Gladiators

Just Like chariot racing, gladiator games or contests are believed to have originated as games for upscale Roman funerals. The first recorded gladiatorial combat in Rome is said to have occurred when three pairs of gladiators fought to the death during the funeral of Junius Brutus, who was the founder of the Roman Republic, in 264 BC; others may have been held earlier but there are no records of such. Following an unknown number of years, the games gradually lost their exclusive connection with the funerals of individuals and became an important part of dramatic public spectacles staged by politicians and emperors alike whroughout the days of the Empire. 

The overall popularity of gladiatorial games during the Roman era is indicated by the large number of wall paintings and mosaics or pictorial representations depicting gladiators on the walls of ancient Roman homes. Additionally, evidence shows, that images were placed upon decorative household items depicting gladiatorial designs.

The first Gladiatorial events, like chariot races, were held in large open spaces with only temporary seating available; there is some evidence that a few were held in the Roman Forum, which was kind of like the downtown plaza or market place of the day. As the games became more frequent as well as quite popular, with the public I might add, the need for a larger and more permanent structure became necessary. The industrious Romans eventually designed a building specifically for this type of spectacle which they called an amphitheatrum because the seating extended all the way around the oval or elliptical performance area, in addition, the ‘floor’ was covered with sand. This structure as I’m sure all of you know came to be called the Coliseum.

The name Gladiator derived from the Roman sword called the gladius; as individuals they were typically not free, they generally consisted of condemned criminals, prisoners of war, and slaves. A very few gladiators were volunteers,  who were freed-men (gennerally former slave gladiators) or very low classes of free-born men who chose to take on the status of a slave for the monetary rewards or the fame and excitement of it all. Those who were gladiators automatically came to be considered beneath the law and by definition not a respectable citizen. A very small number of upper-class men chose to compete in the arena (even though this was explicitly prohibited by law), but they did not live with the other lowly gladiators and constituted a very special, obscure form of entertainment, as was the extremely rare occurrences of females who competed in the arena.

A well trained gladiator had the possibility of surviving a fight and some of those who did, even thrived. The superior gladiators did not fight much more than two or three times a year, and the best of them became popular heroes, not unlike today’s superior athletes. Skilled fighters could win a good deal of money plus the “wooden sword” that symbolized their freedom. Freed gladiators had the option to continue fighting for money, but they usually became trainers in the gladiatorial schools or free-lance bodyguards for wealthy folks.

Such games started out with an elaborate procession or parade that included the combatants or the gladiators with a bit of music thrown in.  That was followed by animal displays, oftentimes featuring trained animals that performed tricks, but more often this segment was staged as ‘hunts’ in which exotic animals were pitted against each other or hunted and killed.

A break for lunch was devoted to executions of criminals who had committed particularly heinous crimes such as murder, arson, sacrilege or being of the Christian faith (prior to the days of Constantine’s conversion that is), after all, they were guilty of sacrilege and treason, because they refused to participate in rites of the state's religion or to even acknowledge the divinity of the emperor. Such public displays of the executions not only made it degrading as well as painful for the condemned, but were considered a pretty good deterrent for others who might be even remotely entertaining such folly.

Later in the afternoons came the high light of the games; the combat of individual gladiators. These were usually matches between individuals with different styles or types of armor and fighting techniques, and sometimes a gladiator trainer, generally called a “Lanista” by the Romans, would play the role of a referee of a sort, so I guess there must have been some sort of rules the participants were required to follow.

All gladiators swore a solemn oath, similar to that sworn by the legionary (the military of the era) but much more dire or dismal. It went something like this: “I will endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword” Strangely enough, it has been argued this terrible oath actually gave a measure of honor to the gladiator.  Although it is popularly reported (especially in film) that these bouts began with a gladiator standing before the audience and bravely shouting for everyone to hear: “Those who are about to die salute you”, the fact is, if such a display ever really happened, it was indeed rare.

Sources ...

http://legvi.tripod.com/gladiators/id1.html                                                     http://www.livescience.com/14650-roman-gladiator-tombstone-epitaph.html   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Junius_Brutus    http://tgsfree4allinfo.blogspot.com/2011/08/roman-coliseum.html                                                                                        http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/lanista