The Roman alphabet and runes coexisted in the Middle Ages. The idea that runes are more of an oral and less of a taught kind of written language is contested by a recent discovery.
A recently analyzed vase is the only representation of an actual gladiatorial contest in Roman Britain. The location of the event remained a mystery until recently, but according to research by archaeologists from several British universities, the two gladiators probably fought near a town in what is now eastern Essex.