gladiators

gladiators [Lat.,=swordsmen], in ancient Rome, class of professional fighters, who performed for exhibition. Gladiatorial combats usually took place in amphitheaters. They probably were introduced from Etruria and originally were funeral games. Gladitorial combats, which took place in the Colosseum and in hundreds of other ampitheaters throughout the Roman world, reached their height in the 1st and 2d cent. AD

The gladiators were paired off to fight each other, usually to the number of about 100 couples, although in the imperial shows there were sometimes as many as 5,000 pairs. There were various types of gladiators, armed and armored differently. Thus a heavily armored man, a Mirmillo or Samnite, might be opposed to a Retiarius, who fought almost naked, with a net and a trident as his only weapons. He also might be pitted against a Thracian, who fought with a dagger and a small round shield. Often gladiators were made to fight wild beasts. A defeated gladiator was usually killed by the victor unless the people expressed their desire that he be spared.

At first, gladiators were invariably slaves or prisoners, including Christians. They normally underwent rigid training, and some gained immense popularity. Later, impoverished freedmen also sought a living as gladiators, and finally even members of the ruling classes took part in gladiatorial combats on an amateur basis. Some gladiators, led by Spartacus , took part in the third of the Servile Wars (73 BC-71 BC). Constantine I forbade gladiatorial games, but they nonetheless continued until AD 405.

Bibliography: See studies by M. Grant (1968), E. Kohne, ed. (2000), A. Futrell (2001), and F. Meijer (2005).

gladiator In ancient Rome, volunteer, prisoner of war, slave or condemned convict trained to fight humans or wild animals in public arenas. Gladiatorial contests were officially abolished by Constantine I in ad 325, but persisted into the 5th century.

gladiator in ancient Rome, a man trained to fight with weapons against other men or wild animals in an arena; usually a slave or prisoner trained for the purpose. The word is Latin, and comes from gladius ‘sword’; it was used by Cicero as a term of abuse in his denunciation of Catiline.