In 2000, the film Gladiator portrayed a fictional general named Maximus Decimus Meridius. He refuses to serve the emperor’s egocentric son, who killed his own father to control the Roman Empire. Maximus is sold into a ludus (gladiator school) where he trains and becomes a famous gladiator. Although the film Gladiator was very entertaining and captured the spirit of the gladiatorial world, the real history of Roman Gladiators is much more fascinating to professional historians because many gladiators of antiquity represented the spirit of Spartacus along with elements of the fighting styles that the Roman Army encountered during its foreign military campaigns.
GLADIATOR COMBAT HISTORY
Gladiator fights occurred in large circular buildings called amphitheaters in front of hundreds or thousands of Roman spectators. These savage and deadly contest thrilled spectators throughout the empire. Rome’s first combat event commenced in 264 BCE where elements of the Roman aristocracy organized Gladiator fights between three pairs of slaves in a ceremony to mark the death of their famous male ancestors. By 65 BCE, Julius Caesar displayed 320 pairs of gladiators clothed in silver armor to commemorate the death of his father.
ROMAN GLADIATORS
Roman Gladiators were professionally trained killers who participated in public combats and sometimes to death. Gladiators were primarily men who were prisoners of war, criminals, or slaves. They were kept locked up and forced to fight. If a gladiator was very good at fighting and killing his opponents, he may be given his freedom or earn money for fighting. A few gladiators were once free men who surrendered their liberty to become gladiators for prestige. When they joined up, they swore an oath that they would submit to flogging, branding, or death for disobeying their master. A few gladiators were women who fought male dwarves or other women. Emperor Domitian enjoyed watching women gladiators fighting male dwarves, while Emperor Nero enjoyed watching female gladiators fighting noble women.
SPARTACUS: REBEL GLADIATOR
The most famous Roman Gladiator was Spartacus. In the first century BCE, Spartacus led a gladiator rebellion that shook Rome to its knees. Spartacus served in the Roman Army before being sold to a gladiator school in Capua. In 73 BCE, he escaped with about 70 gladiators. A Roman force of 3000 infantrymen was sent to quell the revolt after many slaves joined Spartacus’s gladiator army. Under his charismatic and inspirational leadership, Spartacus and his gladiator army defeated the Romans. Finally, in 72 BCE, Spartacus and his fighting men were decisively beaten by a numerically superior Roman Army where Spartacus died on the battlefield and 6,000 rebel gladiators were crucified.
GLADIATOR FIGHTING STYLES
Every gladiator specialized in a particular style of fighting. Since the Roman spectators enjoyed watching various combination of warriors battling with different fighting styles, this determined what weapons and armor the gladiator used for combat and which opponents the gladiator would fight. The Roman viewers enjoyed guessing who would win between the warriors with different strengths and weaknesses. For example, although the retiarius was lightly armed gladiator with a trident and net, he was also quick on his feet. The secutor, however, was a heavily armed gladiator and his body armor slowed him down.
THE SECUTOR AND RETIARI GLADIATORS
The secutor (chaser) gladiators were usually the fighting opponents of the retiarius gladiators. Their helmets had small eye-holes with a low crest. They were Armed with swords and large curved shields, they had a protective covering on their right arms and wore greaves on their legs. The retiari (net men) gladiators fought with trident spears and nets, but wore no protection for their heads. They only wore protection on their armor left arm and shoulder and they tried to capture their opponent in their net before they attacked them.
THE HOPLOMACHUS AND MYRMILLONE GLADIATORS
The hoplomachus (heavily-armed fighters) gladiators were heavily armed fighters. This gladiator would carry a spear, a dagger, and a sword for offensive attacks. For protection, this gladiator defended himself with a helmet, a small round shield, and high greaves covering his legs. His opponent was the mymillone gladiators. The myrmillone (fish men) gladiators wore helmets with a large, f
GLADIATOR FIGHTS: MERCY OR DEATH
During combat, gladiators normally fought one-on-one. The two gladiators were equally matched in strength so the fight would not end to quickly. when any gladiator raised his forefinger in surrender, the spectators declared their judgment on him: thumbs down indicated mercy, but thumbs up meant death. The emperor himself usually decided life or death.
RELATED SOURCES: Grant, R.G.; Battle; DK publications, 2009. Kohn, childs George; Dictionary of Wars; Checkmark Books, 1999. Zimmerman, Dwight Jon; The Book Of War, Tess Press Publications, 2008. Zimmerman, Dwight Jon; The Book Of Weapons; Tess Press Publications, 2009