Gladiator

For other uses, see Gladiator (disambiguation).

Pollice Verso ("With a Turned Thumb"), an 1872 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, is a well known history painter's researched conception of a gladiatorial combat.

Gladiators (Latin: gladiatōrēs, "swordsmen" or "one who uses a sword," from gladius, "sword") were professional fighters in ancient Rome who fought against each other, wild animals, and condemned criminals, sometimes to the death, for the entertainment of spectators. These fights took place in arenas in many cities from the Roman Republic period through the Roman Empire.

The word comes from gladius, the Latin word for a short sword used by legionaries and some gladiators.

History of gladiatorial combats

Origins

The origin of the gladiatorial games is not known for certain. There are two theories: that the Romans adopted gladiatorial fights from the Etruscans, and that the games came from Campania and Lucania. The evidence for the theory of Etruscan origin is a passage by the Greek writer Nicolas of Damascus in the second half of the first century BC describing the origins as Etruscan, an account by Isiodorus of Seville during the 600s relating the Latin word for gladiator manager, lanista, to the Etruscan word for 'executioner', and also likeness of the Roman god of hell, Charon, who accompanied the executed bodies as they exited the arena, to the Etruscan god of death, also named Charon. The theory that the games developed from a Campanian and Lucanian tradition is supported by frescoes dating to the fourth century BC depicting funeral games in which pair of gladiators fought to the death to commemorate the death of an important individual. However, the Campanians could also have adapted this tradition from the Greeks who could have introduced funeral games with human sacrifices to the area in the eight century BC. Regardless of the origin, the Romans adopted the tradition of funeral games to display important people's status and power.

The first recorded gladiatorial combats took place in Rome in 264 BC, at the start of the First Punic War against Carthage. Decimus Iunius Brutus Scaeva staged it in honour of his dead father Brutus Pera. It was held between three pairs of slaves, and held in the cattle market (Forum Boarium). The ceremony was called a munus or “duty paid to a dead ancestor by his descendants, with the intention of keeping alive his memory” (Baker, Gladiator 10). These were held for notable people and were repeated every one to five years after the person’s death.

These games became popular throughout the Empire and were especially popular in Greece. So popular that there are many records of people in towns where prominent citizens died virtually extorting promises of gladiatorial games from the survivors. As a result the emperors eventually had to regulate how much could be spent on gladiatorial performances to prevent members of the elite from bankrupting themselves. The earliest known gladiatorial games not related to a funeral were held in 310 BC by the Campanians (Livy 9.40.17). These games re-enacted the Campanians' military success over the Samnites.

Gradually, the funeral games transformed into public performances as the connection to funerals faded in the late second century BC. In the first century A.D., giving games was made a requirement of some public offices. The moment when a true split from the funeral backdrop occurred was after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Bad omens plagued the city and the games were seen as a method to please the gods and save Rome. A clear distinction between games organized by public officials (ludi) and those held by private citizens (munera) was set. The popularity of the games resulted in the construction of proper venues and transformation of others (such as the Roman Forum) into spaces for the spectacles. The amphitheaters built for the games were made of wood and were neither structurally sound nor did they survive the fires of Rome. Not until AD 70 and Vespasian's reign did plans for a stone venue for the games develop. The Colosseum (Amphitheatrum Flavium) was unveiled in AD 80.

Peak

Gladiator fights took place in amphitheatres (like the Colosseum) during the afternoon of a full day event. These events were carefully and precisely planned by an organizer on behalf of the emperor (editor). The combinations of animals and gladiator types were meticulously premeditated such that the show would be most appealing to the audience.

Gladiators would be publicly displayed in the Roman forum to large crowds one to two days prior to the actual event and programmes containing the gladiatorial and personal history of the fighters were passed out. Banquets for the gladiators were also held the evening before the games and many attended these as well. Even the criminals listed to fight (noxii) attended.

When the day of the event came, gladiator fights were preceded by animal-on-animal fights, animal hunts (venationes), and public executions of condemned criminals (damnati) during lunchtime. It was considered bad taste to watch the executions so the upper classes would usually leave and return after lunch. The Emperor Claudius was often criticised because he usually stayed in the stadium to watch the executions. Under Nero, it became the practice to write plays adapted from myths in which people died and assigning the role of a character who would die to a condemned man. The audience would then watch the play, and the actual killing of the condemned man in the character's role. Before the afternoon fights began, a procession (pompa) was led into the arena containing the organizer, his servants, blacksmiths to show that the weapons were in order, servants carrying weaponry and armour, and the gladiators themselves. Next came the checking of the weapons to make sure they were real (probatio armorum) by the editor of the games. In Rome this would be by the emperor himself, or he could bestow the honour upon a guest.

