Gladiators
by Mark Cartwright, Ancient History Encyclopedia
A gladiator was a
professional fighter who specialised with particular weapons and fought
before the public in large purpose-built arenas throughout the Roman Empire
from 105 BCE to 404 CE (official contests). As fights were usually to
the death, gladiators had a short life expectancy and so, although it
was in some respects a glamorous profession, the majority of fighters
were slaves, former slaves or condemned prisoners. Without doubt,
gladiator spectacles were one of the most watched forms of popular
entertainment in the Roman world.
Etruscan origins
The Romans were influenced by their predecessors in Italy, the Etruscans, in many ways. For example, in the use of animal sacrifice for divining the future, the use of the symbolic fasces
and organising gladiatorial games. The Etruscans associated these
contests with the rites of death and so they had a certain religious
significance. Although the first privately organised Roman gladiator
contests in 264 BCE were to commemorate the death of a father, the later
official contests discarded this element. Vestiges of the religious
origins did, however, remain in the act of finishing off fallen
gladiators. In this case an attendant would strike a blow to the
forehead of the injured. The attendant would wear a costume representing
Hermes the messenger god
who escorted souls to the underworld or Charun (the Etruscan
equivalent). The presence of the divine Emperor himself, accompanied by
priests and the Vestal Virgins also lent a certain pseudo-religious air
to the contests.
The Great Entertainers
Roman gladiator games were an opportunity for Emperors and rich
aristocrats to display their wealth to the populace, to commemorate
military victories, mark visits from important officials, celebrate
birthdays or simply to distract the populace from the political and
economic problems of the day. The appeal to the public of the games was
as bloody entertainment and the fascination which came from contests
which were literally a matter of life and death. Hugely popular events
were held in massive arenas throughout the Empire, with the Colosseum
(or Flavian Amphitheatre) the biggest of them all. Thirty, forty or
even fifty thousand spectators from all sections of Roman society
flocked to be entertained by gory spectacles where wild and exotic
animals were hunted, prisoners were executed, religious martyrs were
thrown to the lions and the stars of the show, symbols of the Roman
virtues of honour and courage, the gladiators, employed all their
martial skills in a kill or be killed contest. It is a popular
misconception that gladiators saluted their emperor at the beginning of
each show with the line: Ave imperator, morituri te salutant!
(Hail emperor, we who are about to die salute you!), whereas, in reality
this line was said by prisoners about to be killed in the mock naval
battles (naumachia), also held in the arenas on special occasions.
Gladiators most often came from a slave or criminal background but also many prisoners of war
were forced to perform in the arenas. There were also cases of bankrupt
aristocrats forced to earn a living by the sword, for example
Sempronius, a descendent of the powerful Gracchi clan. It is also of
note that until their outlaw by Septimius Severus in 200 CE, women were permitted to fight as gladiators. There were special gladiator schools set up throughout the Empire, Rome
itself had three such barracks and Capua was particularly famous for
the gladiators produced there. Agents scouted the empire for potential
gladiators to meet the ever-increasing demand and fill the training
schools which must have had a phenomenal turnover of fighters.
Conditions in the schools were similar to any other prison, small cells
and shackles for all, however, the food was better (e.g. fortifying
barley) and trainees received the best possible medical attention; they
were, after all, an expensive investment.
Weapons & Armour
Victors in the contests became darlings of the crowd and were particularly popular with women.
The term gladiator derives from the Latin gladiatores in reference to their principal weapon the gladius or
short sword. However, there were a wide range of other weapons employed
in gladiator contests. The gladiators also wore armour and their
helmets, in particular, were objects of great workmanship, richly
embossed with decorative motifs and set with ostrich or peacock plumed
crests. Weapons and armour though depended on which class a gladiator
belonged to. There were four principal classes. The Samnite class was
named after the great Samnite warriors that Rome had fought and beaten
in the early years of the Republic. Interestingly, the Romans, at least
in the early days, used gladiator and Samnite as
synonyms, suggesting an alternative origin to Etruscan for these
contests. The most heavily armed, the Samnite had a sword or lance, a
large square shield (scutum) and protective armour on his right (sword) arm and left leg. The Thracian gladiator had a curved short sword (sica) and a very small square or round shield (parma)
held in the fist to deflect blows. The Myrmillo gladiator was sometimes
known as the fishman as he had a fish-shaped crest on his helmet. Like
the Samnite, he carried a short sword and scutum but had armour only of
padding on arm and leg. The Retiarius had no helmet or armour
other than a padded shoulder piece and he carried a weighted net. He
would try to entangle his opponent by throwing the net and then stab
with his trident. Gladiators fought in particular combinations, usually
to provide a contrast between slower, more heavily armoured classes such
as the Myrmillo against quicker, less protected gladiators such as the Retiarius.
