Hundreds of 'gladiators' march in Rome

ROME (AP) - Hundreds of gladiators sporting chain-mail, wolf-skins and swinging grappling nets marched by the ruins of ancient Rome on Monday, in a birthday celebration for the city which legend says was founded 2,756 years ago.

The make-believe gladiators, some from as far away as France and Hungary, poured off buses sporting steel helmets and daggers swinging from scabbards.

"We're all here today because it's the birthday of Rome, so we celebrate the foundation of the city like good Romans," said Giorgio Franchetti, the spokesman of the Roman Historic Group, who himself was geared up for battle.

Franchetti was delighted by the attendance of foreign gladiatorial enthusiasts.

"The beautiful thing is that to feel Roman, you don't necessarily need to have been born in Rome," he said.

Legend has it that Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus on April 21, 753 BC, after the twin brothers built a settlement in what is now Italy's capital.

In modern Rome, dress-up gladiators hang around the Colosseum, asking for exorbitant fees from tourists who take their pictures. The city is working on regulating the practice to reduce abuses.