By CATHERINE FIELD
PARIS - Gladiator fights, chariot races and the torturing of Christian slaves in a lion-filled arena are poised for a comeback more than 1600 years after the fall of the Roman Empire.
The spectacles will take place in France, in a massive purpose-built arena inspired by the Colosseum in Rome, where some of the bloodiest scenes in Roman history took place.
But if all goes well, any blood on the sand will be fake, for the gory thrills are part of a gamble by an amusement park in western France, the Grand Parc de Puy du Fou, to cash in on the excitement generated in Europe by the Hollywood toga epic Gladiator.
The multimillion-US-dollar venture will open on June 1 after a secretive four-year programme to construct an arena with seating for more than 6000, build the chariots and other antique-looking gear and train a cast of horses, lions and tigers, as well as scores of gladiators, legionnaires and slaves. Perhaps only the French would have the Gaul to do something like this.
The Grand Parc claims the 115m-long stadium will be "a jaw-droppingly exciting" recreation of a real Roman arena, complete with honey-coloured stone walls and seating terraces plus a typical section of wooden seats for the plebs.
An approach avenue lined with 300-year-old olive trees, transplanted from southern Italy, will provide an authentic feel.
Twice a day, there will be two recreations of the famous chariot race from the movie Ben Hur, with four chariots, each hauled by four horses, racing around the oval.
The stunt has been organised by Mario Luraschi, a leading trainer frequently called on by Hollywood directors.
The chariot drivers, who like the horses have been in training for a year, proudly say they can lean their carriages over to more than 30 degrees as they hurtle round the corners.
"Four-horse chariots are the Formula One of the horse-racing world," Luraschi says. "There is nothing to compare with it. You have to get it right - the slightest error, and at that speed you are off the track in an instant."
The chariot show will be preceded by choreographed gladiator fights, using stuntmen from circuses in the Czech Republic, and a show of battle techniques by Roman legionnaires, demonstrating the "hedgehog" defence - a wall and roof of shields bristling with spears.
In a scene worthy of Quo Vadis, seven lions and tigers will prowl within the steel-fenced arena to recreate a legendary scene from 177 AD, when a young Christian slave, Blandina, was tied to a post in a Lyons arena. Hungry beasts were unleashed to devour her but Blandina prayed and the animals never touched her, a miracle that led to her enshrinement as the patron saint of servant girls.
The man in charge this time is lion trainer Thierry Leportier, who organised the animal fight in Gladiator and is lashing his own daughter, Karen, 27, to the post. The bonds will, of course, be fake and Karen will have a whip and steel rod stashed nearby in case there is no divine intervention this time - but even so, the risks are great, says Leportier.
"The problem is that the arena is too big," Leportier says.
"If you want to dominate a big cat, the best place is in fact a cage, like in the circus. You should never give these animals the space to move around and turn on you. There is too much freedom here - they could throw themselves on Karen or me at any time."
French theme park to re-create Gladiator battles
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