Can you imagine the conversation between two
gladiators on the morning before they fight in front of thousands of blood-thirsty spectators. It might have gone something like this:
“So, what have you got going on today Carpophores?” “Oh, I was signed up for the ‘venationes’
so I’ll just be fighting a wild, vicious beast from the other side of the world? What about you Priscus?” “I’ll be fighting a guy for my freedom
today.” “Nice. Good luck with that. By the way, who’re you fighting?” “Versus.” “Ouch, he’s a good guy that Versus.” “Yeah…it is what it is.” We’re not sure it would have happened just
like that, but we’re probably pretty close. Now, let’s go a bit deeper into the life
of gladiators in ancient Rome. It’s thought that the first gladiator schools
came about around 100 BC. They were known as “Ludi Gladiatorium”. Inside those places were the, “Familia gladiatorium”,
a kind of family of gladiators, and you had a person known as the “lanista”. His function was to not only train the gladiators,
but to buy and sell them as well since most gladiators were seen as property at the time. He was the boss, and if his gladiators performed
well, he could make some good money. Some gladiators had been prisoners of war,
and were usually referred to as noxii. They were not really considered great fighters,
and oftentimes their role in the arena was only to have their blood spilled. Then you had the damnati, and these were mainly
slaves. They could grow into formidable gladiators. You also had people who were born free and
just wanted to go to gladiator school for a chance to earn money and fame, while yet
others went because of debts they owed. While there’s evidence of gladiators stretching
back long before the first century BC, that’s when it is thought that the events really
got going. Gladiator fights in amphitheaters were big
business, and the events themselves were often used to drum up support for a person in politics. You might have heard of the term, “Bread
and Circuses”, which is used in the context of elite groups using entertainment to blind
the masses from things such as corruption and inequality. If the masses had their blood-lust satiated
on the weekends they might not complain so much, or at least that was the idea. To see how these gladiators lived, we can
look at what was considered the greatest gladiator school. The “Ludus Magnus” was situated in Rome,
and it was where the best gladiators would want to end up. So what really went down there? First of all, after a man was selected to
become a gladiator he was looked at by the lanista and a medici, or doctor. They would be looking to see if this man could
hack it as a trained fighter. He might look tough, but he certainly would
need much more training. New recruits were called “novicius”. There were lots of different types of gladiator,
too many for us to talk about them all in detail. Some might fight with different weapons, such
as spears or swords, or might wear different types of armor. Some might be the net men, and others might
specialize in fighting animals. You also had different types of men who had
signed up, such as those gladiators who went to school to pay off debts. These were called “Auctorati.” Then there were criminals sentenced to death
and those were called “Noxii’, just like prisoners of war. So, not all gladiators were alike and they
were treated accordingly throughout their training. Whatever the case, all gladiators swore an
oath to perform as they had been told to. This oath was called the, “sacramentum gladiatorium.” They basically signed a form that said if
they didn’t perform well they agreed to be beaten or burned or killed by the sword. The Romans wanted spectacle to amuse the crowds,
not men who hid in the corner of an arena hoping a bear wouldn’t notice him. The novices would go through some initial
training, and after that they would be trained for their first fight. These guys were known as “Tirones gladiators”,
or sometimes just, “Tiros.” If they survived that first fight they were
then veterans and were part of the “Veterani.” During their training they never used weapons
that might cause too much damage and they weren’t supposed to hurt each other too
much. Gladiators lived in small cells and while
they were often shackled when they weren’t training, they were actually looked after
quite well, at least when compared to the lives of many other prisoners or slaves at
the time. This wasn’t because their owners had hearts
of gold, but because they were valuable commodities. If you wanted your gladiators to win, they
had to be well-fed, well-rested, and they had to have their health checked regularly. They would be given water throughout the day
to prevent dehydration, but they would also be given three square meals a day. These meals would include meat, fish, vegetables,
cheese, milk, fruits and cereal, a diet that was much better and more varied than that
of many poorer Romans. In light of this, it’s not surprising that
some free men whose lives were not going all that well signed up to be gladiators. If they won they not only earned decent cash
that gave them a much better standard of living than most poor Romans, but the level of fame
they could achieve made them almost like a kind of pop idol or sports star of the day. They just had to keep surviving. On top of that, they could take hot and cold
baths and when their muscles ached they received massages. Their daily routine wasn’t that much different
from a modern day MMA fighter, although they did have the downside of the loss of their
freedom and the prospect of fighting a hungry tiger. On occasion women would sometimes be provided
to these men, prostitution being a regular part of Roman life, while free gladiators
could marry and even have their own slaves. The best meal a gladiator would get was the
last meal before a fight. It might be the last thing they ever ate and
so it was always quite the ritual. Even those condemned to certain death, the
noxii, got this meal. Before each fight, the combatants would also
take care of their final affairs and say goodbye to loved ones. When the time for the games came the events
were marketed Roman-style to get people’s attention. The event details were posted on billboards,
