In the Realm of the Gladiators

Nothing pleases and surprises me more than when Soren discovers something and enthusiastically latches onto it.  Most recently, it's been gladiators.

Back when he was a toddler, I picked up a Playmobil set on clearance at Marshall's or someplace like that and stowed it away in the attic.  I pulled it out, in desperation for something for him to do on yet another freezing March day. 

He's been so engaged with it and asking lots of questions about the gladiators.  Are they alive? Do they believe in gods? Where did they live? Did they kill each other? Who are their gods? How do you know which ones are good guys and bad guys? You know, all the simplest questions to answer.  We even watched a docu-drama on Netflix about them, which was pretty interesting.  Did you know that the wild beasts often were too scared of the roar of the crowd to attack the gladiators?  And if that happened, the emperor would have the beast master killed in the arena.  Scary times.

I'll admit that I have some trouble with the gladiators.  Mostly the torturing and killing of animals like lions and tigers.  But I'm kind of just ignoring it right now, since the question hasn't come up (there is a lion in the set, which Soren hasn't been interested in having the people fight, thankfully).

It's fun as a parent watching your child discover and learn about something new, especially something with such an ancient past.  Who knows, maybe my next project will be a gladiator costume?