Perhaps, there were not so many myths created about any fighters as about gladiators. And these myths appeared already at the present time, when, due to the works fiction and films dedicated to gladiator fights, 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 gave 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 connected with them were not the subject of a separate study of historians. The armament, life and life of these fighters were considered only as an addendum to other studies - for example, domestic historians dealt with gladiators only in the context of Roman slave uprisings, in particular, the uprising of Spartacus. Or they were given little attention as a common element of the ancient Roman culture of mass spectacles.
However, several works have recently appeared, for example, "Games with Death" by the German historian M. Junckelmann or "Gladiators" by the domestic specialist in 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 are completely wrong. It is these myths, generated by misinterpretation or orientation not to historical sources, but to 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 arranged something like that. There are no bas-reliefs, no mosaics, no written evidence that gladiator fights took place in the territory controlled by the Etruscans. True, there is 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 first originate from the training and training of hunters. But the munera comes from the burial ritual - the first gladiatorial games were always held over the grave of the deceased. Thus, they were a kind of sacrifice to the spirit of the deceased Roman (and besides, 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 something from the Etruscans, it was venatio - fights between people and animals (or animals with each other), but not gladiatorial games.
As for the place of origin of the munera, according to many scholars, these games most likely appeared in Campania. The most ancient monuments were found there, pointing to gladiator fights dating back to the 4th century BC - in Rome itself, the first gladiator fights were arranged a hundred years later. In addition, it was in the area where the Campanians lived that the most ancient gladiatorial schools were found. So, apparently, the munera appeared in this area.
Myth two: mostly gladiators were 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 got there as a prisoner of war - the Romans during the Republic often replenished their troops with captured enemy soldiers). That is, Spartacus was sentenced to fighting 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 in the days of the Republic and in the era of the Empire. The second category would be criminals sentenced to fighting in the arena, a tradition that began in the late Republic era and continued through the Empire. The third category is the slaves, who also began to be given to the gladiators since the end of the Republic. However, during the Empire, those in the ranks of the 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 of the above three categories, theoretically, gladiatorship was not a lifelong occupation. So, each fighter - and a slave, and a criminal, and a prisoner of war - received money for his performance (if he remained alive), and a lot of it. The fee of 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 redeemed at will. As for convicted criminals, their term of performance in the arena was usually limited to five years, after which such a fighter could safely leave the gladiatorial 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 the release was given to him by an editor (organizer of games) for his courage or first-class possession of weapons. As a sign of such a release, the gladiator was given a wooden sword called a rudis - hence the term "rudiarium", that is, a gladiator released from his duties.
However, not everyone took advantage of this chance - there is a lot of evidence from the period of the Empire, when the rudiarii returned to the arena again. Most likely, they were driven to this by a thirst for easy and very large earnings - after all, the rudiarium received at least 12 thousand sesterces for each battle (for comparison, a Roman peasant or artisan spent about 500 sesterces to feed his family during the year). But sometimes the rudiaria again found themselves in the arena for new crimes - such was the Syrian gladiator Flamma, who received the 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 gladiatorial school.
But in addition to the three above categories, there was also a fourth - free people who voluntarily went to the gladiators (authorates). Such appeared under the Republic, but during the Empire their number increased dramatically. On some muners, the number of auctorates exceeded the number of slave gladiators - for example, an inscription in one of the cities of Asia Minor testifies that at the games arranged there at the end of the 1st century AD, there were 5 auctorates for 3 slave gladiators.
Interestingly, according to the testimonies of Roman historians, during the Empire, not only the poor, but also the children of senators, horsemen and wealthy merchants went to the gladiators. There were times 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 see, a good way to replenish the eternally empty Roman treasury. However, the “golden youth” went to the gladiators not only for the sake of money - many did it in order to be successful with beautiful ladies (women always liked gladiators, there were even cases when the wives of senators and horsemen ran away from their husbands with these fighters) or or because of the lack of thrills in Everyday life(this begs the analogy with the modern hobby of rich young people extreme views sports).
