Perhaps, no other fighter has had as many myths created about it as gladiators. And these myths appeared already at the present time, when, due to the works fiction and films dedicated to gladiator battles, the brave fighters of the Roman amphitheaters became popular again. In this article we will look at the most common misconceptions about gladiators.
It should be noted that the abundance of myths about gladiators has given rise to a banal lack of reliable information about these brave fighters of Ancient Rome. The fact is that for a long time gladiatorial games and everything that was connected with them were not the subject of separate study by historians. The armament, life and way of life of these fighters were considered only as an appendage to other studies - for example, domestic historians studied gladiators only in the context of the uprisings of Roman slaves, in particular, the uprising of Spartacus. Or they were given little attention as a general element of the ancient Roman culture of mass spectacle.
However, several works have recently appeared, for example, “Games with Death” by the German historian M. Junckelmann or “Gladiators” by the Russian expert on the history of weapons K. Nosov, in which the phenomenon of gladiatorial games is considered in itself. And it immediately became clear that the general ideas about these fighters in most cases were completely wrong. It is precisely such myths, generated by incorrect interpretation or focusing not on historical sources, but on works of fiction, that I want to consider. So,
Myth one: the Romans adopted the tradition of gladiator competitions from the Etruscans
It should be noted that such a misconception is often found not only in popular science articles, but also in scientific papers. Moreover, strange as it may seem, it is not based on anything at all - there is no evidence that the Etruscans organized something similar. There are no bas-reliefs, no mosaics, no written evidence that the territory controlled by the Etruscans took place gladiator fights. There is, however, a fresco from the Etruscan “Tomb of the Augurs” depicting a fight between a man and a dog, but this is more likely not a gladiator fight (“munus”, as the Romans called it), but animal baiting (“venatio”).
The roots of venatio and munera (plural of "munus") are very different - the former originate from the preparation and training of hunters. But munera comes from a burial ritual - the first gladiatorial games were always held over the grave of the deceased. Thus, they were something like a sacrifice to the spirit of a deceased Roman (and in addition, it was believed that the dead gladiators would be his bodyguards in the next world). Thus, it is logical to assume that if the Romans borrowed anything from the Etruscans, it was venatio - fights between people and animals (or animals with each other), but not gladiatorial games.
As for where munera originated, many scholars believe that these games most likely originated in Campania. The most ancient monuments were found there, indicating gladiator fights dating back to the 4th century BC - in Rome itself, the first gladiator fights were staged a hundred years later. In addition, it was in the area where the Campanians lived that the most ancient gladiator schools were found. So, apparently, the munera appeared in this area.
Myth two: gladiators were mostly slaves
Most likely, such a misconception is based on the fact that it was the gladiator Spartacus who was the leader of the largest slave uprising in Ancient Rome. This overlooks the fact that Spartacus himself was not a slave before he became a gladiator. He was assigned to fight in the arena after this brave Thracian deserted from the Roman army (and he ended up there as a prisoner of war - the Romans during the Republic often replenished their troops with captured enemy soldiers). That is, Spartak was sentenced to fight in the arena for a crime.
In general, gladiators could be divided into four categories, and the first would include prisoners of war. This is, without a doubt, the most ancient type gladiators, which existed both during the Republic and during the Empire. The second category would include criminals condemned to fight in the arena, a tradition that began in the late Republic and continued through the Empire. The third category is slaves, who also began to be given to gladiators since the end of the Republic. However, during the Empire, such numbers in the ranks of fighters in the arena were significantly reduced - the public did not like the fact that slave gladiators often fought sluggishly and without enthusiasm.
It should be noted that for none of the fighters in the above three categories, theoretically, gladiatorialism was a lifelong occupation. So, every fighter - a slave, a criminal, and a prisoner of war - received money for his performance (if he remained alive), and considerable money. The fee for such a fighter was equal to a fifth of his market value. That is, after five successful battles, a slave and a prisoner of war could well be ransomed to freedom. As for convicted criminals, their period of performance in the arena was usually limited to five years, after which such a fighter could safely leave the gladiator barracks.
Moreover, quite often a gladiator belonging to one of these three categories could be released at the request of the audience after good performance in the arena. Or his release was given to him by the editor (the organizer of the games) for his courage or first-class possession of weapons. As a sign of such liberation, the gladiator was given a wooden sword called a rudis - hence the term "rudiarius", that is, a gladiator relieved of his duties.
Nevertheless, not everyone took advantage of this chance - there is a lot of evidence from the period of the Empire, when the rudiaries returned to the arena again. Most likely, they were driven to this by the thirst for easy and very large earnings - after all, the rudiarius received at least 12 thousand sesterces for each battle (for comparison, it took about 500 sesterces to feed a family for a year for a Roman peasant or artisan). But sometimes rudiarii found themselves back in the arena for new crimes - such was the Syrian gladiator Flamma, who received rudis as many as four times - and lived to be 30 years old, after which he got a job as a trainer (the Romans called them “doctors”) in a gladiator school.
But in addition to the three categories listed above, there was also a fourth - free people who voluntarily became gladiators (auctorates). These appeared during the Republic, but during the Empire their number increased sharply. In some muneras, the number of auctorates exceeded the number of slave gladiators - for example, an inscription in one of the cities of Asia Minor indicates that at the games held there at the end of the 1st century AD, there were 5 auctorates for 3 slave gladiators.
It is interesting that, according to the testimony of Roman historians, during the Empire, not only the poor, but also the children of senators, horsemen and wealthy merchants became gladiators. There were cases when emperors also performed in the arena, such as the well-known Commodus. By the way, this emperor received a million sesterces for each performance - you must agree, a good way to replenish the eternally empty Roman treasury. However, the “golden youth” became gladiators not only for the sake of money - many did it in order to enjoy success with beautiful ladies (women always liked gladiators, there were even cases when the wives of senators and horsemen ran away from their husbands along with these fighters) or because of the lack of thrills in everyday life(the analogy with the modern hobby of rich young people suggests itself) extreme species sports).
