Discussion Questions: These will be the basis of your quizDescribe the origins of the gladiator games.
Describe the colosseum designed by Vespaisian.
Describe the process of choosing gladiators and the different types of
gladiators.
Describe the atmosphere found at most gladiatorial games.
Describe how the game ended for each gladiator.
Read the following information and write one sentence (10 – 12 words per
sentence) for each paragraph. On the particularly detailed paragraphs you
may write two sentences. These sentences are your notes to be written
Cornell style in your notebooks.
The Roman Gladiator: History & Origin
Like sporting events in many ancient cultures, Roman gladiatorial combat
originated as a religious event. The Romans claimed that their tradition of
gladiatorial games was adopted from the Etruscans, but there is little evidence to
support this. The Greeks, in Homer's Iliad, held funeral games in honor of the
fallen Patroklos. The games ended not in the literal death of the participants, but
in their symbolic death as defeated athletes, unlike succeeding Roman gladiatorial
combat.
The Roman historian Livy wrote about the first known gladiatorial games, held in
310 BCE by the Campanians (9.40.17). These games symbolized the re-enactment
of the Campanians' military success over the Samnites, in which they were aided
by the Romans. The first Roman gladiatorial games were held in 246 BCE by
Marcus and Decimus Brutus in honor of their father, Junius Brutus, as a munus or
funeral gift for the dead. It was a relatively small affair that included the
combat of three pairs of slaves in the Forum Boarium (a cattle market). From
their religious origins, gladiatorial games evolved into defining symbols of Roman
culture and became an integral part of that culture for nearly seven centuries.
Eventually gladiatorial games reached spectacular heights in the number of
combatants and their monumental venues.
For instance, in 183 BCE it was traditional to hold gladiatorial games in which 60
duels took place. By 65 BCE, Julius Caesar had upped-the-ante by pitting 320 ludi,
or pairs of gladiators, against one another in a wooden amphitheater constructed
specifically for the event. At this point, gladiatorial games expanded beyond
religious events, taking on both political and ludic elements in Rome.
Gladiators and The Roman Life
The Colosseum is one of Rome's most
famous buildings. Initiated by Vespaisian,
the official opening ceremonies were
conducted by emperor Titus in AD 80.
In its prime the huge theater consisted
of four floors. The first three had
arched entrances, while the fourth floor
utilized rectangular doorways. The floors
each measured between 10,5-13,9 meters (32-42 feet) in height. The total height
of the construction was approximately 48 meters
(144 feet). The arena measured 79 x 45 meters
(237-135 feet), and consisted of wood and sand.
(The word "arena" is derived from the Latin
arena, which means "sand.") Nets along the sides
protected the audience. The Colosseum had a
total spectator capacity of 45,000-55,000. The
main pedestals were built of marble blocks
weighing 5 metric tons (11,000 pounds.) Initially
the huge marble blocks were held together by
metal-pins. However, the pins were soon carried
off by thieves, and had to be replaced by mortar.
The total amount of marble needed for the
construction measured approximately 100,000
cubic meters. It was carried by 200 ox-pulled
carts, which supplied a sufficient flow of needed materials. It took eight years to
complete this magnificent structure.
Gladiators
"Caladus, the Thracian, makes all the girls sigh."
(Slogan scrawled on a wall at Pompeii. Gladiators were often sex symbols)
The gladiators who fought in these games were mostly prisoners, slaves and
criminals who trained long and hard in schools like the one Caesar built; although a
few such fighters
were paid
volunteers. Some of
the latter became
involved because
they had financial
difficulties, and
these events
offered generous
prize money for the
winners. Other
volunteers were
motivated by the
physical challenge
and appeal of
danger or the
prospect of becoming popular idols and sex symbols who could have their pick of
pretty young women. Among the graffiti slogans still scrawled on walls at Pompeii,
the famous Roman town preserved under a layer of volcanic ash, are: "Caladus, the
Thracian, makes all the girls sigh," and "Crescens, the net fighter, holds the
hearts of all the girls."
The terms "Thracian" and "net fighter" referred to the customary division of
gladiators into various types and categories.
