Gladiators attempt Colosseum return

ROME, April 26 (UPI) -- Police in Rome removed a group of costumed performers from the square around the Colosseum when they attempted to skirt recent rules banning them from the site.

A spokesman for the centurions and gladiators, who were banned from the Colosseum square in March, said the group attempted to return to their old posts outside the monument April 25, but they were driven away by police officers, ANSA reported Thursday.

The performers, who ask tourists for money in exchange for posing for photos, have staged sit-ins around the city to protest being banned from the Colosseum square.