Myth three: gladiators in the arena were forced to fight
Indeed, contemporaries testify that the fighters in the arena were forced to fight with the help of whips and red-hot iron rods. However, this was only applied to criminal gladiators (noxia). Professional gladiators did not need to be prodded - they themselves gladly entered the battle, promising them money and glory. Moreover, it is known that professionals often 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 lanists (suppliers of fighters) for newcomers to introduce.
By the way, one more myth should be debunked here - the bodies of dead gladiators were dragged from the arena with hooks only in those cases when they were Noxia who did not survive their first battle. All the rest were taken away on special carts and then given to schoolmates, who buried them with honor. At present, many cemeteries of gladiators at schools are known, and the type of tombstones indicates that these funerals were, as they say, of the first category.
Myth four: the life of a gladiator was not long
In fact, the analysis of gravestone inscriptions indicates that there were gladiators who fought more than a hundred fights in their lives (the record is 158 fights, and at the same time, after the last one, the gladiator remained alive, but soon died of wounds). An analysis of the famous gladiator skeletons shows that the average life expectancy of an arena fighter was 25-30 years. This coincides with the average life expectancy of all the inhabitants of the Empire of that time - alas, in Rome, in general, rarely did anyone live to be 50 years old.
Interestingly, in the days of the Republic and in the initial period of the Empire, it was quite common to save the life of a defeated gladiator. On average, out of 10 cases, in eight cases the loser was granted "missio" (that is, mercy). But starting from the middle of the 2nd century BC, every second case of a loss ended in the death of a gladiator at the request of the crowd and the authorities. However, already during the reign of Diocletian (end of the 3rd - beginning of the 4th century AD) and until the very last muner (404 AD), the death sentences for the losers were rarely handed down again - in three cases out of ten.
Loved by the public and sometimes despised by the elite, Roman gladiators were the heroes of antiquity. For almost seven centuries, they have attracted crowds of people to the arenas and amphitheatres, showing their skill, strength and dexterity. Bloody gladiator fights were equal parts sport, theatrical production, and cold-blooded murder.
Here are some facts about the mysterious warriors who became the pillar of the most massive, cruel and popular entertainment that the history of ancient Rome kept.
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 to free people has changed a lot. Shouts and recognition of the crowd, awe and excitement attracted many free people to gladiator schools who hoped to get 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 to fight in the arena. Sometimes some patricians and even senators who wanted to show their military training.
Gladiator fights were originally part of the funeral ceremony
Most modern historians insist that gladiator performances in the arena are rooted in the bloody tradition of arranging 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 rites took the place of human sacrifice. On the occasion of the death of his father and daughter, Julius Caesar organized fights between hundreds of gladiators. Representations enjoyed mass popularity in the first century BC. e. Ancient Rome began to organize gladiator fights whenever the government needed to calm down, distract or enlist the support of the 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, the fights were one-on-one between gladiators of similar build and with equal combat experience. The judges looked after the battle and stopped it if one of the opponents was seriously injured. Sometimes the fights ended in a draw if they were too long. If the gladiators managed to show an interesting performance and bring the crowd to delight, both opponents were allowed to leave the arena with honor.
The famous "thumbs down" gesture didn't mean death
When a gladiator was seriously wounded or preferred to admit defeat by throwing his weapon aside, it was up to the audience to decide his fate. Various works of fiction often describe a crowd with index fingers if the audience was willing to save the loser. But this opinion is probably not entirely correct. Historians believe that the gesture of mercy was different - a thumb hidden in a fist. The fact is that the finger symbolized the sword, and the crowd showed them exactly how it was necessary to kill the loser: a finger up could mean a cut throat, a finger to the side - a blow with a sword between the shoulder blades, and a finger down - a deep blow with a sword in the neck, towards heart. The gestures were often accompanied by loud cries demanding to be released or killed.
Gladiators were divided into types and classes, according to the types of fights and experience.