Myth three: gladiators were forced to fight in the arena
Indeed, there is evidence from contemporaries that the fighters in the arena were forced to fight using whips and red-hot iron rods. However, this was applied only to criminal gladiators (noxia). Professional gladiators did not need prodding - they themselves gladly entered into battle, which promised them money and glory. Moreover, it is known that often professionals complained that they rarely had to perform - the fact is that the fee and cost of a professional were expensive for editors, and therefore they were more willing to rent from lanistas (suppliers of fighters) for the performances of newcomers.
By the way, here one more myth should be debunked - the bodies of dead gladiators were dragged from the arena with hooks only in those cases when they were Noxii who did not survive their first battle. All the rest were taken away on special carts and then given to their schoolmates, who buried them with honor. Currently, there are many known gladiator cemeteries at schools, and the appearance of the tombstones indicates that these funerals were, as they say, first-class.
Myth four: the life of a gladiator was not long
In fact, an analysis of tombstone inscriptions indicates that there were gladiators who fought more than a hundred fights during their lives (the record is 158 fights, and after the last one the gladiator remained alive, but soon died from his wounds). An analysis of the known skeletons of gladiators shows that the average life expectancy of an arena fighter was 25-30 years. This coincides with the average life expectancy of all inhabitants of the Empire at that time - alas, in Rome, rarely anyone lived to be 50 years old.
It is interesting that during the Republic and in the initial period of the Empire, the life of a defeated gladiator was quite often saved. On average, out of 10 cases, in eight cases the loser was given a missio (that is, mercy). But starting from the middle of the 2nd century BC, every second case of loss ended in the death of the gladiator at the request of the crowd and the authorities. However, already during the reign of Diocletian (late 3rd - early 4th century AD) and until the very last muner (404 AD), death sentences were again imposed on the losers quite rarely - in three cases out of ten.
Beloved by the public and sometimes despised by the elite, Roman gladiators were the heroes of antiquity. For almost seven centuries, they attracted crowds of people to arenas and amphitheaters, demonstrating their skill, strength and dexterity. Bloody gladiator fights were equal parts sport, theatrical performance and cold-blooded murder.
Here are a few facts about the mysterious warriors who became the pillar of the most massive, cruel and popular entertainment that the history of Ancient Rome has preserved.
Not all gladiators were slaves
Most of the first warriors were brought to gladiatorial schools in chains, but by the first century AD. e. The ratio of slaves and free people has changed greatly. The screams and recognition of the crowd, awe and excitement attracted many free people to gladiator schools who hoped to gain fame and money. These free birds were most often desperate people who had nothing to lose, or former soldiers who had the necessary training and knowledge for fighting in the arena. Sometimes some patricians and even senators temporarily joined the ranks of gladiators, wanting to show their military training.
Gladiator fights were originally part of a funeral ceremony
Most modern historians insist that gladiator performances in the arena are rooted in the bloody tradition of staging fights between slaves or criminals at the funerals of prominent aristocrats. This kind of bloody obituary follows from the belief of the ancient Romans that human blood cleanses the soul of the deceased. Thus, these cruel rituals replaced human sacrifice. On the occasion of the death of his father and daughter, Julius Caesar organized fights between hundreds of gladiators. The performances enjoyed mass popularity in the first century BC. e. Ancient Rome began staging gladiatorial fights whenever the government needed to calm, distract, or gain the support of a crowd.
They didn't always fight to the death
Despite the popular depiction of gladiator fights in literature and cinema as spontaneous and uncontrolled bloodshed, most of them were carried out according to strict rules. Most often, fights were one-on-one between gladiators of similar build and equal combat experience. The judges oversaw the battle and stopped it if one of the opponents was seriously injured. Sometimes battles ended in a draw if they were too long. If the gladiators managed to put on an interesting performance and delight the crowd, both opponents were allowed to leave the arena with honor.
The famous "thumbs down" gesture did not mean death
When a gladiator was seriously wounded or chose to admit defeat by throwing his weapon aside, it was left to the spectators to decide his fate. Various works of art often describe a crowd with thrown index fingers, if the audience wanted to save the loser. But this opinion is probably not entirely true. Historians believe that the gesture of mercy was different - the thumb hidden in the fist. The fact is that the finger symbolized a sword, and the crowd showed them exactly how to kill the loser: a finger up could mean a cut throat, a finger to the side could mean a blow with a sword between the shoulder blades, and a finger down could mean a deep blow with a sword in the neck, towards heart. The gestures were often accompanied by loud screams demanding release or death.
Gladiators were divided into types and classes, according to types of battles and experience
For the opening of the Colosseum in 80 AD. e., gladiator fights became a highly organized, bloody sport with its own directions and types of weapons. Fighters were divided into classes according to their level of training, experience in the arena and weight category. The division into types depended on the choice of weapons and type of fighting, the most popular types were the Murmillons, Hoplomachus and Thracians, whose weapons were a sword and shield. There were also equites - horsemen, essedarii - chariot fighters, dimacheres - armed with two swords or daggers, and many others.
They very rarely fought with wild animals
Among the military types were bestiaries, who were originally criminals sentenced to fight with wild animals, with little chance of survival. Later, bestiaries began to train specifically for fights with animals; they were armed with darts and daggers. Other gladiators very rarely participated in fights with animals, even though the fights were organized in such a way that the beast did not have a chance to survive. Often, performances involving wild animals opened battles and were simultaneously used for the public execution of criminals.
