MARQ opens gladiator exhibition with an open day
The first major public display occurred in a setting where crowds could voice their reactions from the stands, whether cheering, shouting, or protesting about the action in the arena. The comparison to modern stadiums is clear: people come to see a spectacle, to witness sport or drama, just as they did in ancient arenas. Yet the scale of attendance at a stadiumlike gathering had not occurred since Roman times, until Wembley opened in 1923 and could shelter crowds of up to 250,000. The analogy echoes Rome’s Circus Maximus, where spectators experienced the event as part of a grand public experience.
MARQ director Manuel Olcina framed the moment at the inauguration of Gladiators. Heroes of the Colosseum, describing the show as a bridge between past and present. The exhibition unites 140 original pieces from eight Italian museums, including material from the Roman Colosseum, with many items never before seen in the country. It runs through October 16 at MARQ in Alicante.
The exhibition seeks to reveal the true face of these warriors through a range of objects such as helmets and armor, surgical tools, reliefs, and carved stones, offering Spain its first major examination of gladiators after prior showings in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands. It challenges enduring myths about courage and struggle, while also acknowledging the injustice and misery many gladiators faced as slaves, prisoners, or persecuted individuals.
Attached to the original artifacts are replicas and modern interactive models, including life-size recreations of the Colosseum’s atmosphere through mannequins, panels, immersive audiovisuals, tactile pieces, and accessible technologies that invite diverse audiences to engage with the history.
The event featured the attendance of Italian representatives led by Riccardo Guariglia, the Italian ambassador to Spain, along with regional and cultural officials such as Carlos Mazón, president of the Diputación; Julia Parra, vice president and chief cultural officer; Carlotta Caruso from the exhibition’s scientific committee; and José Alberto Cortés, managing director of the Mare Foundation. The Italian honorary consul in Alicante and Teodora Danisi, head of the Italian Embassy’s Cultural Cooperation Office, were present, as was Paula Giménez, the provincial delegate of Asisa, the exhibition sponsor.
Julia Parra described the show as extraordinary, a sentiment echoed by Rossella Rea, the Colosseum’s director in Rome for twenty years. The display introduces new content for MARQ, including spaces where women fighters are discussed, and features exhibits on Rome in Hispania and Pompeian graffiti. There is also a section that presents gladiators as they appear in cinema, literature, and contemporary art, providing a broader cultural frame for the participants of the ancient games.
Parra emphasized that this is the first time the exhibition has been staged in a Spanish museum, and that the project includes social positioning technology to manage capacity in real time. A digital counter will help track visitor flow, interests, and the time spent at each section, with the aim of optimizing the experience. Parra noted that this technological emphasis places MARQ at the forefront of digital innovation in national museums and anticipates wider adoption in the sector.
In parallel with the exhibition, MARQ plans a comprehensive program of events with the Hispania Romana association. The program will feature talks, workshops, and dramatized visits, with historical reenactments both in the museum gardens and at the Lucentum site, enriching the experience for visitors and scholars alike.
fascinating complexity
Carlotta Caruso highlighted the exhibition’s international recognition and described MARQ as a museum of the highest level of realism. Gladiators remain a powerful filter of literature and cinema, yet the aim of this show is to present a complete and reconstructed world that examines the complexities behind cruelty, combat, and the professional discipline involved in gladiatorial life. It also acknowledges the animals, the public, and the many people who made the games possible, from those who managed the arsenal to the humble amphitheater keeper. For Caruso, the exhibition’s true value lies in letting today’s visitors feel a fragment of the sensations experienced in the past.
The show does not overlook the human networks that supported the arena, including those behind the scenes who prepared the spectacle and kept the games going. The result is a layered, nuanced portrayal that invites a modern audience to understand the social and cultural dimensions of the gladiators’ world.
cultural diplomacy
The Italian ambassador framed the exhibition as a contribution to bilateral relations between Italy and Spain. He has maintained contact with MARQ since the earlier Etruscan project, describing this display as a tile in a broader mosaic of collaboration. Culture is presented as the ideal arena for mutual understanding and ongoing dialogue, a form of cultural diplomacy that unites people through shared heritage. The ambassador stated that the show presents a highlights of a shared past with an innovative scientific approach that can illuminate the gladiators’ lives from multiple angles.
He also noted that the exhibition underscores the common history that binds Italy and Spain, offering a modern interpretive framework that connects past and present through rigorous study and accessible presentation.
Investment not expense
The project operates with a budget of seven hundred thousand euros. The ambassador said that the investment in the gladiators exhibition is an investment in culture that will attract record numbers of visitors and strengthen cultural tourism. Diputación’s president echoed this optimism, expressing confidence that the venue will surpass previous attendance records and reinforce MARQ’s role as a cultural hub.
Carlos Mazón articulated a view of culture as a catalyst for regional recovery, arguing that culture and history, when paired with modern technology and dynamic programming, offer a powerful combination that enriches the visitor experience. He drew a memorable parallel between gladiators entering the arena and politicians facing scrutiny, acknowledging the support and armor provided by the Italian delegation as a metaphor for the collaboration that makes such exhibitions possible.