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Roman Gladiator Research Paper

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A Roman gladiator was an ancient professional fighter who specialized in combat using particular weapons and armor. They fought organized games in large arenas in front of massive crowds throughout the Roman Empire from 105 BCE to 404 CE (”Ancient”). The Roman people were highly entertained by brutal gladiator fights. Though well trained gladiators gained fame from their wins, there were many things that could go wrong with gladiating. The costs of gladiating outweighed the benefits in ancient Rome because gladiators were very vulnerable, they faced unclear expectations in a fight, and faced a high death rate.

The first reason why the costs of gladiating outweighed the benefits in Ancient Rome is gladiators were very vulnerable. A gladiator would wear a mask for protection made of all different metals. Gladiators were only allowed to wear very little armor as in leg padding, a leather belt, shoulder guard, and other small pieces of armor pieces. A small blow to the arm or leg could affect the fight a tremendous amount due to little body armor. If a gladiator was stabbed and survived the medical care was very bad and there was a good chance a gladiator could die after their battle (Beard). …show more content…

Once a gladiator was in the arena and ready to battle they would announce what the gladiator would be going up against. There are many possibilities of what a gladiator may face such as a woman gladiator, a man gladiator, an animal ranging from a tiger to a elephant, and even the emperor. If a gladiator is prepared to fight a human with have a net and a sword but they end up fighting an elephant the what would a small net do to a huge elephant

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