Roman Gladiators History
Gladiators are often depicted in films as incredibly dramatic individuals. Here is the real scoop on the history of Roman gladiators.
Roman Gladiators History
One of the topics in history that has repeatedly been featured in Hollywood films is ancient Rome. Specifically, the topic of many of these movies is Roman gladiators’ history. The movie “Gladiator” as well as older movies like “Spartacus” all depict a romanticized view of what these gladiators were forced to go through. The real Roman gladiator’s history is far less glamorous, and rarely had endings that were happy.
The word “gladiator” comes from the Roman word “gladius”, which means sword. Gladiators were known as swordsmen, and they were professional fighters who during various periods fought against animals, slaves, criminals and each other. Sometimes these fights were “to the death”, and all of these fights were put on for the amusement of the Roman population and the emperor. The Colosseum once held many of these fights, which could last for months at a time.
The original gladiators were actually Etruscans, who started this tradition because they believed that when an important man died, his spirit needed the spilling of blood (blood sacrifice) in order to survive in the afterlife. Therefore, the first gladiator battles were always held after the death of someone important. The initial gladiator battle took place in 264 BC, and was held by Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva, in dedication for his dead father. These battles were called “munus” and were repeated every one to five years after the death of the important person.
During the Roman Golden Age, gladiator fights really hit their heyday. Emperor Trajan is said to have scheduled 5000 of these fights alone. These fights – men against men and men against animals, were performed by gladiators that were usually not volunteers. Instead, they were slaves or convicted criminals who were often forced to fight to the death by their owners or the emperor. There were some volunteers that wanted to fight in the gladiator fights, and they were trained in special schools known as ludi. They traveled in rings or groups, and fought from town to town. Some emperors even took their turns in the ring.
Roman gladiators’ history had many years of popularity, but by the year 325 AD, Constantine I outlawed the gladiator battles. They still continued, in one form or another, until the year 404 AD, which they were ceased completely. Telemachus, a monk, rushed into a ring to try to separate two gladiators to stop the fight, and he was stoned to death by the spectators. After that event, no other gladiator battles took place.
