The shocking real-life history that had to be cut from Prime Video’s new gladiator show

'For a modern sensibility, not a good thing to do.'

Prime Video's very entertaining Ancient Rome-set historical epic series Those About to Die is now available to stream in its entirety.

Directed by Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day) and featuring amongst its cast two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, the show explores the complex and corrupt world of chariot racing and gladiatorial fights in 79 A.D. Rome through several characters from all corners of the empire.

During the chat, we noted to the filmmaker the extreme levels of sex and violence in Those About to Die and asked if this material was important to include in order to capture the hedonism of the time and place.

Responding, he actually said the real-life history was "much worse" and that he had cut back on including certain details in order not to offend modern audiences.

Replying to the question, he said:

"That's how it was. It was much worse. When you sometimes read what they did in these arenas, you kind of blanche.

"I tried to keep that to a minimum. For example, animal cruelty - you cannot show how they slaughtered animals because for a modern sensibility, not a good thing to do.

"So we kept that very short and then mainly we concentrated on horse races."

During the conversation, we also asked the director if there was anything he learned about Ancient Rome while working on Those About to Die that surprised him.

To this, he responded:

All 10 episodes of Those About to Die are available to watch on Prime Video in the UK and Ireland now.

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