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Roman Gladiator Research Paper

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When most people think of roman gladiators they think of two men inside some kind of an arena fighting to the death with weapons and armor. Yes the roman gladiators were men who fought with weapons but there is so much more to the history of the roman gladiators that a lot of people don’t know. The Roman gladiatorial fights weren’t just fights people could watch but they were a major significance to the way the romans themselves ordered their lives. Being a part of the romans meant attending these games. The roman gladiator’s fights were one of the most popular events that took place during the ancient roman world. There is so much history when it comes to roman gladiators which is why they were so popular and entertaining to watch. To really understand why the gladiators and their …show more content…

The gladiator fights didn’t start off with two men fighting in an arena surrounded by people it actually originated as mandatory offerings or munera owed to important men at their funerals. Munera or duty was another name for gladiator fights because it was look at as more of a duties paid to dead ancestors. The men that were being honored had generally been public figures and the munera were intended to show their prestige and of that to their family to the people of Rome. Many historians believe that the games may have come from the Etruscans who were people that occupied ancient Italy. Paintings from tombs of Estruscan show their custom of celebrating the dead with funeral games which seemed to consist of different types of contest including combat. Others have suspected the gladiatorial games have been influenced from the area of Campania where Rome had fought three wars resulting in the exchange of customs. The original purpose of these combats that took place at funerals may be looked at as human sacrifice which meant that the blood spilled by these fighters benefited the spirit of the deceased. It wasn’t

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