Were the Ancient Romans so different from us?

Back in ancient times the Romans would all gather in the coliseum to watch the gladiators fight to death. it was their football. But these gladiators didn't choose that life, they either were forced into it or did it to provide for their families. Now we hear that and think why would anyone want to see that, and how sick is their culture that that many would gather to see ppl kill eachother? I mean when i first heard about the gladiator fights i wondered in a thousand yrs what will they be disgusted by in our culture? And the more i think about it, the more I get disgusted. We don't gather to see ppl draw blood out of their companions, we do it privately in our own homes. Have you seen the best-selling magazines? They're mostly gossip about major celebrities. 'People' and 'National Enquirer' are the main ones i know about. But looking through them, most of what i see is all the dirt on the celebrities that can possibly be found out. One might argue 'we only read them because the media puts it out there!' but honestly the media wouldn't work so hard to dig it all up if there wasn't such a high demand.
Why do we enjoy hearing about everything they've done wrong? Nobody's perfect. We act like we're surprised when they mess up, but i think secretly we're just glad they've done something worse than us. As though what we've done pales in comparison, and so therefore we shouldn't be punished as badly because we're not as bad as them. That's not the way it works though. In the end we're all going to get judged for what we have and haven't done and i'm not positive but i doubt we'll be compared to everyone else. That's one of the great things about God, he doesn't say 'oh you can't go to heaven because you're not as stainless as billy bob.' No, he forgives us. He says 'all your sins are washed clean when you accept my son, Jesus Christ and what a blessing that is! We're all going to get judged but I would so much rather be standing up there with Jesus at my side, than to have to answer to all of it by myself. No one can measure up by themselves. But we are made new in Christ, and what a beautiful thing that is!!!! What an amazing God we serve who will never leave our side and will not only forgive but also forget everything we've done wrong!!!! No one's perfect, but with Christ...it ceases to matter. He loves us anyway! David Crowder released a new song last year called "How he loves" and in it one line sticks out to me, "If his grace is an ocean we're all sinking" My small group decorated my room and that's one of the quotes they put up on the wall. i look at it every morning when i wake up and every night when i fall asleep, and i thank God for his amazing grace and his unfailing love, for without it i would be lost.