Women were gladiators too
These were mostly slaves, too headstrong for housework, but occasionally they were joined by free women of Rome. Historians cannot say exactly when women first tried on gladiator armor, but it is certain that by the first century AD. e. they were constant participants in battles. They were often the subject of ridicule by the patriarchal Roman elite, but were comparatively popular with the crowd. Despite this, Emperor Septimius Severus banned women from participating in any games at the beginning of the 3rd century.
Gladiators had their own unions
Despite the fact that gladiators were forced to fight each other, sometimes even to the death, they viewed themselves as a brotherhood and sometimes met in colleges. The gladiatorial unions had their own elected leaders, patron deities, and levies. When one of them died in battle, the colleges paid compensation to his family and gave the fallen a decent funeral.
Emperors sometimes participated in gladiator fights
Among the arena's regulars were Caligula, Commodus, Hadrian and Titus. Most often, they took part in staged battles or had a clear advantage over their opponents. Emperor Commodus once defeated several frightened and poorly armed spectators.
Gladiators often became famous and were popular with women
Gladiators were often described by Roman historians as uneducated brutes and looked down upon by the elite, but successful fighters were resoundingly popular among the lower classes. Their portraits decorated taverns and houses, children played with clay figurines of their favorite gladiators, and girls wore hair clips covered in gladiator blood.
Gladiators were Roman slave fighters who competed to please the public in the Roman Empire for nearly 700 years.
Gladiators were slaves, prisoners of war, or criminals, and sometimes ordinary citizens. These comrades, young and well-developed, ended up in gladiator schools, where they underwent military training under the guidance of the manager. The gladiators trained every day with trainers and teachers who taught them how to use a variety of weapons. Also at the service of the gladiators were cooks, doctors and hetaeras.
Gladiators lived much better than ordinary slaves, but this advantage was nothing more than a simple investment. The better the gladiator lived, the better he fought, won, and therefore brought more profit.
Some gladiators could achieve freedom from slavery, but these were few. These fighters received a rudis - a wooden sword, a sign of liberation from slavery. They often became paid trainers in their own luduses (gladiator schools).
Fights. (wikipedia.org)
Gladiator fights usually ended with the death of one of the opponents or the defeat of a group of gladiators if it was a group fight. If any of the losers remained alive, then their fate was decided by the audience. The well-known gesture - thumbs down or up - decided the fate of the defeated. However, it is believed that the gestures were different: fingers clenched into a fist - life, thumb set aside - death.
Roman gladiators were divided into types, and each of them was armed differently and used in different battles. Gladiators were often armed as representatives of one of the peoples conquered by Rome or as some fictional characters. However, despite all this, the gladiators' weapons were not very diverse.
Gladiators of Rome: interesting facts
1) The life of a gladiator was highly valued. It took a lot of time, effort and money to raise an excellent fighter, and such a fighter brought huge income to its owner.
2) Gladiators were considered the lowest “caste” even among slaves, and becoming a gladiator is a huge disgrace for a Roman citizen. But cases were not uncommon when an ordinary citizen of Rome became a gladiator - sometimes out of complete despair, sometimes out of his own whim.
3) In all the films, the gladiator looks like a bodybuilder, but this was not the case. Two to three months before the battles, gladiators were fed richly and fatty foods, since a thick layer of fat protected the internal organs.
4) There is a myth that gladiators - best fighters Rome. Fighters, yes, but not soldiers. They did not know how to fight in an organized manner in formation, like legionnaires, they did not know formation tactics, etc. This was the problem with Spartak. Gladiators could be good bodyguards, which often was the case, but soldiers they were not.
On one wall in Pompeii you can read the words: “Caeladus the Thracian, the hero of girls who makes hearts beat.” These words, which have come down to us through the centuries, are silent witnesses to the charm that still captivates our imagination. The afternoon sun illuminates the amphitheater arena where the Thracian Celadus and other gladiators are fighting. They do not fight against formidable legionaries or barbarian hordes. They kill each other for the public's pleasure.
In the beginning, gladiators were prisoners of war and those sentenced to death. The laws of Ancient Rome allowed them to participate in gladiatorial fights. In case of victory (with the money received) one could buy back one’s life. But not all gladiators were slaves or criminals. Among them there were also volunteers who wanted to risk their lives for the sake of thrills or fame. Their names were written on the walls, respectable citizens talked about them. For almost 600 years, the arena was one of the most popular entertainments in the Roman world. Almost no one spoke out against this spectacle. Everyone, from Caesar to the last plebeian, wanted to see bloodshed.
It is a common thought that gladiator matches were inspired by Etruscan funeral rituals. However, it is known that at the funeral of Brutus Pera in 264 BC. Three gladiator fights took place. This incident was recorded by the Greek-Syrian historian Nicholas of Damascus, who lived during the period of Emperor Augustus. Over the next hundred years, the custom of fighting between slaves at funerals spread. In 174 BC. Titus Flaminin held munera - three-day battles, during which 74 gladiators fought.
They tried to celebrate Munera in December, simultaneously with Saturnalia. As you know, Saturn was the deity “responsible” for self-sacrifice. At the same time, the Mooners were not just a number in the funeral program. Fighting with animals – venation – was also practiced. Various wild animals brought from all over the empire were killed by specially trained fighters - the Venators. Venation served as a symbol of the subjugation of wild animals by Roman authority. Fights involving lions, tigers and other dangerous predators showed that the power of Rome covered not only people, but also animals. Any culture that was not part of Rome was declared barbaric, whose only purpose was to wait until Rome conquered it.
