A SCREENING of Gladiator will be held at the Yorkshire Museum in a special evening of entertainment.

The film will be shown on Friday, November 21, in honour of the Roman skeleton found underneath the museum during building work in 2010.

Curators at the museum will give a talk and a tour of the Roman galleries, before an Italian-style buffet and a screening of the Ridley Scott film, which stars Russell Crowe.

Natalie McCaul, curator of archaeology, said: "It is often forgotten that Gladiators lived, fought and died right here in York for hundreds of years during the Roman occupation. There are theories that the amphitheatre in which they would do battle was actually somewhere in the grounds of York Museum Gardens where the museum now stands.

"This one off event will give people the chance to get closer to our Roman collections and also see the skeleton of what could very well be York’s very own gladiator."

Analysis of the skeleton by York Osteoarchaeology Ltd found it was a tall, muscular man aged between 36 and 45, with evidence of repetitive sword training and six blade injuries which showed no sign of healing and were delivered at the time of death.

One of the sword wounds sliced through the jaw and got stuck, before the attacker twisted the blade to get it free, breaking the jaw bone in two.

The event starts at 6.30pm. Tickets cost £15 including the buffet. To book phone 01904 687671 or email yorkvenues@ymt.org.uk