explaining who was fighting; the posters would also detail if any special animals were going
to perform and who might be fighting one-on-one. Paired fighters were called, “ordinarii”. Posters might also state what music would
be played, what food would be on offer, and if anyone was going to be executed that day. For most Romans, it was seen as sporting entertainment,
not an inhumane bloodbath as we might think of it today. There were of course different ways of putting
on events. The games took place over hundreds of years
and the arenas were spread far and wide. Nonetheless, usually the games would start
with a procession marching into the arena, much like you’d see at a big sporting event
today. VIPs would follow, and civil servants would
walk in with them. They’d have documents that stated the power
the magistrate had to take and give life, while images of gods were paraded around to
further acknowledge that the event was in some way divine. The last people to enter the arena would be
the gladiators, now full on their last meal and ready to fight. The first fights would usually involve animals,
and those that fought them were called the “bestiarii.” Those condemned to death might come next,
who could be facing their fate in a variety of different ways. Sometimes death would even come by way of
a very large beast just sitting on someone. The Romans also liked to kill people by doing
reenactments of certain myths or famous battles, in which the condemned played the victims. The last event would usually be gladiator
combat, although sometimes before that the fighters might put on a warm-up routine in
front of the crowd, using wooden weapons and not ones that could kill. Gladiators could be fighting with any number
of weapons, and those were chosen beforehand. There could be as many as thirteen fights
in one day, and each fight might take up to 20 minutes or more to finish. Like modern combat sports events, the main
event would be two top class fighters. This is the event the people wanted to see. There would be referees and the rules of combat
had to be adhered to and the gladiators had to show no fear. But not all of these matches were fought to
the death. If an opponent was overcome but not dead,
that might be the end of the match. Some gladiators would show mercy, or they
would look to the crowd or the local magistrate, and ask them what he should do. A gladiator who knew he was defeated might
raise his finger and the ref could stop the fight, but if the crowd wished him dead then
he might be killed anyway. In fact, many matches ended with the loser
surviving, but some matches were billed as “sine missione”, which meant no mercy
could be given. The fight had to end with someone dying. These matches that didn’t allow mercy were
eventually banned. The crowd liked certain gladiators and it
annoyed them if their favorite fighter was killed. Imagine watching your favorite team play in
a championship game, lose, and get killed right after. It might take some of the fun out of it. Some blood-thirsty emperors became less popular
with the people when they didn’t show mercy, so as time went on, it became the standard
that both gladiators would survive if they had fought well. When the time to die came though, it was expected
that the gladiators would die a good death, that they accept their fate and not scream
or cower. One Roman historian wrote this on the topic:
“For death, when it stands near us, gives even to inexperienced men the courage not
to seek to avoid the inevitable. So the gladiator, no matter how faint-hearted
he has been throughout the fight, offers his throat to his opponent and directs the wavering
blade to the vital spot.” They even had a kind of fight of the night
bonus, in that a great performance could get the gladiator extra money or gifts. In the case of gladiator slaves they might
also earn their freedom. There was a famous fighter named Flamma who
is said to have fought in 34 bouts and won most of them. When he lost he wasn’t killed because he
was a crowd favorite. He was offered his freedom on four different
occasions and he turned it down each time. It seems he liked the gladiator lifestyle. It’s said that most gladiators, no matter
how good they were, would not normally survive more than ten matches. You have some exceptional gladiators who fought
more than ten times, such as the great Marcus Attilius. He beat some other great warriors, too. He was a freeman who just wanted to go to
gladiator school. Life expectancy of gladiators has been argued
over by various historians, but needless to say, many died before they reached 25. Perhaps the lowest life expectancy involved
the people who fought wild animals, because hey, what chance did a human have against
a lion or a bear that had entered the arena half-starving. Some of those condemned to death by animals
were not even given weapons, while others were gladiators trained with weapons who specialized
in tackling wild beasts. One such man was named Carpophorus, and he
is the best-known “bestiarius”. He was sometimes called the King of Beasts. Like any bestiarius he would train the animals
himself, and so he would be around when a condemned man was to be squashed or ripped
apart in front of a cheering crowd. Carpophorus also fought his animals in the
arena, and he did alright. It’s written that in one fight a lion, a
bear and a leopard were pitted against him at the same time, and it was the triad of
beasts that lost the fight. It’s said in another he beat 20 animals. It’s also written that he was so good with
animals he could command certain beasts to do unthinkable things to men during their
execution, so maybe when they fought him he just had too much power over them. There we even some powerful elite people wanted
to be gladiators, but if they weren’t fighting against wooden weapons they were usually fighting
battles they couldn’t lose. The spoiled Emperor Commodus was known for
his unfair fights and we can’t really include these people when talking about real gladiators. If you liked this video and want to see more
then click on this video which we know you’ll love OR this which you’ll also enjoy. You can only pick one but time is running
out so make your decision and watch another great video!.
