It is no question that gladiators were professional
athletes of their time, trained in the martial art of gladiatorial combat, whose purpose
was to entertain rather than to kill. As for all athletes, they had their own unique
system of recruitment, training and diet, and theirs was so impressive, that it even
rivaled the systems of the best militaries of their day, earning them a respected place
in our epic ancient training series… So without further ado, let's jump right in! Gladiators were recruited from several sources. Slaves, convicted criminals and war captives
were the most common, but even poor free citizens would sometimes voluntarily sign up, thus
agreeing to be degradated to slavery and hard labour. After all, the prospect of being fed three
meals a day, having excellent medical care, and the possibility of enrichment and fame
far outweighed the risk of death or mutilation in the arena for many. But of course, not everyone was recruited
or purchased for the role. Gladiators were primarily a long term business
asset, and a smart recruiter would only get those with desirable traits to endure years
of extreme training routine. A decree from 177 AD estimated the insurance
value of a top class gladiator at 3.000 denarii, that’s around three or four years of a legionary’s
salary… The perfect candidate for a male gladiator
would be a man in his 20s, in good physical condition, and with a height of about 5.7
feet or taller, equivalent to 1.73 meters. People who were too skinny, too fat or had
physical impediments were left out most of the time. Upon recruitment, these rookie gladiators,
known as tiro, would be trained extensively before undergoing another final selection
process, which would decide their permanent gladiator class and place in the ludus, the
gladiator school. The first obvious step was to transform their
bodies into impressive physiques. Unlike the military training of legionaries
and spartans, which we covered in previous videos, gladiator training was perhaps that
most similar to modern bodybuilding and training routines, as it specifically aimed for impressive
muscle growth. For starters, the rookies were given a training
schedule, known as the “tetrad”, which would repeat in cycles of 4 days. This was the most common gladiator schedule
which was derived from ancient Greek Olympic athletes. The first day would involve preparatory exercises
to prepare them for the next day, consisting of short but high intensity workouts. The next day was the hardest and most intense,
consisting of long strenuous exercises to push limits of the body. The 3rd day was for rest, recovery, and relaxation,
with Gladiators performing only some light exercises. The 4th and last day was treated as an “auxiliary
day”, reserved for medium intensity exercises, before the whole cycle was repeated all over
again. Essentially, it was a schedule aimed at alternating
hard workouts with rest, which suggests that they had an idea of the “supercompensation
principle”, which is a modern term proving that in order to achieve optimal performance
and strength, one must pair the training load with proper recovery time. In terms of the actual exercises they did,
they were fairly modern as well. Gladiators had a wide range of dumbbells to
work out with. So they would perform curls, lateral raises,
squats, and probably any other exercises you could think of. The lighter dumbbells ranged between 4 to
45 pounds (2 - 20kg), which would be used for higher reps to improve muscular endurance
and stamina. The heavier ones went up to 220 pounds (100kg)
and would be used for compound lifts of less reps to build strength and promote hypertrophy. Before we go on, I would like to introduce
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training, as that was mostly to look better in the area. The best companion of the gladiator was known
to be the palus, a wooden log, which the rookies had to train on every day. This allowed them to master attack and defense
combinations. Sparring matches with other rookies and most
importantly, the doctore, or trainer, would also better prepare them, not only to save
their life, but also to look better in the area. The writer Quintilian compared the skillful
orator to be similar to a gladiator “who does not attack with simple and straight-forward
thrusts but feints and varies his assault.” We can imagine these being the most impressive
gladiator fights to both watch and cheer for. So gladiators were pressured to move more
gracefully and be beautiful to watch. Just like that of Roman legionaries, gladiator
training swords were purposely crafted to be double the weight of their real weapons,
so as to further increase their muscle endurance and strength. Finally, jogging exercises also helped to
improve their already impressive stamina. This training schedule would be repeated until
the rookies were deemed worthy to be welcomed into the gladiatorial family, and took a final
oath of their new profession. Those that were not considered worthy would
be enrolled in less prestigious roles and used as “cannon fodder” in the arena.. But the Gladiators that did make it would
be subjected to a new stage of training, and could take great pride in belonging to a select
group of athletes. After all, their profession was considered
a form of martial art. It had its own rules, referees, and even displayed
signs of sportsmanship, with many gladiator grave inscriptions, very interestingly, bragging
that they spared many opponents in the arena, like this one here: “Traveler, you look on me, bold Olympus,
who often undertook combat in the stadia, and saved many in the stadia. When fate wished it, I, fighting in single
combat for the ninth time, paid back what was fated…” This inscription and many others like it,
go to show that gladiators had a strong guild mentality and a sense of fellowship and respect
to uphold, even towards their rivals. Now, of course this was not always the case,
but those who refused to show good sportsmanship were never shown any in return. This proves that gladiator death rates were
not as common as you might assume. And even bold Olympus here, fighting 9 times,
would have been a gladiator for many years, as arena fights were seasonal and happened
only a few times per year, just like modern boxing matches. Thus, it would be clearly explained to the
rookie gladiators that they now fought for the honor of their family as much as their
own. And they were finally given a specific class
to permanently train as. The equipment of these classes was much like
their team uniform, to make them easily recognisable to the audience. And every watcher would have their own favorite
gladiator class that they thought was the most well-rounded and superior. This was of course very controversial, as
each class purposely had a certain strength and weakness against another class, much like
a game of rock-paper-scissors. For example, the larger and stronger recruits
would be chosen to train as a Murmillo, a strong, tanky class with a good advantage
