In the Colosseum, a victorious gladiator plants his foot on a fallen opponent and looks up at the crowd, where Vestal Virgins in white thrust their thumbs down. Jean-Léon Gérôme's picture fixed the popular idea that thumbs down meant death, though the real Roman gesture is not known. It later helped persuade Ridley Scott to make the film Gladiator.
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The defeated net-fighter raises two fingers to beg for mercy. The victor's helmet and armour are based on gladiatorial gear excavated at Pompeii.
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