Gladiators followed a mostly vegetarian, high-calcium diet

What did it take to eat like a gladiator?

If you think gladiators were all rippling muscle, think again. Evidence suggests fighters weren't as cut as we've been led to believe. This article dives into the diets of ancient Roman gladiators, who may have eaten mostly vegetarian. Archaeological evidence gathered from the skeletons of 68 gladiators found in a 2,000-year-old Turkish grave suggests the fighters' diets mainly relied on barley and legumes, with little animal protein.

A Roman-era cemetery in York may hold the remains of gladiators

A burial ground in York, used from the 1st to the 4th centuries CE, contained around 80 skeletons of unusually tall and muscular young men. Many show fatal combat wounds, including one with a bite mark from a large predator.

Gladiator training is known mainly from art, not ancient texts

Since literary sources provide little information about gladiator training, scholars rely on visual evidence. This illustrated essay draws on artifacts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including an oil lamp from Cyprus showing a gladiator practicing against a wooden stake.

A look at what was on the menu for ancient Romans

"Delicious Italy" is a website exploring the food culture of various Italian cities and regions, and in this article, the editors explore what is known about the diet of ancient Romans. Olives (and their oil) were a key daily essential, alongside grains like barley, millet, and spelt flour. Where meat was found it was most often ox, pork, deer, lamb, and even pigeons. Middle Eastern fruits like cherries and peaches could last long enough to travel to Roman cities around the Mediterranean, and candy-friendly dates were sourced from Africa. Explore this and much more at Delicious Italy.

The evolution of the human diet

Could eating like our ancestors make us healthier? One estimate suggests prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities obtained 75% of their calories from meat and fish.

Bake bread like a Roman, and honor Ceres, the goddess of wheat

Grains made up about 70% of the Roman diet, and the word "cereal" stems from the goddess Ceres—the Roman equivalent of Greece's Demeter—to whom they prayed for good harvests. Cato the Elder, a famous statesman, left behind a simple home recipe for a Roman loaf.

The strange endurance of consuming blood for health

Blood's importance to humanity is best summarized this way: without it, we die. This importance naturally begets assumptions about its medicinal properties, many of which appear accessible through drinking or eating the fluid connective tissue. This article details the history of blood drinking, from ancient Roman gladiators to modern-day sanguinarians.

Ancient Greek gymnasium: where philosophy met fitness

In ancient Greece, gymnasiums were not just places of physical training, but centers of intellectual life. This article explores the ways in which exercise, philosophy, and education were deeply intertwined, reflecting a cultural belief that physical fitness was essential for mental development.

Vikings had pretty bad teeth

Vikings, the medieval marauders of northern European land and seas, were actually famous for their excellent hygiene. Despite this, evidence from Viking burial grounds points to one exception: their teeth. Roughly 60% of those Vikings studied had at...

See how the elite warriors of the Aztec Empire trained

This video explores the Aztec military’s elite Eagle and Jaguar warriors, known for their courage and combat skills, and highlights their rigorous training regimen. It concludes with a workout routine modeled on their methods.

Mummification in Ancient Egypt transformed a body into a divine statue

Rather than for preservation, the ritual was a means of turning the biological body into an eternal vessel for the top percent of society. With no way to preserve eyes that would shrivel during dehydration, eye sockets were filled with onions or black and white stones.

Gastroliths, or ‘stomach stones,’ help animals digest plants in their stomachs

Most often used by birds and reptiles, gastroliths help break down the cellulose of plant cells, which can resist decomposition from stomach acid alone. Over time, gastroliths become smooth and are regurgitated before being replaced by larger stones.

Roman concrete lasts longer than modern recipes—and even gets stronger

Today's concrete is made by binding ingredients, including chalk and silica sand, at high temperatures. Unfortunately, it weakens when exposed to salt water. This article explores how and why scientists are studying ancient Roman concrete, which grows stronger when exposed to salt water.

Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were likely colorful, not white

Archaeologists stumbling upon statues from ancient Greece often found weathered creatures, their faces and figures marred by age and conflict. But evidence of polychromy—painting sculptures with color—has continued to mount.

The nutrients vegetarians and vegans need to keep in mind

Although most older Americans still enjoy their steaks and chicken, an estimated 2.5 million of those ages 55 and older have abandoned red meat and poultry in favor of a predominantly plant-based diet. Some people decide to go vegetarian or vegan...

The warrior women of Ancient Scythia who inspired the Greek Amazons

Greek literature regales readers with tales of Amazon queens and warriors going toe-to-toe with heroes, including Achilles and Hercules. This article explores why these female warriors were relegated to myth. For a long while, it was believed that these stories about all-female warriors were just stories. But scientists have since found evidence that these ancient warriors were part of the nomadic tribes of Scythia, and more discoveries are expected.

Grip strength predicts death better than blood pressure

In a study covering about 140,000 people across 17 countries, scientists found that for every 5 kilogram drop in adults' grip strength, it raised the risk of death by 16%. Grip strength, the research found, was a stronger predictor of cardiovascular death than systolic blood pressure.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Microgravity environments reduce muscle mass and bone density

Muscles that assist with balance and resistance to gravity are not subjected to their usual workload on the International Space Station. See the type of exercises that astronauts must complete for roughly two hours daily and learn why these movements are necessary to preserve astronauts' muscles, bones, and cardiovascular health.

Ritual Maya dental ornaments may have prevented tooth decay

Analysis of Maya dental sealants shows they used plant resins and gums—some derived from pine with antibacterial properties—suggesting gemstone tooth inlays may have helped reduce infection while serving ritual and symbolic purposes.

Colosseum spectators needed tickets and social rank to get a good seat

Entry to the Colosseum was free but tightly controlled: spectators presented tesserae, sat strictly by class, and risked losing their seats if they left for lunch, while senators watched in comfort and women and slaves were pushed to the top tiers.

Gatorade was first designed for college football players in Florida heat

To help replenish crucial chemicals football players were losing fast to their profuse sweat in southern heat, researchers at the University of Florida developed a drink blended with salts and sugars that were easy to absorb. The drink, Gatorade, took its name from the school's mascot.

Extreme heat puts people at risk of developing kidney stones

It's essential to remain hydrated in summer weather to keep your body healthy, but one reason is to help dilute minerals that naturally build up if they aren't excreted in our water-fueled urine. Doctors recommend people generally drink 64 ounces of water a day and also eat foods with salt to help ward off dehydration.

Before launching his cereal company, John Harvey Kellogg promoted natural food at a sanitarium

Kellogg was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, a health resort in Michigan, where he served patients vegetarian dishes, including early experiments with meat substitutes. Kellogg espoused a philosophy of "Biologic Living," which suggested consuming natural food would lead to "racial hygiene" for white Americans, a tenet of the eugenics movement.

What did Ötzi the Iceman have with him when he died?

Ötzi the Iceman and his belongings were remarkably well-preserved by the mountainous ice that usually covered the area near the Italy-Austria border where he was found. This article by the Italian museum that houses Ötzi's body details some of the...

Three Oklahoma athletes were penalized for eating too much pasta at a team banquet

In 2013, Oklahoma athletes lost NCAA eligibility after exceeding a pasta limit at a team banquet—regaining it only after repaying $3.83 each—highlighting how difficult it was to navigate the NCAA’s old amateurism rules.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

Poison ivy is in the same family as mangoes, cashews, and pistachios—and they all produce oily urushiol in their raw, unprocessed state—but they are typically prepared in ways to avoid causing human discomfort.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Watch the cumbersome, but necessary, precautions healthcare workers must take to care for and protect themselves while caring for Ebola patients.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.