Like today, the games had ticket scalpers or Ticket touts(Locarii), people who buy up seats and sell them on at an inflated price. Martial in his Epigrams wrote "Hermes divitiae locariorum" or “Hermes means riches for the ticket scalpers” so scalping/touting seems to have been a common practice. The mentioned Hermes was a famous Gladiator, not the deity, who was called Mercury by the Romans.

During gladatorial combat, it was preferable for gladiators not to kill each other; technically, they were slaves, and therefore were quite valuable. Gladiators were instructed to inflict non-lethal wounds upon each other, and often lived long, rather successful lives, purchasing their freedom after three years. However, accidents did happen at times resulting in death, and gladiators who failed to display bravery in combat could be executed by the emperor. After fights, the bodies of the gladiators were disposed of depending of the status of the fighter. The bodies of noxii and damnati were either buried or thrown into rivers, this being the traditional Roman disposal method for the bodies of executed criminals while other Gladiators were often buried with honours by their "union" (collegia) or friends. The cutting up of the bodies to feed the animals is a common misconception and is mentioned only by Suetonius as an extraordinary and unheard of action that Caligula once ordered to be done. Animal carcasses were either disposed of or distributed to the poor for sustenance.

The Stone Pine, a conifer native to the Iberian Peninsula was often planted near the local amphitheatre in foreign countries. The aromatic pinecones were traditionally burnt in bowls (tazze = cups) to mask the smell of the arena.

Julius Caesar in 59 BC started a daily newspaper called the Acta Diurna (daily acts) reporting gladiator news. It carried news of gladiatorial contests, games, astrological omens, notable marriages, births and deaths, public appointments, and trials and executions. The Acta's content varied over time depending on the Emperor's whims and the tastes of the audience.

Decline

Gladiator games were not loved by all emperors and people throughout Roman history. The enthusiasm for the spectacle by Augustus, Caligula, and Nero contrasted the apathy of Tiberius and the discontent of Cicero, Seneca, and Tertullian. As well, barbarian attack on the provinces during the third century AD led to an economic recession and decreased funds for such shows. Some emperors, such as Gordianus I, Gordianus III, and Probus did continue to organize costly performances, but privately funded shows, especially those in the provinces, declined. In the Eastern Empire invasion had much less of an effect on the economy and gladiator shows prevailed. The gradual decline in the east has been attributed to the effect of Christians on the gore-filled games. They saw the arena as a place of martyrdom and both refused to participate as spectators and sought for an end to the Gladiator shows although they had no objection to the continuation of animal-on-animal fights and animal hunts (venationes). Constantine issued an edict in AD 325 which briefly ended the games. Speculation that the edict was a permanent ban is rebuked by the presence of uncontested games only three years later. In AD 367 Valentinianus I placed a ban on sentencing Christians to the arena, but the sentencing of non-Christians remained unchanged. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in AD 393 under the reign of Theodosius. The emperor himself sought to ban heathen festivals, but gladiator shows continued. Their programmes, however, were very limited due to financial reasons and the audience dwindled as many converted to Christianity. Honorius, Theodosius' son, finally decreed the end of gladiatorial contests in 399 AD. The last known gladiator competition in the city of Rome occurred on January 1, 404 AD.
It is speculated that gladiator fights were no longer practiced by AD 440, as they were not mentioned by Bishop Salvianus in a pamphlet attacking public shows. It would seem only appropriate for the inclusion of gladiator games had they still occurred.

Life as a gladiator

yhey were also all girls they were actualy transvestites

Training

Prospective gladiators (novicius) upon entering a gladiator school swore an oath (sacramentum) giving their lives to the gods of the underworld and vowing to accept, without protest, humiliation by any means. Volunteers also signed a contract (auctoramentum) with a gladiator manager (lanista) stating how often they were to perform, which weapons they would use, and how much they would earn. Prospectives also went under a physical examination by a doctor to determine if they were both physically capable of the rigorous training and aesthetically pleasing. Once accepted the novicius usually had his debts forgiven and was given a sign up fee. For as long as he was a Gladiator he was well fed and received high quality medical care. Overall, gladiators were united as members of a familia gladiatoria and became second to the prestige of the school. They also joined unions (collegia) formed to ensure proper burials for fallen members and compensation for their families.