As more and more wealthy people became convinced that gladiatorial combats served in a great way to perpetuate the memory of the deceased, they more and more often included in their wills a requirement to conduct such a fight at their wake. Soon the public became tired of the simple battle of several pairs of gladiators. To impress people, it was necessary to stage grandiose spectacles in terms of the number of fighters or the method of combat. Gradually, munera became more spectacular and expensive. The fighters began to be equipped with armor, and the style of the armor often copied the style of one of the peoples conquered by Rome. Thus, the munera became a demonstration of the power of Rome.
Over time, munera became such a custom that a person who did not make a will to arrange a battle after his death risked discrediting his name after death as a miser. Many held games in honor of their deceased ancestors. The public was expecting another battle after the death of one of the wealthy citizens. Suetonius described the case that in Pollentia (modern Pollenzo, near Turin) the public did not allow one former centurion to be buried until the heirs organized a battle. Moreover, this was not a simple disorder in the city, but a real rebellion that forced Tiberius to send troops into the city. One deceased man ordered a fight between his former homosexual lovers in his will. Since all the lovers were young boys, it was decided to revoke this clause of the will. Munera eventually evolved into true gladiatorial combats, usually held in specially built arenas. The first arenas were built in the form of amphitheaters around the Forum Romanum. The stands were wooden, and the arena itself was covered with sand. Sand in Latin is garena, hence the name of the entire structure.
The amphitheater built by Josephus, known as the Colosseum, was the first stone structure of its kind. The floor of the arena was initially sandy, but then it was rebuilt, organizing a network of underground passages under it - hypogea. Various mechanical devices were located in the passages, facilitating the quick change of scenery in the arena. With the help of these moves, animals and gladiators were also released onto the stage.
Upon entering the amphitheater, spectators could purchase various souvenirs. Bone or clay tesserae served as entrance tickets. Tesserae were distributed free of charge several weeks before the start of the fighting. The audience was seated by special servants - lokarii.
There were seated stands for wealthy citizens. There were standing stands for the plebs. The Colosseum also had a gallery where the poorest spectators gathered. It was a matter of honor to take a place appropriate to one's status.
The tunnels leading to the stands were inhabited by various “entrepreneurs” from food traders to prostitutes. As the program progressed, the audience's excitement grew. Classic writers describe the roar of the excited crowd as the "roar of a storm." Among the spectators in the stands there were also merchants offering food, flags and lists of gladiators. Bets were made on these lists. Ovid says that asking a neighbor to read a program was considered a plausible excuse for meeting a girl. However, under Augustus, separate places were allocated for women. The front rows were occupied by senators, soldiers, married men, and students and teachers. The women were seated in the upper rows.
The shape of the amphitheater reflected heat inward and sound outward. Any sound made by the gladiator was clearly heard in the stands, even in the very top rows. Hence the rule arose that gladiators should not make unnecessary screams and remain silent even if wounded. Even in the worst seats, the spectators had a clear view of the arena.
By the end of the 2nd century BC. the battles, which lasted for several days in a row with the participation of hundreds of gladiators, no longer surprised anyone. There were also people for whom keeping and training gladiators became a profession. They were called lanistas. Often they were former gladiators themselves. The social status of the Lanists was low; they were despised for making money from the deaths of other people, while remaining completely safe themselves. If gladiators were compared to prostitutes, then lanistas can be compared to pimps. To give themselves a bit of respectability, the lanistas called themselves “negotiator familie gladiatore,” which in modern language can be translated as “commercial director of a gladiator troupe.” The essence of their activity was that they found physically strong slaves at slave markets, preferably prisoners of war and even criminals, bought them, taught them all the wisdom necessary to perform in the arena, and then rented them out to everyone who wanted to organize gladiator fights.
When entering the ring, gladiators had to proclaim: Ave Ceasar, morituri te salutant! - Those going to death greet you, Caesar! According to tradition, before the start of the fight, the gladiator fighters were divided into pairs and began the first demonstration fight - prolusio, its participants did not fight for real, their weapons were wooden, the movements were more reminiscent of a dance than a fight, accompanied by the accompaniment of a lute or flute. At the end of the “lyrical introduction” the bugle sounded and announced that the first real battle was about to begin. Gladiators who changed their minds about fighting were beaten and sometimes even killed with whips.
Junior gladiators entered into battle in pairs determined by lot. The gladiators' weapons were demonstrated to the public to convince everyone that they were military weapons. The identified couples dispersed around the arena to the sound of trumpets and the battle began. In addition to the fighters, there were doctors in the arena who gave commands to the fighters, directing the course of the battles. In addition, slaves stood ready with whips and sticks, called upon to “encourage” one of the gladiators who for some reason refused to fight in full force. After the fight between inexperienced gladiators, the best fighters entered the arena.
If any of the gladiators received a serious wound and could not continue the fight, he raised his hand to show surrender. From that moment on, his fate depended on the opinions of the audience. The vanquished could be spared as a worthy fighter, or they could be doomed to death as a coward and incompetent. Until recently, it was believed that spectators expressed their attitude towards the vanquished with the help of thumb. If the finger is pointing up, spare, if down, finish off. Latest Research showed that everything was exactly the opposite. A finger raised up meant “put it on the blade,” and a finger down meant “weapon into the ground.” Considering the fact that the first to act were not very skilled gladiators, the fate of the vanquished was predetermined. The corpses of gladiators were removed from the arena using wheeled carts. The slaves removed the armor from the dead. These slaves had their own small unofficial “business.” They collected the blood of killed gladiators and sold it to epileptics, like the best remedy from their illness. After the fight between inexperienced gladiators, the best fighters entered the arena.
In spectacular battles, when people fought with animals, the fight was considered over only if one of the opponents was killed: a man by a beast or a beast by a man.
