Roman Gladiator Research Paper

An individual on average would fight about three times a year, and for the rest of the time travel with the troop. The troops swore an oath to their master, and traveled from city to city looking for work (Roman Gladiator). The social class of the Gladiators was rather ironic in itself. On one hand they were considered slaves, that's the lowest class in a social structure, but on the other hand, some gained popularity and were looked upon as great warriors and heroes. Some rose to celebrity status in a short time as in the movie when Maximus became a hero to the public eye, worthy of praise of greater importance than even the king himself. In the movie this was a direct result in the downfall of Commodus, but this isn't factual, as Maximus is a fictional character. It just demonstrates the influence the Gladiators had on the public eye, he was the ‘Rockstar of the Roman Empire'.

Gladiators were mostly unfree individuals either condemned criminals, prisoners of wars who had lost their citizenship rights, although, some of them were volunteers who were mostly freedmen or very low classes of freeborn men who chose to be a slave for monetary rewards or for the fame. Gladiators were brought for the purpose of gladiatorial combat and would endure branding, chains, flogging or death by the sword and subjected to a rigorous training, fed on a high-energy diet, and given expert medical attention. Gladiators were famously popular in ancient from for seven centuries, from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD fairly late in the Public occupied a prominent position in roman society, they would fight in massive

Of the many monumental constructions that the Romans built, one of the most well known is the Coliseum, where brave Gladiators would fight dangerous animals and even each other to entertain the people of Rome. When people see the great arena, it is easy for them to forget the countless men, women, and animals that died fighting each other for amusement. Most people don’t know what it took for them to fight and either win or die, or how many hours they must have spent training to have a chance at defeating their opponents. Who were these gladiators?

Gladiators were a huge part of the Roman society and a large part of Roman culture. The people of Rome loved gladiator battles. The Roman coliseum was built in order to fit the standards of a bloody, brutal battle while also being able to keep thousands of Roman citizens comfortable and entertained.

Early gladiator fights took place in funerals of wealthy Romans, but their main purpose was to give the people a good show. As the gladiator games grew in popularity, the funeral ritual tradition was eventually dropped and the games were staged for what they were—a display of wealth and entertainment for the masses. By approximately 90 B.C., gladiator games began taking place in circuses and forums. Circuses were elongated arenas with a spine down the middle, designed for chariot racing. In a circus, the audience had good seats but a poor view of the event. Since circuses were built for chariot races, their long and narrow shape made it difficult for someone sitting on one end to see an event going on at the other end. A good example of a circus is the Circus Maximus. This structure was the first and largest circus built by the Romans and it could hold up to 250,000 people. Forums were open gathering places in the center of a town, often with a monument in the middle. Audiences watching a gladiator event in a forum still experienced problems because the ground was flat, so only the people in the first few rows could see anything. Over the years, the gladiator games became even more elaborate to the point where some fights included fights with wild animals. So the Romans now had a problem on their hands: how to fit a large number of people in a way that let them see everything that was

Roman charioteers and Roman gladiators were at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry during ancient Roman times. They both had large followings, were keys to political power, and were the reasons for architectural masterpieces. Charioteers and gladiators, however, were quite different in many ways. They had differences in backgrounds, in risks of their profession, in their professional careers, and in the various things they can stand for and represent.

Roman Gladiators had many other talents other than fighting too. They were very good at gathering attention from the media. They had to try and make big names for themselves in order to establish a fanbase. They also had to have great work ethic because usually the strongest man won so it was constant training. They had to set their entire lives around gladiator fighting and keep up with their normal lives, although most of them were in jail they still had lives even while living in a cell.

After the defeat of Carthage, Romans were thirsty for violence. In ancient Rome, gladiators were of the most notorious people on the planet. Deranked from society, they still managed to maintain a high charisma and attained significant amounts of glory. While at camps, they underwent intense training, were treated like animals, and had all their rights stripped from them. But despite the cruelties, they were highly honored and were gifted various rewards and ceremonial banquets on the days before their gruesome battles. Also, the owners of gladiators or people involved in the trade, ensured that they were treated with at least some hospitality and ensured the well being of the fighters. Gladiators were depicted on artifacts throughout all of Rome. Women viewed gladiators as sexually attractive idols because of the bravery and strength they displayed in the arena. Even though a lot of women wanted to have children with those men because of their strength, but were not allowed to because gladiators were still characterized as nothing more than criminals and slaves; the lowest rank in society.

