Sentence:  It's the Count von Eisenstein," says he, "that's come over to Eire for protection against the murdering English who are marauding and <WSD>gladiatoring</WSD> about Germany and would kill him if they could, but thanks be to God," says my bold McQuirk, "he'll be safe enough here and it'll be a good thing to have a friend of the Irish people living in Kilfenora Castle, though maybe you won't like it." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To act aggressively toward others.