PETRONELL-CARNUNTUM, Austria — They lived in cells barely big enough to turn around in and usually fought until they died. This was the lot of those at a sensational scientific discovery unveiled Monday: The well-preserved ruins of a gladiator school in Austria.
The Carnuntum ruins are part of a city of 50,000 people 28 miles east of Vienna that flourished about 1,700 years ago, a major military and trade outpost of the Roman empire.
Mapped out by radar, the ruins of the gladiator school remain underground but are remarkably complete, down to the remains of a thick wooden post in the middle of the training area, a mock enemy that young, desperate gladiators hacked away at centuries ago.
“(This is) a world sensation, in the true meaning of the word,” said Lower Austrian provincial Gov. Erwin Proell.
Officials said they had no date yet for the start of excavations of the gladiator school, saying experts needed time to settle on a plan that saves as much of it as possible.
