{"id":3226,"date":"2020-10-26T06:06:06","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T06:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colosseum.info\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2020-10-26T06:45:31","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T06:45:31","slug":"gladiators-of-the-colosseum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colosseum.info\/fr\/gladiators-of-the-colosseum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gladiators of the Colosseum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Gladiators of the Colosseum<\/b><\/p>\n

When we visit the colosseum, the main reference we have for the men who fought in the arena is from Hollywood. Ridley Scott\u2019s movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe as Maximus with rippling muscles actually doesn\u2019t do too bad a job at portraying the life of a gladiator.\u00a0 Maximus is captured far away from his home and enslaved, sold by slave traders to a gladiator school (managed by Oliver Reed).\u00a0 He impresses his manager and the crowd with his fighting skills, women throw themselves at him and he eventually makes it to Rome to fight where he becomes an overnight sensation.\u00a0 How close to the reality is this?\u00a0 Probably not too far!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gladiatore<\/span><\/i> in Latin means swordsman, named after a standard issue thrusting short-sword called the <\/span>Gladius<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 Originally used at funerals or <\/span>munera<\/span><\/i> to honour the dead, Gladiatorial combat for entertainment was already popular by the 1<\/span>st<\/span> century BC.\u00a0 Over a century later, amphitheatres would be built all over the empire to satisfy the people\u2019s newfound interest in the gladiatorial games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who were the gladiators?<\/b><\/p>\n

Originally, they were <\/span>prisoners-of-war, slaves and criminals<\/b>, later even volunteers who were down on their luck or were seeking fame.\u00a0 With its rapid military expansion Rome had a ready supply of prisoners of war – these men already had fighting experience and so could be trained up in little time to be gladiators.\u00a0 The games were big business and for a <\/span>lanista<\/span><\/i> or manager taking an ordinary man and turning him into a gladiator was a waste of time and money.\u00a0 We should think less of fodder for the arena and more of trained, skilled fighters who put on a show much like our boxing, fencing and wrestling today.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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There were several different types of gladiator classified by costume and fighting style, some of the earlier types reflected early enemies of Rome like the <\/span>Samnites<\/b> and the <\/span>Thracians<\/b>, they wore similar armour and used their specific fighting styles. In times of peace the game’s needed a steady supply of criminals, who had to have powerful physiques and know how to fight.\u00a0 Criminals could be sentenced to the courts or thrown to the beasts; a lesser penalty was to be trained in the Gladiator schools – being a gladiator gave some hope of survival.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gladiators were big money like footballers today<\/b><\/p>\n

On average men were chosen between 18-20 years old, like our sports stars today, by 30 they were all washed up. A gladiator signed a contract of five years, they won prize money and at the end of their service would gain their freedom (if they weren’t dead).\u00a0 The <\/span>lanista<\/span><\/i> was much like a football manager <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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today (they took a cut from the winnings).\u00a0 Gladiators were a valuable commodity; they had to be housed and fed, given armour, trained and attended to by a doctor if they were sick or injured – think of them like racehorses, an investment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Training was with wooden weapons and wicker shields that were heavily weighted to build muscle and develop control.\u00a0 Their diet was heavy in carbohydrates like barley and beans to bulk them up – much like bodybuilders today.\u00a0 The aim was to cover the well-honed muscles with a protective layer of fat; <\/span>fatty flesh produces a lot of blood but does little damage<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The gladiators lived in a barracks consisting of single celled rooms surrounding a training arena in the centre.\u00a0 Behind the colosseum part of the <\/span>Ludus Magnus<\/b> still exists, this was the largest of four such training arenas which had a passage that connected to the colosseum.\u00a0 This whole area (today covered by restaurants and posh hotels) was a complex of service buildings built by the emperor Domitian.\u00a0 The complex had four training arenas, an armoury, a hospital, morgue and even a butcher – the animals were cut up and fed to the other animals or perhaps even to the crowd. Why not an ostrich burger for lunch?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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