Gladiators were at the very bottom of the social ladder, and after the uprising of Spartacus, the attitude towards gladiators became especially wary. Soldiers and guards watched over the gladiators, preventing attempts at disobedience or suicide. Prisoners of war sent to gladiatorial school wore slave collars and shackles that restricted movement. Volunteers, unlike slaves, did not wear chains. Free people, unlike slaves, did not pose a threat to society. Freed slaves were closer in status to free citizens. Petronius Arbiter, in his Satyricon, extols the virtues of the traveling party of gladiators, saying: “The three-day show is the best I have ever seen. These were not simple grunts, but mostly free people.”
Sometimes the scions of noble families also entered the arena. Petronius Arbiter mentions a woman from a senatorial family who became a female gladiator. Lucian of Samosata, who hated gladiatorial combat, talks about Sisinnius, a man who decided to join the gladiators in order to win 10,000 drachmas and pay a ransom for his friend.
Some people became gladiators out of a desire for thrills. Even emperors fell for this bait. Emperor Commodus (180-192 AD) was a fan of gladiatorial combat since childhood. This gave the opportunity to the political opponents of his father, Marcus Aurelius, to say that the emperor’s wife gave birth to a young heir from the gladiator. One way or another, Commodus spent almost all his time with the gladiators. As an adult, he began to participate in battles as a secutor. By the time of his death, Commodus had managed to win more than 700 fights, but Commodus’s contemporary Victor notes that the emperor’s opponents were armed with lead weapons.
The bulk of professional arena fighters came from gladiatorial schools. During the reign of Octavian Augustus (about 10 BC), there were 4 imperial schools in Rome: the Great, the Morning, where they trained bestiaries - gladiators who fought with wild animals, the school of the Gauls and the school of the Dacians. While studying at the school, all gladiators were fed well and treated professionally. An example of this is the fact that the famous ancient Roman physician Galen worked for a long time at the Great Imperial School.
The gladiators slept in pairs in small closets with an area of 4-6 sq.m. The training, which lasted from morning until evening, was very intense. Under the guidance of a teacher, a former gladiator, the newcomers learned fencing. Each of them was given a wooden sword and a shield woven from willow. The chaotic ringing of metal brought melancholy to the spectators, so instructors taught gladiators to fight not only spectacularly, but also effectively. In the Roman army, it was customary for new recruits to train on wooden poles 1.7 m high. In gladiatorial schools, they preferred to use stuffed straws, which gave a more visual idea of the enemy. To strengthen the muscles, the next iron training weapon after the wooden one was specially made 2 times heavier than a combat weapon.
When a beginner has adequately grasped the basics martial art, it, depending on abilities and physical training, were distributed into specialized groups of one type or another of gladiators. The least capable students ended up in andabats. They were armed with only two daggers, without any additional protection, and completed this equipment with a helmet with two holes that did not coincide with the eyes at all. Therefore, the Andabats were forced to fight each other almost blindly, waving their weapons at random. The servants “helped” them by pushing them from behind with hot iron rods. The public always had a lot of fun looking at the unfortunate people, and this part of the gladiatorial fights was considered the most fun by the Romans.
Gladiators, like Roman soldiers, had their own charter; some historians call it a code of honor, but in fact this is a conventional name. because Initially, a gladiator, by definition, was not a free person, and Roman slaves had no concept of honor as such. When a person entered a gladiator school, especially if he was previously free, in order to be legally considered a gladiator, he needed to perform a number of actions, many of them, of course, purely formal. Gladiators swore and took an oath similar to a military oath, according to which they were to be considered “formally dead” and transferred their lives to the property of the gladiator school in which they lived, studied, trained and died.
There were a number of unspoken rules and conventions that every gladiator had to adhere to and not violate them under any circumstances. The gladiator always had to remain silent during the fight - the only way he could contact the public was through gestures. The second unspoken point was the observance of certain “rules” of dignity, which can be compared with the rules of the samurai. A gladiator fighter had no right to cowardice and fear of death. If a fighter felt that he was dying, he had to open his face to the enemy so that he could finish him off, looking into his eyes, or cut his own throat, taking off his helmet and opening his face and eyes to the audience, and they had to see what was in them there is not a drop of fear. The third law was that the gladiator could not choose his own opponent; apparently, this was done so that the fighters in the arena did not settle their personal scores and grievances. Entering the arena, the gladiator did not know until the very end who he would have to fight with.
It was fashionable among Roman aristocrats to have their own personal gladiators, who not only earned the owner money by performing, but also served as personal guards, which was extremely relevant during the civil unrest of the late Republic. In this regard, Julius Caesar outdid everyone, who at one time maintained up to 2 thousand gladiator-bodyguards, who made up a real army. It must be said that gladiators became not only under the coercion of a slave owner or by a court sentence to the arena, but also absolutely voluntarily, in the pursuit of fame and wealth.
Despite all the dangers of this profession, a simple but strong guy from the Roman social bottom really had a chance to get rich. And although the chances of dying on the blood-soaked sand of the arena were much greater, many took the risk. The most successful of them, in addition to the love of the Roman mob, and sometimes even Roman matrons, received substantial cash prizes from fans and fight organizers, as well as interest on bets. In addition, Roman spectators often threw money, jewelry and other expensive trinkets into the arena for their favorite winner, which also accounted for a significant share of the income. Emperor Nero, for example, once gave the gladiator Spiculus a whole palace. And many more famous fighters They gave fencing lessons to everyone who wanted them, receiving a very decent fee for it.
However, luck smiled on very few in the arena - the public wanted to see blood and death, so the gladiators had to fight seriously, driving the crowd into a frenzy.