Training was under teachers called “Doctores” and involved the learning of a series of “numbers”, which were broken down into various phases much as a play is a series of acts broken down into scenes. Sometimes fans complained that a gladiator fought too “mechanically” when he followed the “numbers” too closely. Gladiators would even be taught how to die correctly. Although Gladiators in times of need helped train legionaries, they were not usually good soldiers themselves as a result of this choreographed style of training. Within a training-school there was a competitive hierarchy of grades (paloi) through which individuals were promoted. Each type of gladiator had it’s own teacher; doctore secutorum, doctore thracicum, etc. They trained using two meter poles (palus) buried in the ground. The levels were named for the training pole and were primus palus, secundus palus, and so on. It was also rare for a novicius to train in more than one gladiatorial style. Once a Gladiator had finished training but not yet fought in an arena he was called a “Tiro”.

There were four schools (ludi) in Rome: ludus magnus (the most important), ludus dacus, ludus gallicus, and ludus matutinus (school for gladiators dealing with animals). The schools had barracks for the gladiators with small cells and a large training ground. The most impressive had seating for spectators to watch the men train and some even had boxes for the emperor.

Typical combat

The Gladiator Mosaic at the Galleria Borghese, showing the latter stages of various combats, late Roman period.

An average game had between ten and thirteen pairs (Ordinarii) of gladiators, with a single bout lasting around ten to fifteen minutes. They were usually of differing types. However, sponsor or audience could request other combinations like several gladiators fighting together (Catervarii) or specific gladiators against each other. As a rule Gladiators only fought others from within the same school or troupe (ad ludum gladiatorium) but sometimes specific Gladiators would be requested to fight one from another troupe (Postulaticii). Sometimes a lanista had to rely on substitutes (supposititii) if the requested gladiator was already dead or incapacitated. The Emperor could have his own gladiators (Fiscales). The largest contest of gladiators ever given was by the emperor Trajan in Dacia as part of a victory celebration in 107 AD and included 5,000 pairs of fighters.

During the fights musicians played accompaniments altering their tempo to match that of the combat. Typical instruments were a long straight trumpet (tubicen), a large curved instrument (lituus) similar to an exaggerated French horn and a water-organ (organum). The Romans also loved burlesque and pantomime and there are mosaics that show these musicians often dressed as animals with names inscribed such as "flute playing bear" (Ursus tibicen) and "horn-blowing chicken" (Pullus cornicen).

Like today’s athletes Gladiators did product endorsements. Particularly successful Gladiators would endorse goods in the arena before commencing a fight and have their names promoting products on the Roman equivalent of billboards.

A flask depicting the final phase of the fight between a murmillo (winning) and a thraex.

Some matches were advertised as “sine missione” (without release) meaning “to the death”. The referees allowed these fights to continue as long as it took to get a result. Although already a rare event, Augustus outlawed “sine missiones” due to the expense of compensating the “Lanistas” but they were later reintroduced.

When one gladiator was wounded the spectators would yell out one of several traditional cheers such as "habet, hoc habet” (he’s had it) or "habet, peractum est” (he's had it, it's all over), the referee would then end the fight. A gladiator could also acknowledge defeat by raising a finger (ad digitum), The referee would then step in, stopping the combat, and refer the decision of the defeated gladiator’s fate to the games sponsor (munerarius) who would decide whether he should live or die after taking the audiences wishes into account or considering how well he had fought. If a Gladiator was killed it was normal practice for the games sponsor to pay compensation to the owner (Lanista) of up to 100 times the Gladiators value. This could be millions of dollars in today's values for a single death. Fights were generally not to the death during the Republic, but gladiators were still killed or maimed accidentally. Claudius was infamous for rarely sparing the life of a defeated Retiarius. He liked to watch his face as he died as the Retiarius was the only gladiator that never wore a helmet. Suetonius recounts a combat where the death of an opponent was called a murder. "Once a band of five retiarii in tunics (retiarius tunicatus), matched against the same number of secutores, yielded without a struggle; but when their death was ordered, one of them caught up his trident and slew all the victors. Caligula bewailed this in a public proclamation as a most cruel murder." (Lives of the Twelve Caesars XXX.3)

The figure of a referee is frequently depicted on mosaics as standing in the background, sometimes accompanied by an assistant and carrying a staff with which to hold back a Gladiator after his opponent signifies submission. This implies contests were fought with fixed rules. We know from mosaics, and from surviving skeletons that Gladiators primarily aimed for the head and the major arteries under the arm and behind the knee.