over a Thraex or Hoplomachus class, who have inferior shields and less armor. However, the limited vision and reach of the
Murmillo would make him vulnerable to a quick and nimble retiarius, who’s net could easily
catch his bulky helmet and pull him to the ground. This trident-wielding class would be thus
trained from the most agile and quick recruits, both mentally and physically. Likewise, the retiarius would not bode very
well against a Traex or Hoplomachus, who could both match his speed and reach, but also have
a shield and helmet as a major advantage. Another class designed specifically to counter
the retiarius was the secutor, who had a smooth helmet so that his opponent’s net would
slide right off. But despite these advantages in equipment,
we can only imagine the roar and fascination of the crowd whenever these matches turned
out not as expected, with the underdog prevailing despite all logic and expectations! The writer Suetonius says that “once a band
of five retiarii in tunics, matched against the same number of secutores, yielded without
a struggle; but when their death was ordered, one of them caught up his trident and slew
all the victors. To make the spectacles in the arena even more
interesting, gladiators would only train within their respective classes, and never with others. First of all, this reduced the amount of quarrels
between different gladiator classes. And secondly, this produced a more tense and
diverse spectacle in the arena when they were pitted against each other, as each class had
to come up with unique strategies on the spot to defeat their opponents. In this phase of the training, gladiators
would have continued using the 4-day tetrad schedule, but their training would now also
include class specific execrcies. For example, A provocator’s training put
great emphasis on getting used to the bulky 8 pound (3.6 kg) helmet they had to carry,
as it made them sweat, lose breath, and have extremely limited vision. So provocatores were trained to always keep
their opponent in sight, fight bare foot and DRAG their feet instead of taking steps. This way they could feel any possible obstacles
and stop themselves from tripping over. For defense, the provocator’s heavy and
cumbersome shield would be physically exhausting to carry for long periods of time, so they
were taught to hold it close to their bodies and use their left greave as a monopod to
ease the weight. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the
training of the retiarius emphasized mobility and cunning. It was common for youths to be tasked with
chasing and snatching feathers from retiarii, as an exercise for agility and speed. Gladiators would have no doubt been a spectacle
to watch, but there was a dark side to their intense training routine, mainly to do with
their equipment. The Roman physician, Galen, who treated gladiators
said that their training turned one into “a deformed creature with an exaggerated body
size and overly grown muscles”. Now, Galen was a Greek, so he probably preferred
moderate proportions over an excessively muscled physique, but he could also be referring to
the visible asymmetry in their bodies, as most gladiators would have one side of their
body being vastly stronger than the other. This was no doubt because of the uneven loading
of one hand carrying a sword in one hand, and a shield in another... Another side effect of their equipment, in
this case the heavy helmets, was an overly muscular neck, with some skeletal remains
showing they had up to 4 times the neck muscle growth compared to a regular person. Now I'm not sure if this is the epitome of
a masculine neck or very odd proportions, but I'll leave it for you to decide. Gladiators were also not particularly lean,
like spartans or legionaries. In fact, most of them were known to carry
a lot of fat, despite having such an active lifestyle. This was also done on purpose to give them
an additional layer of armor that can absorb many cuts and bruises without any of them
being lethal. Fatter bodies also carry more blood and so
can bleed a lot more, which makes for a better display in the Roman arena. Now if you are like me and wondering how such
active individuals can put on that much fat, let's take a look at their diets to get the
answer to that. Fortunately for every gladiator, some of the
best doctors and nutritionists of the empire worked for them... For a profession relying so much on muscle
and fat growth, it might surprise you that a gladiator’s diet was mostly vegetarian,
consisting of fruits, vegetables, beans, wheat, and most of all, barley, earning them the
nickname of “barley men”. All these ingredients would be cooked either
into cereal, soup or bread. Their diet was once again optimal to their
purpose. First of all, it was very cheap and financially
efficient, and secondly, it provided a large amount of calories and protein when consumed
in large quantities, which they did. Given that a gladiator trained from dawn until
dusk, they could easily burn around 5 thousand calories a day on average, if not more, just
like a top athlete would today. But UNLIKE a modern athlete, they would have
to also remain in a caloric surplus to still gain fat as well, so they would have to eat
anywhere between 5 and a half to 6000 calories a day. With their limited amount of food choice,
it would look something like this: 1 kg of barley, 700 grams of broad beans, 400 grams
of lettuce and/or cabbage, and 300 grams of apples, or other fruits. Not the most delicious meal, but nutritionally
speaking, it was very good, providing each gladiator with an impressive 1170 grams of
carbohydrates, 315 grams of protein, 34 grams of fat, and 0.6 grams of calcium. There would also be a decent amount of vitamins
from the fruits and vegetables. And mind you, a 100 gram steak only has about
25 grams of protein, so this diet was more than enough to build muscle and fat. The Romans also figured out this diet was
critically low in calcium, so they would add to it a beverage consisting of powdered ash
made from bones and charred vegetables. Not the most delicious protein shake, or calcium
shake, but it did greatly benefit their bodies, as their bones were found to have double the
strength and durability compared to an average human. The fact that they needed this drink means
that they did not eat a lot of dairy either. Now I'm not a dietician, so let us know in
the comments if there were any major side effects of eating this much calcium and barley. On rare occasions though, gladiators did eat
meat, though it was far more exotic that you would expect. The arena often saw the deaths of many animals,
and in order to not let the carcasses go to waste, and to save the Lanista a lot of money,
they were often just fed to gladiators. So ostrich wings, elephant ribs, and lion
steaks could all be on the menu. Let us know your opinion on the tough life
of these ancient athletes down in the comments. And let us know what other topics to cover
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