As the moon sinks, the mob rises with the day Both peasants and noblemen enter the fray Hundreds approach the city’s pulsing heart- They’ve heard the games are about to start Within a ring of stone, with arches grand Once exalted heroes will take their final stand At the promise of such splendors, the crowd excites As a brave soul prepares for a new day’s fights The gladiator hears the crowd and buries his fear A thousand eyes, a thousand voices jeer They’d watch him kill, they’d watch him fall For to them, he is no man at all Blades clash, his valiance a mask His soul bound to this cruel task  To fall or fight, to live or die Under the watch of Rome’s great eye The sand beneath his feet turns crimson red For his freedom, how many men must be bled? But each time he feels he’s almost beat down He reminds himself of the man wearing the crown The gladiator’s eyes rise as he fights his own grief To where the emperor sits crowned in a golden wreath The afternoon sun seems to set his fine robes ablaze As he returns the gladiator’s stare with an amused gaze He stirs in his throne, extending an arm Bearing power, wealth, and unending harm The gems embedded in his crown Reflect the blood stains on the ground When the sun at last sets, the crowd stilled Leaving behind the blood that’s been spilled The gladiator survives to see another night Awaiting the call with morning’s first light Maybe gladiators are born to fall But compelled by revenge, he’ll defy them all Filled with heroes and tyrants history won’t forget Is this empire on which the sun will never set