As with modern sports, spectators liked to support “sides” (factiones) which they called the “great shields” and the “little shields”. The “great shields” were lightly armoured defensive fighter types. Whereas the “little shields” were the more aggressive heavily armoured fighter types. Fighting without a shield would have been classed as a “great shield” due to fighting style. “Little shields” always had an advantage early in a match (as attested by the odds given by contemporary Bookmakers) but the longer the match lasted the greater the advantage for the “great shield” as his opponent tired much more quickly due to heavier armour and also as they usually had helmets with more restricted vision.

Gladiators were paid each time they fought. The winner of a match received from the editor a palm branch and additionally an award such as a golden bowl, crown or a sum of money in the form of gold coins. Gladiators were allowed to keep any money or gold they received. A laurel crown was awarded for an especially outstanding performance. The victor then ran around the perimeter of the amphitheatre, waving the palm. The ultimate prize awarded to gladiators was a permanent discharge from the obligation to fight. As a symbol of this award, the editor gave the gladiator a wooden sword (rudis), Martial (Spect. 27) mentions a match between gladiators named Priscus and Verus, who fought so evenly and bravely for so long that when they both acknowledged defeat at the same instant, the emperor Titus awarded victory to both and gave wooden swords (rudes) to each. There was no rule as to what a gladiator would have to do in order to win his freedom, but usually if a gladiator won five fights, or especially distinguished himself in a particular fight, he won the rudis and his freedom. A famous Secutor nicknamed Flamma was awarded the rudis four times but he chose to remain a gladiator. He was killed in his 34th fight. Flamma's gravestone in Sicily is particularly informative as it includes his record: Flamma, secutor, lived 30 years, fought 34 times, won 21 times, fought to a draw 9 times, defeated 4 times, a Syrian by nationality. Delicatus made this for his deserving comrade-in-arms.

It is known that the audience (or sponsor or emperor) pointed their thumbs a certain way if they wanted the loser to be killed (called a pollice verso, literally "with turned thumb"), but it is not clear which way they actually pointed. A thumbs up (called pollux infestus) was an insult to Romans so is unlikely to have meant sparing a life. The clear "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" image is not a product of historical sources, but of Hollywood and epic films such as Quo Vadis. It is thought they may have raised their fist with the thumb inside it (pollice compresso, literally "compressed thumbs") if they wanted the loser to live. One popular belief is that the "thumbs down" meant lower your weapon, and let the loser live and a thumbs up sign pointed towards the throat or chest, signaled the gladiator to stab him there. Some scholars believe that a hand movement was involved as the notion of "turning" does not seem to fit the action of merely extending a thumb. One of the few sources to allude to the use of the "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" gestures in the Roman arena comes from Satire III of Juvenal (3.34-37) and seems to indicate that, contrary to modern usage, the thumbs down signified that the losing gladiator was to be spared and that the thumbs up meant he was to be killed.

The now famous gladiatorial salute “Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant” or “Hail Ceasar, they who are about to die salute you” is another product of movies. This salute was only mentioned by Suetonius (Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Claudius, XXI, 12­14) as happening once, spoken by condemned men (damnati) to Claudius at a Naumachia and he used the word “imperator” or Emperor not Ceasar. Tacitus also wrote of this event: “although they were criminals, they fought with the spirit of brave men. Their (the survivors') reward was exemption from the penalty of wholesale execution”.

A rudarius (umpire) with his wand of office. A mosaic at Bignor Roman Villa.

After a Gladiator's defeat, if the crowd gave the signal for him to die there was a ritual to be observed. With one knee on the ground, the loser grasped the thigh of the victor, who, while holding the helmet or head of his opponent, plunged his sword into his neck or cut his throat depending on his weapon (Martial). To die well a Gladiator was not allowed to ask for mercy and was not allowed to scream when killed. Recent research suggests that gladiators adhered to a code of discipline, and were not as savage as once thought — they did not resort to violence and mutilation which could occur on the battlefields of the day. If defeated but mortally wounded the Gladiator was not killed in front of the audience but was taken from the arena to be executed "humanely" with a hammer on the forehead in private.

