While the motion picture “Gladiator” captures the spirit of Rome, the real history of the Roman Gladiators is much more fascinating. Gladiators were professional combatants in ancient Rome who engaged in deadly combat to entertain Roman citizens. Gladiators first performed combat during Etruscan funerals to give the deceased men armed protection into the spirit world. By Julius Caesar’s time, roughly 300 gladiator pairs fought during one show; by the time of Trajan, roughly 5,000 gladiators fought for sport. However, with the emergence of Christianity the barbaric nature of the gladiator games became unpopular with the changing culture and the games disappeared by the end of the 6th century AD.
Spartacus
Spartacus was the most famous Roman gladiator. He was a deserter from the Roman army before he was captured and sold into slavery to a gladiator trainer in Capua. He escaped with other gladiators and took refuge on Mount Vesuvius in 73 BCE. Spartacus led his gladiator army in defeating two Roman armies and his forces occupied most of southern Italy.
Spartacus defeated three more Roman forces before reaching Cisalpine Gaul, where he sought to disperse his army in 72 BCE. However, his army decided to remain in Italy to plunder the region; therefore, he marched south again. The Roman commander Marcus Licinius Crassus’ forces defeated Spartacus’ gladiator army in 71 BCE. When Spartacus died the insurrection concluded and many captured rebels were crucified. Pompey the great killed the rebels that escaped to the north. Spartacus’ life illustrates the struggle for human freedom.
Roman Gladiators
Roman gladiators were the some of the greatest professional warriors in the Roman Empire. They fought in large round buildings called amphitheaters, often in front of thousands of spectators. Many gladiators fought with their gladius, a short stabbing sword. The word gladiator evolved from the word gladius. Gladiators were primarily men who were born into slavery, criminals, or captured prisoners of war. Many of them were locked up like caged animals and forced to fight to death if necessary. If a gladiator displayed excellence in combat and won many fights, the Roman Emperor may grant him his freedom and sometimes the gladiator would earn money. A few gladiators were women. Many Romans did not approve of women gladiators fighting in Rome; therefore, they were not often seen there. However, Emperor Nero enjoyed watching female gladiators in combat. He forced noble women to fight each other to humiliate them.
Roman Gladiator School
Since Roman gladiators needed to put on a good show for the audience, they were trained in a special school, called a ludus. The ludus had a small arena where gladiators practiced their fighting skills. Many of the teachers in the ludus were successful gladiators themselves. When a young man joined a ludus at about age 17, he swore an oath, or made a promise. With his oath, he agreed to being burned, chained, and beaten by his instructors when training to become gladiator. Many gladiators lived in the school and were guarded to prevent them from escaping.
Gladiators trained using wooden weapons. They practiced one on one combat by attacking a wooden post stuck in the ground and other times a sack filled with straw. Gladiators lived and trained together in the ludus. Many of them became close friends. Different kinds of gladiators used various types of weapons and armor. However, gladiators such as retiarii, myrmillones, and samnes fought their opponents with little armor protection.
Retiarii, Myrmillones, and Samnes
The Latin name retiarii means “net men”. These gladiators fought with a net and a spear with three tips, called a trident. They wore armor on their left arm and shoulder only, and they attempted to capture their enemy in the net before they attacked them. Retiarii were trained to fight gladiators called secutores. These gladiators wore helmets with very small eye holes to stop retiarii stabbing them in the face with their tridents.
Myrmillones gladiators wore helmets with a large, fin like crest. They carried a sword and a large shield. Myrmillones arms and legs were wrapped in fabric for protection. Myrmillones gladiator never fought each other. Samnes gladiators were named after a group of tribes who fought many battles against Rome. They wore a helmet, armor on their sword arm, and greave on the one leg. Samnes carried a short sword and rectangular shield.
Provocatores, Equites, and Velites
The provocatores and equites gladiators fought only other gladiators similar to themselves. As long as their opponents were as fit and as strong as themselves, the fight was considered a fair fight. Provocatores gladiators wore helmets with visors, pieces of body armor called breastplates, and greaves on their legs. They wore thick fabric or armor protection on their sword arms, and carried large rectangular shields. Although provocatores wore breastplates, the men who fought without them were viewed as being more courageous.
Equites gladiators fought on horseback. Their Latin name, equites, means horsemen. Equites wore helmets and tunics and they wrapped their legs and sword arms in thick fabric. They fought violently with a round shield. Equites only fought other equites gladiators using their long lances and swords. Velites gladiators had a special spear that was attached to a long strap. It could be pulled back to allow the gladiator to throw spear again and again. The Latin name for this spear was hasta amentata. Amentare meant “to throw objects with a strap.” Finally, the provocatores, equites, velites, and other gladiators were fed plenty of food such as beans, and barley because they required energy to train hard and become stronger. For this reason, the Romans called them barley men.
Thraeces and Hoplomachi Gladiators
The thraeces gladiators were named after the Thracian tribe and they wore metal protection on the sword arms. Thraeces gladiators fought brutally with small rectangular shields and deadly curved swords. Their helmets were decorated with griffin, which was a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. The Romans believed that this supernatural creature guarded the remains of the dead.
The body armor of the hoplomachi gladiators was similar to thraeces gladiator’s armor. Unlike the thraeces gladiators, hoplomachui gladiators fought their opponents with a spear and a sword for offensive maneuvers and a shield for defensive protection. They began fighting their opponent by throwing their spear before charging with their swords drawn. They would fight the rest of the battle with sword and shield. Hoplomachi gladiators were similar in appearance to Rome’s old enemies, the Greek hoplite warriors. This was where the name hopomachi originated from.
Gladiator Fights
During combat, gladiators fought one-on-one. If the two warriors were equally matched in their strength, size, stamina, capability
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