Animal catchers worked tirelessly, devastating the Roman provinces in Africa and Asia, as well as adjacent territories. Thousands of professionals were engaged in this extremely dangerous, but equally profitable business. In addition to the fighting people, hundreds and thousands of lions, tigers, wolves, leopards, bears, panthers, wild boars, wild bulls, bison, elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, antelopes, deer, giraffes, and monkeys died in the arenas. One day, the catchers even managed to bring polar bears to Rome! Apparently, there were simply no impossible tasks for them.
All these animals were victims of bestiarian gladiators. Their training was much longer than that of classical gladiators. Students of the famous Morning School, which received its name because animal persecution took place in the morning, were taught not only how to use weapons, but also training, and were also introduced to the characteristics and habits of different animals.
Ancient Roman trainers reached unprecedented heights in their art: bears walked on a tightrope, and lions placed a bestiary under the feet of a hunted but still living hare, monkeys rode the fierce Hyrcanian hounds, and harnessed deer to chariots. These amazing tricks were countless. But when the satiated crowd demanded blood, fearless venators appeared in the arena (from the Latin wenator - hunter), who knew how to kill animals not only various types weapons, but also with bare hands. They considered it the highest chic to throw a cloak over the head of a lion or leopard, wrap it up, and then kill the animal with one blow of a sword or spear.
Gladiator fights took place in different ways. There were fights between single pairs, and sometimes several dozen, or even hundreds of pairs fought simultaneously. Sometimes entire performances, introduced into the practice of mass entertainment by Julius Caesar, were played out in the arena. So, in a matter of minutes, grandiose decorations were erected, depicting the walls of Carthage, and gladiators, dressed and armed like legionnaires and Carthaginians, represented the assault on the city. Or a whole forest of freshly cut trees grew in the arena, and the gladiators depicted an ambush of the Germans attacking the same legionnaires. The imagination of the directors of ancient Roman shows knew no bounds.
And although it was extremely difficult to surprise the Romans with anything, Emperor Claudius, who ruled in the middle of the 1st century, completely succeeded. The naumachia (staged naval battle) carried out on his orders was of such a scale that it turned out to be capable of capturing the imagination of all residents of the Eternal City, young and old. Although naumachia were arranged quite rarely, since they were very expensive even for emperors and required careful development.
He held his first naumachia in 46 BC. Julius Caesar. Then, on the Campus Martius of Rome, a huge artificial lake was dug for a naval battle. 16 galleys with 4 thousand oarsmen and 2 thousand gladiator soldiers took part in this performance. It seemed that it was no longer possible to organize a larger-scale spectacle, but in 2 BC. The first Roman emperor Octavian Augustus, after a year of preparation, presented the Romans with a naumachia with the participation of 24 ships and 3 thousand soldiers, not counting the oarsmen who played out the battle between the Greeks and Persians at Salamis.
Only the above-mentioned Emperor Claudius managed to break this record. Lake Fucinus, located 80 kilometers from Rome, was chosen to carry out the naumachia he had planned. No other nearby body of water simply could accommodate 50 real combat triremes and biremes, the crews of which included 20 thousand criminals sentenced to the arena. To do this, Claudius emptied all the city prisons, putting everyone who could bear arms on ships.
And in order to discourage so many criminals gathered in one place from organizing a rebellion, the lake was surrounded by troops. The naval battle took place in that part of the lake where the hills formed a natural amphitheater. There was no shortage of spectators: about 500 thousand people - almost the entire adult population of Rome - were located on the slopes.
The ships, divided into two fleets, depicted the confrontation between the Rhodians and the Sicilians. The battle, which began around 10 am, ended only at four o’clock in the afternoon, when the last “Sicilian” ship surrendered. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote: “The fighting spirit of the fighting criminals was not inferior to the fighting spirit of real warriors.” The waters of the lake were red with blood, not to mention the wounded, only more than 3 thousand people were killed. After the battle, Claudius pardoned all survivors, with the exception of several crews who, in his opinion, avoided the battle. The audience was absolutely delighted with what they saw. None of the subsequent emperors managed to “outplay” Claudius. It is no coincidence that his death was mourned by literally the entire city, because he, like no one else, perhaps with the exception of Nero, knew how to entertain the public. And even though during his reign Claudius showed himself to be far from a brilliant statesman, this did not prevent him from being perhaps the most revered emperor among the people.
It happened that the fight dragged on, and both wounded gladiators could not defeat each other for a long time. Then the spectators could stop the fight themselves and demand that the editor - the organizer of the games - release both fighters from the arena. And the editor obeyed the “voice of the people.” The same thing happened if the gladiator pleased the public so much with his skill and courage that they demanded the immediate presentation of a wooden training sword - rudis - as a symbol of complete liberation not only from fights in the arena, but also from slavery. Of course, this only concerned prisoners of war and slaves, but not volunteers.
The name of the gladiator Flamma has survived to this day, during whose career admiring spectators four times demanded that he be given a wooden sword, and he refused all four times! It is possible that Flamma showed such unprecedented stubbornness in the pursuit of fame and money. One way or another, he succeeded, he left the arena voluntarily, more or less unharmed, and in fairly mature age and being the owner of a decent fortune.
Gladiatorial fights were not alien to the most educated people of that time. Cicero, for example, assessed these games this way: “It is useful for people to see that slaves can fight courageously. If even a simple slave can show courage, then what should the Romans be like? In addition, games accustom warlike people to the form of killing and prepare them for war.” Pliny, Tacitus and many other prominent Roman writers and thinkers were ardent fans of gladiatorial shows. The only exception was, perhaps, the philosopher Seneca, who strongly advocated for their prohibition, which not least led to his forced suicide on the orders of his crowned pupil Nero.
