Just a mile from the Colosseum in Rome, the world’s first modern gladiator school offers training to give you the mental and physical skills necessary for mock life-or-death combat.

In a reproduction of the castrum - a Roman military defence camp - students can learn everything from proper shield-wielding to bodily stances, supplemented with lectures on the history of gladiators and their place in ancient society.

Gladiatrix and trainer, Flamma told BBC News why hand-to-hand combat in an arena is a feeling money can’t buy.

Video journalist: Angelica Jopson