At first I enjoyed the show quite a bit, but upon doing research on some of the individuals that the episodes are based on, I've found it to be historically false in the least. Yes, the general information about the Colosseum itself and the emporers that reigned over the years is generally correct in that they existed. However, at least 2 of the gladiators shown in specific episodes are false. Carpophorus is only mentioned historically 1 time in 1-2 sentences; history channel fabricated his entire life story as it is never mentioned historically, only his name is. Naevia is a complete fabrication, as only 2 references in roman history mention female gladiators, and in short, her name never comes up. Incidentally and probably not so accidentally, her name is a character in the Spartacus tv show from about 10 years back, do with that what you will. I dont mind if something is a docudrama, as clearly this is, the only problem is, history channel never calls it that; they treat this series (as do the experts shown on this program), as being actual history...and quite frankly, it's just a blatant lie. You'd learn more about the Colosseum by looking at the wikipedia page, as I believe someone else has mentioned.
Review of Colosseum