Almost all Roman emperors sought to outdo each other in the grandeur of their games in order to win the love of the crowd. Emperor Titus Flavius, at the opening of the Colosseum, which accommodated up to 80 thousand spectators and immediately became the main arena of Ancient Rome, ordered to kill in different ways 17 thousand Jews who worked on its construction for ten years. Emperor Domitian, being a virtuoso in archery, loved to amuse spectators by hitting the head of a lion or bear with arrows so that the arrows seemed to become horns for them. And he killed naturally horned animals - deer, bulls, bison, and so on - with a shot in the eye. It must be said that the Roman people loved this ruler very much.
There were also merry fellows among the Roman emperors. For example, there is a very funny story connected with the name Gallienus. One jeweler, who sold false precious stones and was sentenced to the arena for this, was driven out by the bestiaries to the middle of the arena and placed in front of a closed lion cage. The unfortunate man waited with bated breath for an inevitable and, moreover, terrible death, and then the cage door swung open and out came... a chicken. The jeweler, unable to withstand the stress, fainted. When the audience had laughed enough, Gallienus ordered the announcement: “This man deceived, therefore he was deceived.” Then the jeweler was brought to his senses and released on all four sides.
By the beginning of the 4th century, gladiatorial fights and animal persecution began to gradually decline. This was the time when the once Great Roman Empire began to literally languish under the blows of numerous “barbarian” tribes. The situation was aggravated by the ongoing economic crisis - the Romans themselves practically did not work, and imported goods were constantly becoming more expensive. Therefore, the Roman emperors of that period had enough worries besides arranging expensive games. And, nevertheless, they continued, although without the same scope. Gladiator fights were finally banned 72 years before the fall of the Roman Empire.
One day my nephew took up bodybuilding. The question of nutrition immediately arose. There were two options - purely protein diet, mainly from fish and chicken meat for building muscle mass. The second option is that the diet is more balanced and varied, mainly including vegetarian food. My nephew is not a vegetarian, but the desire for a curvy, pumped up body was very strong. In a conversation with him we touched on the topic of gladiators ancient Rome and I remembered that they were vegetarians. I became interested myself and looked for information about them. This is how this article appeared. Maybe someone will be interested too)
There are many myths regarding gladiators and their battles in the arena. Western cinema produces series and individual films that essentially have nothing to do with the historical realities of that time. Let's figure out where the truth is and where the myth is, based on historical documents. I am most interested in the nutrition of gladiators, which helps them endure heavy physical exertion, battles and promotes rapid healing of wounds. But... let's start from the beginning.
Gladiators in the ancient world were very popular and recognizable by sight. From some of them, especially popular ones, casts were made and profiles were sculpted, statues were cast, and their exploits were depicted on vessels and interior items. Gladiators came from different social classes - it is a mistake to think that all gladiators were slaves. Initially, of course, this was the case - those who were captured, bought on the slave market, caught for murder or theft, and who fell into debt were released into the arena. Arena fights were held for the amusement of the public and during important religious holidays as a gift to the Gods and Goddesses. Over time, to make the fights more spectacular, gladiators were carefully selected and trained specifically for battles.
The myth that gladiators died like flies in the arena is nothing more than a myth. The life of a gladiator was very expensive - a gladiator had to train for several months before entering the arena, preparation took a lot of time, and therefore gladiators were protected. Along with arena fights between people, fights between gladiators and animals were also practiced. Bulls, lions, tigers and crocodiles came out in opposition to human life. On major holidays, Indian elephants were specially brought. Gladiators who especially distinguished themselves and were liked by the public were presented with a wooden sword, symbolizing freedom. The gladiators, “having been released,” again signed the contract and entered the arena. Accustomed to the roar of the public, respect and daily training gladiators could not imagine themselves outside the walls of the arena and training barracks.
As excavations and fragments of history testify, successful gladiators were very wealthy people who had their own estate, family and children. Some emperors, for example Commodus, who reigned in 176-192, did not escape the fate of gladiatorial life. The thirst for glory, and maybe adrenaline, pushed the emperor into more and more battles. The Emperor ordered his every appearance in the arena to be celebrated in historical information, making it safe to say that it happened 735 times. Is it a lot or a little? In 20-30 fights, a gladiator could gain freedom. If a gladiator participated in 50 fights and managed to survive, then his popularity could be compared with the popularity of our Diva during the Soviet era. Much was forgiven to such gladiators; people loved and revered them as gods, immortalizing busts and profiles in the annals of history.
Gladiators were required to have the following values:
- Fortitudo (strength)
- Disciplina (discipline)
- Constantia (extract)
- Patientia (patience)
- Contemptus mortis (contempt of death)
- Amor laudis (lust for fame)
- Cupido victoriae (lust for victory)
This explains why the people tolerated the gladiator emperor, who completely forgot about the state. In 192, on December 31, as a result of a conspiracy, Commodus was killed, which caused a wave of indignation throughout Rome, from which their “earthly god” was taken away.
However, gladiator fights were not limited to fights in the arena; they continued with fights on the water. Battles on ships were called naumachia, from the Greek. "Ναυμαχία" - naval battle. History recorded the first naval battle in 46. BC The organizer of the naval battle was Gaius Julius Caesar, who laid the foundation for a completely new direction in spectacular battles. For this battle, an entire lake was dug on the Campus Martius in Rome. To appreciate the scale of the battle and the preparations for it, it is enough to say that there were 16 galleys with 2 thousand gladiators in them on the lake. Another major battle on the same lake was a mock battle of Salamis between the Greek and Persian fleets, which involved 24 warships and 3,000 gladiators. The largest naumachia was the “show” by order of Emperor Claudius. Lake Fucino near Rome could accommodate 50 warships and 20 thousand gladiators. The peculiarity of “sea” battles was that there was no place for personal or individual battles - success depended on the well-coordinated work of the team, so only in such battles did blood flow like a river.
