Rome's Legacy of Gladiators Essay

Gladiators are seen as fighters or warriors of the colosseums in Rome; however not as slaves or prisoners. Most gladiators were captured and prisoners of war who were later sold to owners, but are referred to as managers. These managers would turn prisoners into gladiators who were hungry for wins to survive. Wins brought life, food, women, and amenities that the gladiator could dream for as a free person.

Most of the gladiators were criminals or prisoners of war that were forced to fight in the arena. Although they were considered slaves, they surprisingly had a better standard of living than most lower class Romans. Because they were financial investments, they had access to doctors and medicine, better food, and exercise. As the gladiator became more and more popular, he would attract greater crowds, making him more valuable, which led to getting him a better lifestyle. For this reason, some free citizens, aristocrats, and even emperors would join in hoping to increase their own wealth. Even slaves would train and fight hard because they could purchase their freedom once they accumulated enough wealth.

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.

What is the gladiator? The gladiator is a person who was often a slave or captive of war. (Gladiator). They often fought to the death. Most of the time they fought in an open arena in public area for everybody to watch the grueling fight. They didn’t just fight people. Sometimes they fought animals. They even had a specific gladiator to fight beasts. But, the main attraction was man vs. man (What

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.

Not only did people fight each other, but also bears, buffalo's and other huge vicious animals. The gladiators would be forced to fight the wild beasts unarmed. In addition, many times the beast would be victorious. Beasts were also made to fight other beasts. One could watch bears fighting buffalos, buffaloes against elephants, elephants against rhinoceros. Even the ostriches that were brought in to amuse the spectators were not spared. After dashing around the arena, they were killed by arrows from archers who were located in the stands. Fights between men and tame

The ancient Romans had many forms of entertainment most of which would be considered very gruesome and cruel today. One of their favorite events to observe were gladiator fights which were often times fought until only one opponent was left alive. Another event that they enjoyed watching was chariot races. They would also attend the theater.

Roman gladiators were victims because they were slaves. For example, according to Duckster “20 to 30% of the people were slaves in the Roman games”(duckster.com). Another example there were two types of slaves, some of the slave work in farms and other slaves worked skilled jobs like business accounting or education. This shows that roman gladiator were victims because they have to work for their freedom.

The gladiators were a popular sport in Ancient Rome. Starting as a ritual performed at funerals that were for the purpose of giving the deceased attendants for the afterlife. Though as time went on, fights became larger and more for entertainment then for funerals. Many gladiators that were used were unfree criminals, slaves, war prisoners, and sometimes even free men and rarely, women until they were later banned from participating. These games were often very large ceremonies that happened only a couple of times a year that would last days on end. Many people would set up shops outside the colosseum with food, drinks, and other goods. They would usually start with a procession of the combatants and the sponsors of the games during the morning

Gladiatorial games were an ingrained part of Roman society by the first-century AD. They have consistently been portrayed as gruesome battles between two men, usually slaves or criminals, in which one almost always inevitably dies. While this circumstance did occur in ancient times, there is also strong evidence showing that this was not always the case. It is true that slaves and criminals, as well as prisoners of war, were the main source of gladiators due to their expendability and large numbers following Roman conquests, however, in later years there were freemen and freedmen who joined the gladiatorial schools and took up the profession. It is also common knowledge that gladiatorial combat did indeed end in death, though there is much

Most gladiators were prisoners of war from areas that the Romans had conquered and, “… fought in public perhaps only four or five times yearly.” (McBeath). These captured soldiers were represented stereotypically in the arena with weapons and garment of Roman enemies. Not all though where captured soldiers, spme infact were pervious slaves and even lower class Roman citizens, these lower-class citizens would give up their rights as citizens and be given, “regular meals, shelter, and medical care.” (MacBeath). The poor citizens felt that opportunities, though as brutal and merciless as it was, of becoming/being a gladiator outweighed those of living in poverty. As in any sport or competition there where the professionals, the gladiators who consistently won fights and entertained the crowd, and these successful figures, “gained mass public adulation, along with the lifestyle perks and privileges such status brings” (MacBeath). It was not just wealth and fame that the gladiators could obtain due to their success; gladiators could be gifted their freedom, however not considered actual citizens. The life of a gladiator was brutal, many came from defeated enemy armies some were slaves, and Roman lower-class citizens; yet some were celebrities of their times and some of those individuals remain known till this

The culture in Ancient Rome has a massive impact on our society today, it influenced our sports, language, government, technology, etc.

This was done by providing a blood offering at the dead person’s funeral to appease the gods and ensure a rite of passage into the afterlife. Gladiator games shows us of how barbaric the Roman practice was and what its existence said about the roman society. The values and virtues of gladitorial combat were also important as a means of social control. During the Roman revolution, the games lost a considerable degree of religious significance and began to assume increasing social and political importance. “The arena contained the force inherent in a totalitarian system, replicating the brutality of empire in a controlled environment” 3Alison, Futrell. Blood in the arena: The spectacle of Roman power. University of Texas Press, 2001, 6. As the value of the games became more apparent, competition arose between public figures by trying to woo or impress the people through spectacles. During the Republic when gladiatorial games were held as commemorations of the dead, the sponsoring families who were spectacular enough to impress the people would be greatly benefited in the way that their social status would increase by bringing their name to the voting

People enjoyed fights between gladiators and fights between people and animals. They battled in the colosseus.Gladiator.The fights were for entertainment.The Romans loved blood,and to see others beat each other to the death and eaten by beast(animals).Roman emperors paid for free shows at theatres and

Not all of the gladiators were slaves or criminals. When the games first originated, most of the combatants were indeed slaves and criminals but the demographic started changing towards the beginning of 1st century AD. At the end of the republic, around 27 BC, freed men constituted for about half of the number of gladiators. There is even evidence that supports that there were even female gladiators. The women that participated were mostly high class women who did it for attention, excitement and the trills that gladiatorial combat has to offer. The gladiators would become celebrities and sex symbols to the lower class romans to the point that kids played with clay action figures of them and they would even be in endorsements like modern day