The Amazing Gladiators

By: Richard Monk
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:27:00
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Gladiators are often depicted in films as incredibly dramatic individuals. Their past provides a much more complex picture.

The Amazing Gladiators

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 the legendary gladiators. The movie “Gladiator” as well as older movies like “Spartacus” all depicted a romanticized view of what these gladiators were forced to go through and their triumphs. The real story is far less glamorous, and rarely had endings that were happy.

The word “gladiator” comes from the word “gladius”, which means sword. Gladiators were known as swordsmen, and they were professional fighters. They fought against animals, slaves, criminals and each other in pitched contests. Sometimes these fights were “to the death”, and all of these fights were put on for the amusement of the public and the Emperor of Rome. The Colosseum once held many of these fights, which could last for months at a time. Other fights, however, were held well beyond Rome.

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 Golden Age of Rome, 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.

The gladiators enjoyed 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 a fight, and he was stoned to death by the spectators. After that event, no other gladiator battles took place.

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