After the death of a Gladiator in combat, two attendants impersonating Charon (the God of the dead) and Hermes (messenger to the Gods) would approach the body. Charon would strike the body with a mallet and Hermes would then prod the body with a hot poker disguised as a wand to see whether the gladiator was really dead or not. The body was then placed on a "couch of Libitina" by bearers (libitinarii) in larger games and taken from the arena through the Libitinarian Gate. In lesser games the libitinarii often used hooks to drag the body. Attendants then spread a fresh layer of sand (arena) to soak up the blood. Libitina was the goddess of funerals. After stripping the armour, the Gladiators body was then taken to a nearby morgue (spoliarium) where by custom, as final proof the fight was not "fixed", officials slit the man's throat to ensure that he was truly dead.

Although it is thought that only 10 percent of Gladiators actually died in combat, Gladiators rarely lived past age 30 unless they were particularly outstanding and accomplished victors. This was at a time when around 60 percent of Roman citizens died, from all causes, before age 20. Reasonable estimates show that they fought on average two to three times yearly, but there are some exceptions such as some men fighting all nine days during one of Trajan's shows. George Villes, a French historian, estimated the chances of survival for a third century AD gladiator at 3:1.

The result of a fight was often commemorated with a representation of the fighters with an inscription (i.e. Astyanax defeated Kalendio). If one was killed a circle with a diagonal line through it (usually Ø but sometimes excluding the line within the circle) was inscribed over the defeated man's head.

Slave revolts

Rome had to fight three Servile Wars, the last being against one of the most famous gladiators — Spartacus who became the leader of a group of escaped gladiators and slaves. His revolt, which began in 73 BC, was crushed by Marcus Crassus two years later in 71 BC. After this, gladiators were deported from Rome and other cities during times of social disturbances, for fear that they might organize and rebel again. As well, armouries within the schools were closely guarded and gladiators who were potential threats were chained.

Roman attitudes towards gladiators

The Romans' attitude towards the gladiators was ambiguous: on the one hand to be a Gladiator was the ultimate social disgrace and in fact they were legally designated as infamia (loss of certain public rights); but on the other hand, some successful gladiators rose to celebrity status and even those of senatorial and equites families seemed to join up as gladiators (the Larinum decree under Tiberius banned those of such status from becoming gladiators, which implies that this must have been happening). Being a Lanista was a very lucrative business, but it also was viewed as among the lowest professions on the social scale and well below prostitution, although paradoxically if the Lanista had other sources of income he carried no stigma at all. Likewise if the Gladiator took no fee for fighting then the legal stigma of infamia did not apply and the Gladiator legally lost no social status although remaining publicly disgraced.

Even lower on the social scale were Gladiators considered effeminate. They appear to have fought primarily as Retiarii or retiarius tunicatus for the tunic they wore to differentiate them from normal retiarii. Although mentioned by Juvenal, Seneca and Suetonius very little detail is given. They are referred to as training in an “indecent part of the gladiator's school” and fighting in a “disgraceful type of armament”. Despite the popularity of Retiarii their armament was still thought scandalous due to the Gladiators bare chest and face being visible. Juvenal mentions the trainers practice of separating "from their fellow retiarii the wearers of the ill-famed tunic”.

Outside the intellectual circle of people such as Pliny the Younger (whose dislike for gladiatorial shows may have been more class- than conscience-based), there was widespread acceptance of gladiatorial shows and little qualm as to their brutality.

Many ancient writers give specific instances and detailed accounts of the combats that provide invaluable insight into Roman attitudes: “Many ladies of distinction, however, and senators, disgraced themselves by appearing in the amphitheatre” (Tacitus 15.32). The Roman historian, Cassius Dio (62.17.3), writes of a festival that Nero held in honour of his mother: “In honour of his mother he (Nero) celebrated a most magnificent and costly festival, the events taking place for several days in five or six theatres at once…There was another exhibition that was at once most disgraceful and most shocking, when men and women not only of the equestrian but even of the senatorial order appeared as performers in the orchestra, in the Circus, and in the hunting-theatre, like those who are held in lowest esteem; they drove horses, killed wild beasts and fought as gladiators, some willingly and some sore against their will". Emperor Marcus Aurelius believed Gladiators to be boring, but also saw them as privileged athletes and took extraordinary measures to prevent bloodshed and death (Cassius Dio 71.29.4) He decreed that swords have a blunt point and banned iron blades.

