STRATEGIKON of Athens - Roman Gladiators (Gladiatores)

Gladiators were professional fighters who fought each other (some times) to the death, in ancient roman amphitheatres and circuses. The Latin term Gladiatores comes from 'gladius' which means sword. They were mainly war prisoners, slaves, condemned criminals and even freedmen and roman citizens like emperor Commodus did and were trained in gladiator's schools called 'ludi'. The freedmen becoming free men, received a wooden sword called 'rudis'. Slaves who survived and were distinguished for their bravery in the arena became freedmen and as the other were relieved from further obligations of fighting.

In gladiator's schools severe disciplinary measures were taken to prevent them from suicide or rising against Rome. From a such school, Spartacus began his revolution and succeed for two years in spreading terror to the Romans in southern Italy from 73 to 71 BC.

The practice of armed men fighting to the death came from the Etruscans, who gave fights probably as a ritual at funerals of their dead warriors. From Etruria the practice was spread to Campania, in the cosmopolitan Capua and then to Latium.

In 264 BC, brothers Marcus and Decimus, sons of Brutus Iunius Pera, exhibited for the first time in Rome, three pairs of gladiators to honoring the memory of their dead father. From this year started the spreading of the fights to the death who organized by official citizens as a part of funeral feasts. In such cases, spectators wore mourning clothes. As the time passed, these fights between gladiators (ludi gladiatorii) and fights between man against wild animals (venationes), became the beloved spectacle of the roman people and were sponsored by businessmen with the main purpose of making profit.

In the period of the Democracy, 'ludi' took place in the Forum but in the Imperial period, they took place in the 'Amphitheatrum Flavianum', known as Colosseum.

In 174 BC, 37 pairs participated in a spectacle lasting three days.

From 105 BC 'ludi' became official and were accepted in public spectacles and so, the senior office holders of Rome competed for sponsoring , wasting huge amounts of money.

Large scale exhibitions were sponsored by Julius Caesar. Ludi given in his daughter memory in 45 BC are renowned. Ludi have been mentioned also, where participated 500 infantry, 300 cavalry and 20 elephants with howdah. In another occasion, where 300 pairs participated, the Roman Senate was prompted to limit the number of contestants.

It's also known that Claudius ordered a representation of a siege and the capture of a British city using a big quantity of slaves.

But the largest contest of gladiators was given by the emperor Traianus who celebrated in 105 AD after his victorious campaign against Dacia. These ludi (with fights between men and against beasts) lasted 123 days during which at least 10.000 men died in the Colosseum.

Also, Dometianus in 90 AD trying to impress, presented combats between women and dwarves.

The weapons of the gladiators depended on their specialty. They were divided into four basic classes with some variations:

1a. Samnites Secutores (Samnites 'followers'), armed with axe and square shield.

1b. Samnites Hoplomachi (Samnites 'hoplomachi'), armed with straight sword, left-foot greave, square shield and sometimes with 'pectorale' (chest mail).

2. Retiarii (Net men) armed with trident, net made from flax with weights at the ends, belt, three-cornered knife and sometimes gloves and left shoulder protection.

3a. Gali (Gauls) with lance, helmet and small gallic shield.

3b. Gali Mirmillones (Gauls 'Mirmillones') armed with big square shield, curved knife, sometimes with two greaves and a helmet with a Mirmillo fish on it, a crest, and a mask.

4. Thraces (Thracians) with curved sword or on occasion with lance, round helmet, small round shield, usually two greaves and right-arm protection.

There were also gladiators who fought on horseback or from chariots. They fought one against one, or as warbands and sometimes against beasts (theriomach).

Ludi gladiatorii started with a parade of gladiators in the arena. They seemed happy thanks to their training and joked with the spectators. Afterwards they demonstrated their weapons to the public. It was an old custom with the purpose to ensure that the weapons were sharpened and generally in such condition that could spread the death. Then they presented themselves in front of emperor's podium, where they directed the tragic salutation:

That means Hail Caesar, they who will die they salute you. With the emperor's sign a judge let a handkerchief fall to the ground as an opening signal.

Usually the first contest was between a Retiarius and a Mirmillo. It was a spectacle with which the Romans were amused a lot especially when they saw the exhausted Mirmillo trapped in the net, trying to cut it with his special curved knife and Retiarius tease him by saying:

"Where are you going Gaul? I' m not hunting you but your fish"

After the first contest, gladiatorial fights continued according to the sponsor's program.

When a gladiator had overpowered his opponent, he turned to the spectators. The man who was defeated rose his left hand asking to be spare his life. Then if the spectators turned their thumbs up yelling 'missum' (and that was very rare), they wished to spare his life, but if they turned their thumbs down yelling 'iugula', they wished to kill him. The final judge was the master of the games -usually the emperor- which gave with his thumb the final decision. Many such events depicted on frescoes or mosaics. We informed the result of a fight with an inscription (i.e. Astyanax defeated Kalendio) or with the symbol of death marked over the defeated man. This symbol is the same with the 'void' mathematical symbol.

Instead of protesting for the barbarity of the gladiatorial fights, the sacrifice of lives and the waste of money, the high society of Rome on the contrary it was proud and the big number of inscriptions proving it. Cicero gave instructive value to them! Many Romans with the same ideology, considered gladiatorial fights as the only way to develop the war-virtue of Roman people and hoped that could stop the influence of Greek games (like Olympiads) considering them as disastrous for the character development of a warrior.

As the time passed and Christianity spread in roman territories, the ludi began to be reduced. In the years of Constantine the Great and under his mother's Helen influence who was Christian, he announced a prohibition law in 324 AD whose result was the reduction of these contests. They stopped finally in 404 AD in the years of emperor Honorius; ending so a barbarian custom which for almost 7 centuries cost the life of many people and animals.

Bibliografy:

First photo is from K.Kalokairinos History and the rest of them are from A.Lazarou, D.Hatzi and E.Vourazeli-Marinakou History.

*Many Thanks to Panos Papadopoulos who helped me to correct many errors in the english text.