 Even the most complex and sophisticated "munera" of the Imperial era evoked the ancient, ancestral "dii manes" of the underworld and were framed by the protective, lawful rites of "sacrificium".Their popularity made their co-option by the state inevitable; Cicero acknowledged their sponsorship as a political imperative.Despite the popular adulation of gladiators, they were set apart, despised; and despite Cicero's contempt for the mob, he shared their admiration