Among the four main types that had evolved by
the early Empire was the heavily armed Samnite,
later called a hoplomachus or secutor. (The Romans
may have recognized these three as separate and
distinct types, but any such distinctions are now
unclear; all employed basically the same weapons
and tactics.) A Samnite carried a sword or a lance,
a scutum (the rectangular shield used by Roman
legionary soldiers),a metal helmet, and protective
armor on his right arm and left leg. Another type,
the Thracian (so named because he resembled
fighters from Thrace, a region of northern
Greece), was not as elaborately armed. He wielded
a curved short sword, the sica, and a small round
shield, the parma.
A third kind of gladiator, the
murmillo, or "fishman" (after the fishshaped crest on his helmet), was apparently similar to a Samnite but
less heavily armed. A murmillo customarily fought still another kind
of warrior, the retiarius, or "net-man," who wore no armor at all. A
retiarius attempted to ensnare his opponent in his net (or used the
net to trip the other man) and then to stab him with a long, razorsharp trident, or three-pronged spear.
In addition to the pairings of these main gladiator types, there were
a number of special and off-beat types and pairings. These included
equites, who fought on horseback using lances, swords, and/or
lassoes; the essedarii, who confronted each other on chariots; and,
perhaps the most bizarre of the lot, the andabatae, who grappled
while blindfolded by massive helmets with no eyeholes. Women
gladiators came into vogue under the emperors Nero and Domitian in
thee late first century A.D. Evidence shows that Domitian sometimes
pitted female fighters against male dwarves as well as against one
another.
"We Who Are About to Die Salute You!"
On the eagerly anticipated day when munera were scheduled at the Colosseum or
another amphitheater, the gladiators first entered the arena in a colorful parade
known as the pompa. This was similar in some
ways to the procession of the athletes on
opening day of the modern Olympic Games.
They were usually accompanied by jugglers,
acrobats, and other performers, and all kept
time to marching music provided by
musicians playing trumpets, flutes, drums,
and sometimes a large hydraulic organ. (The
organ probably also played during the actual
fighting, producing the same effect as the
background musical score of a movie.)
Following the pompa, the acrobats and other
minor performers exited and the gladiators
proceeded, in full public view, to draw lots,
which decided who would fight whom. Then
an official inspected their weapons to make
sure they were sound and well sharpened.
Finally, the gladiators soberly raised their
weapons toward the highest-ranking official
present (usually either the emperor or
munerarius, the magistrate in charge of the
spectacle) all recited the phrase, "Morituri te salutamus!" ("We who are about to
die salute you!") After that, the first pairing began.
Having no rules or referees, the combat was invariably desperate and often
savage. The spectators, like those at modern boxing matches and bullfights,
reacted excitedly. Typical shouted phrases included
"Verbera!" ("Strike!"), "Habet!" ("A hit!"), "iHoc
habet!" ("Now he's done for! "), and "Ure!" ("Burn him
up!").The fighting had several possible outcomes. If
both warriors fought bravely and could not best each
other, the munerarius declared the bout a draw and
allowed them to leave the arena and fight another day.
Sometimes both officials and spectators felt that the
fighters were not giving it their all. Or one man turned
and ran. "Officiosus fled on November 6 in the consulate of Drusus Caesar and M.
Junius Norbanus," reads a Pompeian inscription. Such offenders were punished by
whipping or branding with hot irons.
A more common outcome was when one gladiator went down wounded. He was
allowed to raise one finger, a sign of appeal for mercy, after which the emperor
or munerarius decided his fate, usually in accordance with the crowd's wishes. If
the spectators desired a fighter spared, they either waved their handkerchiefs
or pointed their thumbs downward, the signal for the victor to drop his or her
sword. At the same time
they shouted "Mitte! ("Spare
him!") On the other hand, if
the choice was death, they
Pressed their thumbs toward
their own chests
(symbolizing a sword through
the heart) and yelled
"lugula!" ("Cut his throat!").
Another possible outcome
was when one fighter killed an opponent outright; and still another when the fallen
combatant pretended to be dead. Few, if any, were successful at this ruse, for
men dressed like the Etruscan demon Charun (a retained custom illustrating the
games Etruscan roots) ran out and applied hot irons to the bodies. Any fakers
exposed in this way promptly had their throats cut. Then young boys cleaned the
bloodstains from the sand, and men dressed as the god Mercury (transporter of
tile dead) whisked away the corpses, all in preparation for the next round of
battles.
Test and pictures from Greek and Roman Sport by Don Nardo