Starting in 105 BC the Roman government began to provide the Roman people with a new form of entertainment. This new entertainment was the Roman gladiatorial games. The games not only served as an interesting past time, but also as a political ploy to gain citizen support, pay tribute to Roman gods, and feed the human craving for death and destruction. The Roman citizens saw the games as a way to improve social status, gain wealth, and provide punishment for those who deserved a cruel death. Gladiatorial games were therefore predominately supported by Roman society with the exception of Christians and a select number of philosophers. Though the philosophers and Christians objected to the games on the same grounds, the philosophical

Gradually this ritual became less appealing and was almost forgotten. The first nonritual gladiatorial fight was held in 264 BC when the sons of Brutus Pera organized a spectacle in Rome to honor their father (1). Following this event, the gladiatorial fight became more popular. For instance, in 183, sixty pairs of gladiators foughts in the honor of a nobleman named Publius Licinius Crassus. After numerous private games were held, the consuls decided to make it part of a public event (1). Like other games and religious ceremonies, hosting gladiatorial fights were one way of showing power, wealth and tool for politicians to get votes ("The-Colosseum.Net: Mvnera" 1). The games took place in religious ceremonies and special holidays such as the emperor’s birthday or anniversary. The games have their own seasons. Out of the 177 days of the festival, 10 days were assigned for a gladiatorial fight while 66 and 101 days were assigned for circus and dramas respectively ("The-Colosseum.Net:

Most gladiators were slaves before gladiators. Some were free men who volunteered to have the brave and strong image of the gladiators. Gladiators were only fighting for roman entertainment and only that. They had zero freedom and fought to the death for romans entertainment only.

The origin of Rome’s gladiatorial games is unknown. However, there are some clues as to what group of people may have started this ancient form of entertainment. According to Athenaeus (a Greek writer), the Etruscans were to credit as beginning the games. In spite of what Athenaeus documented, art from the Etruscans does not show any combat scenes. Although it is believed that the Roman gladiator games started out being hand-to-hand combat between two people, most likely slaves. The earliest games were held to honor the dead in a funerary way. This continued to be the reasoning behind the games for approximately fifty years. The games then started to expand and became seemingly complex. In addition to hand-to-hand combat; vicious animals

Gladiators were a big part of entertainment . People would watch them battle it out sometimestill the point of death. But I am going to tell you more in this 1000 words booklet on roman gladiators.

The struggle of Maximus depicts the struggle of a democratic capitalist society. In the movie it is believed that the Roman Empire was once again Republic after the death of Commodus. An example in the movie was when Lucilla stood up from Maximus dead body and announced “Is Rome worth one good man’s life? We believed it once. Make us believe it again” (Gladiator). In real life her own brother executed Lucilla on his second year of ruling when she tried to have him murdered. Also the accuracy of the gladiatorial games was “a show of gladiators to be exhibit before the people in the market-place, and most of the magistrates erected scaffolds round about, with an intention of letting them for advantage.” (Plutarch). Just look at the gladiators, either debated men or foreigners, and consider the blows they endure. What mediocre gladiator ever groans ever alters the expression on his face? Which one of them acts shamefully, either standing or falling? Depending on there action determined how they were

… The arena accommodated all social classes, demonstrating the universal popularity of the games” . The official title for the amphitheatre was the Latin word “Spectacula” . This reflects the fact that the gladiatorial events and venationes staged in the arena evolved during the Roman Republic, and later the Roman Empire. “Gladiatorial combat involved highly trained and expensive professionals” . The gladiators followed rules in order to entertain spectators and encourage displays of “martial excellence: a demonstration of bravery in the face of death, and of discipline and skill with arms” . In both Pompeii and the wider Roman world, most gladiators would have been slaves, enemy soldier-prisoners or paid volunteers; some emperors would also fight in the arena, but risks to themselves were