Roman Times Bruce Fraser

During a visit to the town of Saintes in South West France in the summer of 2003, I spent some time in the Roman amphitheatre there. It is a well preserved arena and I imagined what it must have been like to take part in the gladiatorial games. 'Roman times' is based on these images with the opening grand procession and its amazing mixture of Mediterranean peoples. The middle movement is an old fashioned love ballad followed by gladiators fighting in a very spirited battle to death or victory.