Asterix as a gladiator

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Asterix als Gladiator (French original title: Astérix gladiateur ) is a French comic from 1964 and the fourth volume in the Asterix series. In this adventure, the two heroes Asterix and Obelix have to travel to Rome to free the bard Troubadix, kidnapped by the Romans , where they end up in a gladiator school . The first German, albeit alienated, translation was made in 1965 under the title Kampf um Rom in the magazine Lupo modern of the Kauka Verlag , the second version known today came on the market in 1969 as the third volume in the series. The drawings are by Albert Uderzo , the texts by René Goscinny . The cartoon Asterix - Victory over Caesar , released in 1985, is based partly on this comic and partly on the later volume Asterix as a legionnaire .

action

The Roman prefect of Gaul, Caligula Alavacomgetepus, is going on vacation to Rome. Custom requires that he give Julius Caesar a gift. He has the idea to give one of the invincible Gauls as a present. Legionaries from the nearby Roman camp Kleinbonum therefore catch the bard Troubadix in the forest, who is brought to Rome on the prefect's galley. The residents of the village raid the camp to free their bard, but come too late. Asterix and Obelix leave for Rome to free Troubadix.

In Rome, Caesar accepts his present and asks Gaius Obtus if he can make a gladiator out of him. But since Troubadix was too thin and too weak, Caesar decides to have him throw him to the lions for the next circus games. Asterix and Obelix, who have meanwhile arrived in Rome, go in search of the bard. They are trained to be gladiators in order to gain access to the circus, in which the bard is also kept prisoner.

On the day of the games, Caesar is personally present at the circus. Troubadix, who is to be thrown to the lions to eat, considers the whole thing to be an appearance in front of a large audience, where he can show all his skills. In view of his singing skills, however, lions and audience alike flee. The subsequent gladiatorial fights do not satisfy Caesar either, because Asterix and Obelix taught the gladiators guessing games instead of bloody life and death fights. After the following fight with a cohort of Caesar's best legionnaires, the audience is satisfied, and Caesar gives the Gauls their freedom.

Back in the Gallic village there is the traditional feast where the bard, although he has taken part in the adventure, is tied up and gagged as always to prevent him from singing.

Remarks

On the way to Rome, Asterix and Obelix also meet the pirates for the first time, who they will run into more often in future adventures, with the next encounter on the way home. The pirates are borrowed from the comic series Der Rote Korsar (Barbe-Rouge), also published by Pilote .

Tourism in ancient Rome is already in full swing. We see Greeks and Egyptians in the Roman Forum and a Gaul with a Baedeker travel guide .

References within the series

In this album Obelix Asterix offers the helmet competition for the first time: Whoever beats up most of the Romans (and collects their helmets to prove it) has won. However, Asterix never accepts this bet.

Also for the first time in Asterix as a gladiator , Obelix utters his frequently quoted “They spin, the Romans”.

The white-haired old man Methusalix also makes his first appearance in this story: Obelix asks him to take over the delivery of his menhirs during his absence.

Also worth mentioning is the Phoenician Epidemais, who takes the Gauls on board his galley on the way there and back; he has other appearances in later adventures.

The final banquet is unusually held during the day.

publication

In France, the story appeared for the first time in 1962 as a series in the French magazine Pilote in issues 126–168 and was published in 1964 as an album by Dargaud . In the German translation, a modified version was printed in issues 16 to 26/1965 of the magazine " Lupo modern " with the title "Kampf um Rom". Asterix and Obelix were called "Siggi" and "Babarras" there. The original story was first published by Ehapa-Verlag from 1968 in the MV-Comix magazine (issues 31/1968 to 38/1968) and was published in 1969 as the third volume in the Asterix series. In 2002 this volume was reissued and received a new cover picture.

The volume was published in English, Spanish and Turkish as well as in the dialects Kölsch , Carinthian , Saarland and Bavarian .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Barry Stone: Asterix as a gladiator. In: Paul Gravett (ed.) And Andreas C. Knigge (transl.): 1001 comics that you should read before life is over . Edition Olms, Zurich 2012, p. 233.