Undercover sting nets gladiator gang outside Rome's Colosseum

Two thousand years after slaves and prisoners of war engaged in mortal combat in the Colosseum, Rome's most famous tourist attraction witnessed a modern day battle between police and tourist touts dressed as gladiators and centurions. The fake gladiators, centurions and legionaries – dressed in helmets and breast plates and carrying replica daggers and knives - have been a fixture outside the Roman arena for more than 20 years, posing with unsuspecting tourists and then asking often exorbitant sums in return.

Many do not have the correct licenses so police in the capital launched a crackdown in an operation in which two undercover officers dressed up as gladiators, while others masqueraded as council street cleaners. But the operation ended on Wednesday with kicks and punches being thrown between the touts and police, in front of hundreds of bewildered onlookers. A group of fake gladiators was also confronted in Piazza Venezia, Rome's main square, with one placed in a headlock by an officer while another plain clothes policeman grabbed his sword.



Nine fake gladiators, along with about 20 unlicensed guides, were arrested and will face charges ranging from assault and disturbing public order to working without the correct permits. Authorities said the replica gladiators and Roman legionaries came from seven families who jealously guarded their turf, seeing off rivals with verbal threats and, if necessary, physical intimidation. The undercover operation was launched after police received complaints from bona fide tourist operators about the "gladiators'" abusive behaviour.

One of them, 28-year-old Alessio Di Porto, said Sera that he had been dressing up as a Roman soldier for four years and that until now the police had "shown a blind eye" to his activities despite the fact he did not have a permit. He said he earned around 1,200 euros a month posing for pictures with tourists, allowing them to wear his plumed metal helmet and wield his sword. Wearing leather sandals, a crimson cloak and a polished breast plate, he said he regarded himself as a "street artist" and resented the authorities' clampdown.