Gladiators often developed large followings of women, who apparently saw them as sexual objects. There is an inscription on a wall in Pompeii that says the Thracian gladiator Celadus was "suspirum et decus puellarum", literally "the sigh and glory of the girls." It was socially unacceptable for citizen women to have sexual contact with a gladiator. Faustina the Younger, the mother of the emperor Commodus, was said to have conceived Commodus with a gladiator, but Commodus likely invented this story himself. Despite or because of the prohibition many rich women sought intimate contact with gladiators and there are several instances of historians mentioning Senators wives running off to live with Gladiators. The ancient celebrity and the festivity before the fights gave the women an opportunity to meet them.

Despite the extreme dangers and hardships of the profession, some gladiators were volunteers (called auctorati) who fought for money; effectively this career was a sort of last chance for people who had fallen into financial troubles. Indeed, their combat skills were such that, when he had no alternative, Gaius Marius had gladiators train the legionaries in single combat. They were also frequently depicted in art, the Gladiator Mosaic, or a Bignor Roman villa showing Cupids as gladiators. Souvenir bowls were also produced depicting named gladiators in combat.

Female gladiators

Main article: Female gladiator

Female gladiators also existed — the Emperor Domitian liked to stage torchlit fights between dwarves and women, according to Suetonius in "The Twelve Caesars". From depictions it appears they fought bare-chested and rarely wore helmets no matter what type of Gladiator they fought as.

Women apparently fought at night, and this being the time that the games main events were held indicates the possible importance or rarity of female Gladiators. Most modern scholars consider female Gladiators a novelty act due to the sparse writings about them but those ancient historians that do mention them do so “casually” which suggests that female gladiators were "more widespread than direct evidence might otherwise indicate" . Women also often fought as Venetores (wild animal hunting) but these are not considered true Gladiators.

Dio Cassius (62.3.1) mentions that not only women but children fought in a gladiatorial event that Nero sponsored in 66 CE. It is known the emperor Nero also forced the wives of some Roman senators into amphitheatres, presumably to fight.

A 1st or 2nd century Marble relief from Halicarnassus suggests that some women fought in heavy armour. Both women are depicted as provocatrices in combat. The inscription names them as “Amazon” and “Achillia” and mentions that both received a honourable discharge (missio) from the arena despite fighting each other (both deemed to have won).

Mark Vesley, a Roman social historian speculates that as Gladiatorial schools were not fit places for women, they may have studied under private tutors in the collegia iuvenum. These schools were for training high ranking males over the age of 14 in martial arts but Vesley found three references to women training there as well including one who died..."To the divine shades of Valeria Iucunda, who belonged to the body of the iuvenes. She lived 17 years, 9 months".

A female Roman skeleton unearthed in Southwark, London in 2001 was identified as a female gladiator, but this was on the basis that although wealthy she was buried as an outcast outside the main cemetery, had pottery lamps of Anubis (ie Mercury ie the gladiatorial master of ceremonies), a lamp with a depiction of a fallen gladiator engraved and bowls containing burnt pinecones from a Stone Pine placed in the grave. The only Stone Pines in Britain at the time were those planted around the London amphitheatre as the pinecones of this particular species were traditionally burnt during games. Most experts believe the identification to be erroneous but the Museum of London states it is "70 percent probable" that the Great Dover Street Woman was a gladiator. Hedley Swain, head of early history at the Museum states: "No single piece of evidence says that she is a gladiator. Instead, there’s simply a group of circumstantial evidence that makes it an intriguing idea". She is now on display at the end of the Roman London section of the Museum of London. This gladiator was the subject of a program on the UK's Channel 4.

Dwarf gladiators

As mentioned above in Female gladiators, there were dwarf gladiators, who were not always paired with women, rather usually three or more dwarfs working as a team fighting one or more regular gladiators.

Emperors as gladiators

Caligula, Titus, Hadrian, Lucius Verus, and Didius Julianus were said to have performed in the arena. It is uncertain if these performances were one-time-only or repeated appearances and there is question regarding the risk as the emperors chose their opponents and no one was likely to injure an emperor. Commodus, however, is known for his passion for public performance and is remembered for his participation in gladiatorial shows. He often hunted wild animals from the stands and was so impressive that it is said that he rarely needed a second spear to kill his prey. He also chased animals in the arena and donned gladiator apparel and fought under the title of 'Hercules.' He is often depicted this way in art.