There were many other lesser types of gladiators with various
combinations of weapons and armour and names changed over time, for
example, ‘Samnite’ and ‘Gaul’
became politically incorrect when these nations became allies. Other
types of combatants also included archers, boxers and the bestiarii who fought animals in the wild beast hunts.
Winners & losers
Those who lacked enthusiasm to fight were cajoled by their manager (lanista)
and his team of slaves who brandished leather whips or red-hot metal
bars. No doubt the indignant roars from 40,000 spectators and the
unrelenting attacks of one’s opponent also convinced many to fight till
the end. There were cases of refusal to fight: Perhaps one of the more
famous was in the gladiator games organised by Quintus Aurelius
Symmachus in c. 401 CE when the Germanic prisoners who were scheduled to
fight decided instead to strangle each other in their cells rather than
provide a spectacle for the Roman populace.
The losing gladiator, if not killed outright, often appealed for
mercy by dropping his weapon and shield and raising a finger. His
adversary could then decide to be lenient, although, as there was a
significant risk of meeting again in the arena, it was considered good
professional practice to kill your opponent. If the emperor were present
then he would decide, although the crowd would certainly try to
influence his judgement by waving cloths or gesturing with their hands -
raised thumbs and shouts of Mitte! meant ‘let him go’, thumbs down (pollice verso) and Iugula! meant execute him.
Victors in the contests, particularly those with many fights behind
them, became darlings of the crowd and as surviving graffiti on Roman
buildings indicates, they were particularly popular with women - cases
of affairs with aristocratic ladies and even elopement were not unknown.
Graffiti from Pompeii
gives a fascinating insight into how the gladiators were seen by the
general public: Oceanus ‘the barmaid’s choice’ or another was described
as decus puellarum, suspirium puellarum (the delight and
sighed-for joy of girls) and also written were how many victories some
attained: Petronius Octavius 35 (his last), Severus 55, Nascia 60.
However, it should be noted that the average was much lower and there
were even some games in which victors fought other winners until only
one gladiator was left standing. More material rewards for winning
one’s contest included the prestigious palm branch of victory, often a
crown, a silver dish heaped with prize money and perhaps, after years of
victories, even freedom.
Famous Gladiators
Perhaps the most famous gladiator of all was Spartacus,
who led an uprising of gladiators and slaves from Capua, the leading
producer of gladiators, in 73 BCE. From Thrace, the former Roman soldier
had become a bandit until his capture and forced training as a
gladiator. He and seventy comrades escaped from their training school
and set up a defensive camp on the slopes of Vesuvius. Besieged, they
then fled their position and rampaged through the countryside of
Campania, collecting followers as they went and moulding them into an
efficient fighting force. Battling his way north to the Alps, Spartacus
displayed great military leadership in defeating four Roman armies on no
less than nine occasions. Far from being a saint though, when a friend
died in battle, Spartacus,
in the old custom, arranged for three hundred Roman prisoners to fight
gladiator contests in honour of his fallen comrade. After two years of
revolt, the armies of Marcus Licinius Crassus
finally cornered and quashed the rebels in Apulia in the south of
Italy. As a warning to others, 6,000 of the prisoners were crucified
along the Appian Way between Capua and Rome. Another consequence of this
disturbing episode was that from then on, the number of gladiators
owned by private citizens was strictly controlled.
Another famous gladiator was in fact a non-professional. Emperor Commodus
(108-192 CE) was keen and mad enough to compete himself in the arena,
indeed, there were even rumours that he was the illegitimate son of a
gladiator. One might argue that Commodus was a professional as he made
sure to draw a fantastic salary for his appearances in the Colosseum.
However, it is unlikely that Commodus, usually dressed as Mercury,
was ever in any real danger during the hundreds of contests he fought
in the arena and his most frequent participation was as a slaughterer of
wild animals, usually from a protected platform using a bow.
Decline in popularity
Gladiator contests, at odds with the new Christian-minded Empire,
finally came to an end in 404 CE. Emperor Honorius had closed down the
gladiator schools five years before and the final straw for the games
came when a monk from Asia Minor,
one Telemachus, leapt between two gladiators to stop the bloodshed and
the indignant crowd stoned the monk to death. Honorius in consequence
formally prohibited gladiatorial contests, although, condemned criminals
continued the wild animal hunts for another century or so. Many Romans
no doubt lamented the loss of a pastime that was such a part of the
fabric of Roman life but the end of all things Roman was near, for, just
six years later, the Visigoths led by Alaric would sack the Eternal city itself.
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