Asterix the Gladiator was published in 1964.
It starts off with a Roman, in a higher position, who needs to give unique souvenir to Caesar. He decides the best thing for Caesar would be a Gaul but not just any Gaul... a Gaul from Asterix’s village. These Gaul’s are famed for their invincible powers and a Gaul from this village would make a perfect gladiator.
So, the Romans, in the nearby camp close to Asterix’s village, decide to capture the worst possible choice, Cacafonix, the tone-deaf Bard.
Cacafonix gets sent to Rome and it’s Asterix and Obelix’s mission to bring him back to Gaul.
Well, I might as well say more about this story (don’t read ahead if you don’t want to know how the story develops).
A and O arrive in the big city of Rome after hitching a ride (by boat). They arrive in Rome and they need information on how to find Cacafonix. They find out that he’s a prisoner in jail and since Cacafonix is so thin, he’s going to be sacrificed to the lions.
A and O decide to become gladiators in order to get close enough to Cacafonix to rescue him.
In the ring they prove how strong the invincible Gauls are and are rewarded for their hard work by Caesar.
This story has some good moments... but I felt the program at the colosseum was a little bit too short... the actual chariot race takes up one page... Cacofonix’s sacrifice to the lions is easily taken care of (he sings... and everyone, including the lions, run away) and then A and O take on Caesar’s best legionaries to end the program. The drawings don’t really make the colosseum seem that “grand”.
Children who read this book can observe how there is more pressure living in a bigger city and that there seems to be a lot more stress among the citizens. Maybe living in a big city isn’t that desirable after all. You may get thrown to the lions if you’re not up to par!
