Turtledove
Register
Advertisement

The Gladiator was the name of a hobby shop located at the Galleria degli Popoli in Milan, Italian People's Republic in an alternate where the Soviet Union won the Cold War and the entire world became communist by the end of the 20th century.[1] Crosstime Traffic used The Gladiator to try to infiltrate ideas of capitalism into this world.[2] Similar shops were set up in San Marino[3] and Rome[4].

In addition to selling games such as "Rails across Europe", The Gladiator sold books relating to the various board and role-playing games they sold. They also hosted tournaments in the back room. One of the clerks at The Gladiator was Eduardo Caruso, who was also an agent for Crosstime Traffic.[5]

Gianfranco Mazzilli, a sixteen year old high school student at Hoxha Polytechnic spent much of his free time at The Gladiator playing "Rails across Europe", until the Security Police shut the store down after learning that The Conductor's Cap, a store in Rome, was spreading capitalist ideas.[6] While most of The Gladiator's staff was able to escape, Eduardo was left behind, and had to make his own way home.[7]

References[]

  1. The Gladiator, pgs. 29-30, HC.
  2. Ibid., pgs. 125-129.
  3. Ibid. pg. 198.
  4. Ibid. pg. 130.
  5. Ibid. pgs. 30-33.
  6. Ibid. pgs. 95-97.
  7. Ibid. pgs. 114-115.
Advertisement