Gladiators in modern popular culture

Gladiator helmet in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.

Novels

Gladiators of the Empire was released. The first book in the series, Sand of the Arena by James Duffy (McBooks Press, 2005; hardcover, ISBN 1590131118; paperback ISBN 159013124X) presents a detailed, historically-accurate look at life in a training ludus and the visceral struggles of the arena, all through the eyes of a young Roman who volunteers as a gladiator. The training and use of venatores (arena animal hunters, sometimes called bestiarii) is also shown in great detail through an Ethiopian character named Lindani. The book was well received by historical fiction readers and literary critics. Book 2 in the series, Fight For Rome by James Duffy (McBooks Press, 2007; hardcover, ISBN 1590131126) follows the gladiator troupe as they are conscripted into the Roman legions during the civil war of 69 AD, the Year of the Four Emperors. Gladiators fighting as mercenaries alongside the legions, or used by their owners to bolster their political gangs (eg Clodius and Milo), was recorded in a number of historic battles and instances.

Films and television

Gladiators feature frequently in many epic films and television series set in this period. These include films such as Spartacus (1960), Gladiator (2000) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), Quo Vadis, as well as the television series A.D. (1985) (which features a female gladiator), and Rome.

Video games

Known video games to explore several aspects of Rome and its gladiatorial games include KOEI's Colosseum: Road to Freedom, CAPCOM's Shadow of Rome, Acclaim's Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance , SEGA's Spartan: Total Warrior, Gladius.

Science fiction and fantasy

Gladiator themes have inspired science fiction, being depicted in the film The Running Man. Battletech, Quake, and Unreal are several video games that feature players in futuristic, gladiator-styled skirmishes, with users dueling it out between each other or in teams.

In many fictional universes, gladiator games have the same reputation as the ones portrayed by Hollywood; violent exercises of brutality to appease and entertain a crowd, with little to no hope of survival for the gladiators.

Reality entertainment

Due to current human rights and liability issues, it is now impossible to revive gladiator fights in the Ancient Roman sense, (where the fight concludes with serious bodily injury or death).

In the U.S. during the 1990s, there was a game show called American Gladiators, and around the same time, World Wrestling Entertainment popularized a rather wild style of wrestling which some compared to gladiator combat. However, the competitors on American Gladiators never directly attacked each other but did face the established stadium gladiators, and the WWE fights are openly acknowledged to be staged performances, as opposed to actual competition.

In California, Corcoran State Prison became infamous in 1997 when it was discovered that the guards were staging informal "gladiator" fights with the prisoners (some of which were videotaped). Such fights differ from true gladiator fights in that they were not state-sponsored or approved.

Gladiatorial imagery is also associated with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, whose opening credits in their broadcasts feature a gladiator preparing for battle.

See also

• Bestiarii
• List of Roman gladiator types
• Gladiator (2000 film)
• The Far Arena

References and further reading

• Gladiator: Film and History, edited by Martin M. Winkler. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2004 (hardcover, ISBN 1-4051-1043-0; paperback, ISBN 1-4051-1042-2).
• James Grout: Gladiators, part of the Encyclopædia Romana
• Violence and the Romans: The Arena Spectacles
• The Revolt of Spartacus A narrative essay.
• Daniel P Mannix: Those About To Die, Ballantine Books, New York 1958
• Michael Grant: Gladiators, Penguin Books, London 1967, reprinted 2000, ISBN 0-14-029934-3
• Roland Auguet: Cruelty and Civilization: The Roman Games, Paris 1970; English reprint Routledge 1994
• IMDB- movie titles containg 'Gladiator' etc.; click also on keywords
• Thomas Wiedemann: Emperors and Gladiators, Routledge 1992
• Fik Meijer: The Gladiators: History's Most Deadly Sport, Thomas Dunne Books 2003; reprinted by St. Martin's Griffin 2007. ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36402-1; ISBN-10: 0-312-36402-4.
• Gladiators: Heroes of the Roman Amphitheatre
• The Roman Gladiator
• History of the Roman Empire. Culture. Roman Gladiators:
• Gladiators Archaeological Institute of America Index of articles related to Gladiators.

External links

• BBC News: Gladiator bones found in Turkey
• The Roman Gladiator