More than half a million spectators gathered for the naumachia of Claudius. All gladiators who survived were released from gladiatorial obligations and released. The exception was the crews of several galleys who avoided the main battle.
Despite the seriousness of the battles, there were times when jokes were made in the arena. Thus, during the reign of Emperor Galien, a bullfighter could not hit a bull in 10 attempts, but, nevertheless, was awarded the winner’s laurel wreath. When the public roared in indignation, the emperor announced through his heralds that he was rewarding the winner for doing the impossible - it was impossible not to hit the bull after so many attempts... A peculiar joke, of course. Another story tells of a jeweler who deceived the emperor's wife by giving her a ring containing fake jewelry. The shaking jeweler was brought onto the stage, announcing that he would fight lions. However, the roosters were released to the general laughter of the public.
The life of a gladiator was similar to the modern everyday life of a soldier - gladiators lived in barracks that were locked at night. In the morning they had breakfast and many hours of training. Before sunset - dinner and sleep. The discipline was strict and the training hard. A doctor was assigned to the gladiator barracks, who often examined the soldiers for their physical and moral health, compiled a diet and recommended the intensity of training.
We cannot help but talk about hygiene, to which Roman doctors paid great attention. The proverb - “It is better to prevent a disease than to treat it” - comes from Rome. Hygiene was on top level, the purity of drinking water, and the fruits and vegetables sold were given the closest attention. Special employees checked all drinking water bodies and all goods sold for cleanliness.
The gladiators' diet, paradoxically, was strictly vegetarian, and wine, entertainment with women and noble feasts after the battle were the lot of the director's imagination and the ruling elite of Rome. Gladiators were awarded wine only on major holidays, which was extremely rare, but even then, not for everyone. Roman civilization was famous not only for its high culture, but also for medicine, which was very progressive for that time. Reading the treatise of the doctor Atenay, you understand that it is still relevant today:
- You should not drink milk to avoid getting sick (the Romans did not drink milk in its pure form and always diluted it with water).
- You should not eat heavy food at night.
- Healthy food is fruits and flour products.
- You should not eat rich bread, raw meat, raisins and smoked meats.
The food was prepared with a large number spices, thus compensating for the lack of flavors and micronutrients. The food was not salted. Salt was used as a preservative for food so that it would not go to waste, so the food was flavorful and always fresh. Ancient doctors studied the effects of certain products on the body, noting their observations and recording the results, thanks to which many works have reached our time.
The food for a new recruit who just got into the gladiator barracks included stews and porridges; the stew was a kind of diet for cleansing the body of “former” food. The recipe for one of the stews includes a mixture of flour, honey, grated cheese, olive oil and water. Only then, after a while, the recruit was allowed to eat porridge, and later main dishes. The main dishes include barley and beans. Beans were eaten with a lot of vegetables. The diet also included dried fruits and mineral water.
There was one dish in the gladiators’ diet that “a certain nationality” passed off as its own invention. In the form in which it is now - perhaps, but the first recipe and the idea itself belongs to Greece, from where Rome adopted it! This is... borscht!!! “Wash yourself,” brothers and sisters from our sister Ukraine. With lard - this is your invention, but nutritious, healthy and tasty - this is Greek... Beetroot and cabbage were specially grown for borscht. Surprisingly, cabbage was considered the most healing in borscht. The diet of not only gladiators, but also the whole of Rome included a huge number of recipes based on cabbage. Even Cicero dedicated his laudatory odes to cabbage. There were a lot of borscht recipes; it was the Romans who figured out that before cooking borscht, fry the beets in oil.
The bread that was baked, as already written above, was not included in the diet of the gladiators, but it was replaced by barley cakes. They drank water or a drink based on fermented barley - kvass in our understanding. Beer was brewed in Rome, but this drink was the preserve of the poor and lower class.
It is very interesting that before a beginner was allowed to train, 1-2 months of a vegetarian diet had to pass. After 4 months it was already possible to engage in heavy training and training with weapons. Only after a year was it possible to enter the arena, and the point here is not at all that the fighters were trained for battle within a year; after all, there were also experienced captured warriors. And the fact is that on plant food, the fighters quickly gained the required weight, the bones acquired strength, the body was cleansed of toxins that caused excessive strain in the muscles and reduced the gladiator’s reaction speed, interfering with his victory. The gladiators were by no means muscular and lean “Hollywood big men”, but strong, densely built men with a small “belly”. Fat layer protected the body from falls, impacts and injuries.
Researchers from Medical University Veins, having analyzed several thousand bones belonging to gladiators, confirmed the fact of a vegetarian diet. Having compared the bones of gladiators with the bones of “ordinary residents of Rome,” scientists noted that gladiators, in terms of chemical composition, have stronger bones.
Why was a vegetarian diet mandatory for gladiators? Scientists believe that a vegetarian diet helped them stay strong, and the layer of fat served as additional protection from bladed weapons during fights. Strontium, contained in plant foods, strengthens bones and promotes rapid healing of wounds. Subcutaneous fat fiber, with a vegetarian diet, is dense and well supplied with blood. When eating meat, it is very loose and the blood supply is very difficult. Don't believe me? Check...J
Vegetarian food is very easy for digestive system, food is absorbed and digested faster, lightness in the body appears within half an hour after eating. No toxins are formed in the body, no overexertion occurs gastrointestinal tract from his excessive work. After all, even Hippocrates wrote that beef causes melancholy and is poorly digested by the stomach. He recommended eating beans and grains, which became widespread.
If the gladiators with their intensive training, elevated physical activity and frequent multiple injuries gave preference to plant foods, maybe you should think about your diet...
