Gladiators

Gladiators (which came from the name of the Roman sword called Gladius)

 were both professional and amateur combatants who fought against each 

other for entertainment. Matches of man vs. man and man vs. animal were 

fought in large arenas throughout the empire. Every time a man stepped onto 

the fighting grounds, he was fighting for his life.                                                           

Gladiator battles were originated from the Estruscan custom of ritual human sacrifices to honor the dead. The first battle in Rome was in 264 B.C. with Marcus and Decimus Junius Brutus who started a gladiatorial combat to honor their dead father. Each had 3 couples (6 in all) of slaves that served as gladiators. The meaning was to remember an important person after they perished. The fights often repeated at usually annual or five year intervals.

Gladiators usually consisted of condemned criminals, P.O.W. (prisoners of war), and slaves. Some individuals became gladiators on their own free will. They would take the role of a slave and risk their life for the fame and excitement. Very little upper-class did step onto the fighting grounds (although it was illegal). They did not live with the other gladiators and gave their own form of entertainment.

Each gladiator had to take the gladiator’s oath (sacramentum gladiatorium), which was agreeing to be treated as a slave and suffer a social disgrace (infamia). The oath was “I will endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword.” This oath gave the gladiator a measure of volition and honor.

Some unpopular gladiators would fight only two or three time a year. And the best of them (if they aren’t already dead after all of the fights their popularity brings them) become popular heroes. At some point the gladiators eventually get freed. They could continue to fight for money, but most of them became gladiatorial trainers or free-lance body guards for the wealthy.

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