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I can already predict the next reply being some relativation of Roman gladiator culture, ignoring the fact that through several centuries the standing of the ludi varied, especially in later times when Christianity came up. It was also a politicum used by the Emperors and the Senate alike. Lastly, some successful gladiators were as famous as modern soccer players, while others were never well known, just like today. Furthermore, the idea of slavery was not as condoned as in modern times.
While it was certainly looked down in a way, it was also normal and Romes whole economy depended largely on slave labor. Someone in the Senate once proposed to make all slaves wear an armband, which was quickly dismissed, out of fear they'd notice how many they in fact were in Rome.
>rice and straw diet and 200 year lifespan in response
I can't provide that sadly, but I can mention to you a quite interesting story from the Chinese epos "Zhang Jizhong" aka Journey to the West, which describes the events around a monk fetching the Sutras from India. In it, they one day arrive at a monastery of a Daoist master, who is not at home at that time because he is on some other planet, giving a lecture about the creation of the universe. In his garden there is a huge tree with gelatinous eggs that contain feti. It is said that merely sniffing them prolongs your life by 100 years and eating them by 10.000 years. I surely don't have to point out that there is a factual relationship between longevity and feti, that being stem cells, do I now?
