a Gladiator

Guided by the very skilled gladiator Mirko, we spent a morning of training and rehearsals among tunics, gladiators, and shields. We had so much fun, especially my son, who had the chance to fight in an arena! Promoted with flying colors

This was the best thing we did in Rome. I was worried my 16 year old would feel too old. No way! He had a grin on his face the entire time. Our gladiator trainer/guide was Ivan and he did such a great job of explaining the history and use of gladiator weapons, training, and their lives in ancient Rome. Then we go to the real training and combat. We loved it! I did pack some mosquito repellent wipes based on other reviews and was glad I did as mosquitos love my teen. Overall, a fantastic experience. They called a taxi for us when we left too so travel was very easy.

Gladiator School was great! My son and husband participated while I watched. We really enjoined the entire experience.

Experience was great for the kids and they had a lot of fun. Guide was very engaging. The location is a bit off the beaten path- recommend a taxi

Great time for entire family. Would recommend for 5 years and above. Staff was wonderful. Take a taxi to get there and then book one after to get back

This was one of the highlights in Rome! My 11 year old was so excited about it and they did not disappoint! Even my daughters (13 and 16) ended up participating and loved it! I loved watching my kids and I enjoyed the history and museum at the beginning. I would 100 % recommend if you have kids or love learning about gladiators.

It was a fun experience with my family and the guy was nice and funny. It was a great experience overall and I recommend going!

Claudius was an amazing.me and my family had so much fun, I would come back. Fun for all ages

So going into this, know that it is corny, and your expectations will be met. You’ll get out of it what you put into it. I’m sure it depends on the mix of your exact class, but this activity is generally geared towards boys around the ages of 8-14ish. Our two teen sons were 14 and 18. They wanted to fight hard as horseplay is their default. But they had to be patient for the little ones to have their turn. Once they were in the arena though, they had space to duke it out after learning some basic techniques and blocks. The museum is interesting. Great care has gone into creating replicas of many weapons. You can tell the group that runs it are entirely dedicated. Our gladiator had a full back tattoo of the Colosseum. That’s commitment! The gladiator does not rush you and allows everyone to try on all sorts of helmets and armor. He also explains battle tactics and the history of the Roman army, which is absolutely impressive. The whole activity is maybe 2 hours. My youngest son’s favorite part was the ultimate battle in the arena at the end. The location is easy to reach. We took two buses: the 30 and the 118. We came home the same way. After the bus drops you off, it’s a pleasant 2 minute walk down a dirt road. We arrived for a 9:00 AM class on a Tuesday in late May. We wore bug spray because as others have mentioned, the mosquitoes are definitely out. There are drinks you can purchase there. As you travel there, consider the history of the road itself. It is truly ancient. During the revolt of Spartacus in 71-73 BC 6000 slaves were crucified along the Appian Way. The only criticism of Gladiator School is that it might be helpful to entirely separate little ones into a group of their own so the big kids and adults can have at it.

There were mostly children participating. My husband was the only adult there without a small child in tow. However, Mirko did a fabulous job of including him while keeping an eye on ALL the children with wooden swords.