Calcio Storico Fiorentino.Piazza Santa Croce; Florence; Italy; June 2013.They are called the 鈥榣ast gladiators' ; they are the players of Calcio Storico; the ancestor of football . Since the Middle Ages; every year in June four districts of the city of Florence fight each other mercilessly for the honour of winning the tournament of Calcio Storico Fiorentino; an extraordinarily violent sport; played by men trained to fight each other to their limits.The tournament runs with four teams; the Blues; the Greens; the Whites; and the Reds; each representing one district of the city. Santa Croce / Azzurri (Blues); Santa Maria Novella / Rossi (Reds); Santo Spirito / Bianchi (Whites); San Giovanni / Verdi (Greens). It's is a cross between Greco-Roman wrestling; boxing; rugby and soccer. Fifty minutes of strangling; biting; fighting; and running after a ball. Two teams of 27 players in medieval costumes face each other in a bloody game. The rivalry between the districts is deep-rooted and centuries-old. Here; the supporters have their colours in their blood. The rules of Calcio Storico are simple: during fifty minutes two teams of 27 players face each other on a rectangular sandy field; trying to send the ball into the opponent's net. The winners are rewarded with a mass of steaks equivalent in weight to the more traditional prize of a white calf or bistecca fiorentina; which was historically butchered for the occasion.