By 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. The division of fighters into classes took place according to their level of training, experience in the arena and weight category. The division into types depended on the choice of weapons and the type of fighting, the most popular types were murmillons, hoplomakhs and Thracians, whose weapons were a sword and shield. There were also equites - riders, essedaries - chariot fighters, dimachers - armed with two swords or daggers, and many others.
They very rarely fought wild beasts.
Among the military types were bestiaries, who were originally criminals sentenced to duel with wild animals, with a negligible chance of surviving. Later, bestiaries began to train specifically for fights with animals, they were armed with darts and daggers. Other gladiators participated in battles with animals very rarely, even though the fights were organized in such a way that the beast had no chance to survive. Often performances with the participation of wild animals opened the fights and at the same time were used for the public execution of criminals.
Women were gladiators too
Mostly they were slaves, too self-willed for domestic work, but occasionally free women of Rome also joined them. Historians cannot say for sure when women first tried on gladiatorial armor, but it is known for sure that by the first century AD. e. they were constant combatants. They were often the butt of ridicule by the patriarchal Roman elite, but were comparatively popular with the crowd. Despite this, Emperor Septimius Severus forbade women from participating in any games at the beginning of the 3rd century.
The gladiators had their unions
Despite the fact that the gladiators were forced to fight each other, sometimes even to the death, they considered 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 arranged a decent funeral for the fallen.
Emperors sometimes participated in gladiator fights
Among the regulars of the arena were Caligula, Commodus, Adrian 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.
Roman historians often called gladiators uneducated brutes, looked down on them by the elite, but successful fighters enjoyed resounding success among the lower classes. Their portraits adorned taverns and houses, children played with clay figurines of their favorite gladiators, and girls wore hairpins covered in gladiator blood.
Gladiators are Roman slave fighters who fought for the delight of the public in the Roman Empire for almost 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 a manager. Gladiators practiced 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 getters.
Gladiators lived much better than ordinary slaves, but this advantage was nothing more than an ordinary investment. The better the gladiator lived, the better he fought, won, and therefore brought more profit.
Some gladiators could achieve emancipation from slavery, but there were few of them. These fighters received a rudis - a wooden sword, a sign of liberation from slavery. Often they 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 duel. If one of the losers remained alive, then the audience decided their fate. A well-known gesture - thumb 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 in its own way and was used in different battles. Often gladiators were armed as representatives of one of the peoples conquered by Rome or as some fictional characters. However, despite all this, the weapons of the gladiators did not differ in variety.
Gladiators of Rome: interesting facts
1) The life of a gladiator was highly valued. It took a lot of time, effort and money to bring up an excellent fighter, and such a fighter brought a huge income to its owner.
2) Gladiators were considered the lowest "caste" even among slaves, and becoming a gladiator is a huge shame for a Roman citizen. But there were not rare cases when a simple citizen of Rome went to the gladiators - sometimes out of complete hopelessness, sometimes out of his own whim.
3) In all the films, the gladiator looks like a bodybuilder, but he was not. Two or three months before the fights, the gladiators were fed plentifully 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, like legionnaires, they did not know the tactics of formations, etc. This was the misfortune of Spartacus. Gladiators could be good bodyguards, which often was the case, but soldiers were not.
On one wall in Pompeii, you can read the words: "Celadus the Thracian - the hero of girls, making 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 arena of the amphitheater, where the Thracian Celadus and other gladiators fight. They do not fight fearsome legionnaires or barbarian hordes. They kill each other for the pleasure of the public.
In the beginning, gladiators were prisoners of war and those sentenced to death. The laws of ancient Rome allowed them to participate in gladiator fights. In case of victory (with the money received), it was possible to redeem one's life. But not all gladiators were slaves or criminals. Among them were volunteers who were willing to risk their lives for thrill 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 opposed this spectacle. Everyone, from Caesar to the last plebeian, wanted to see bloodshed.
It is widely believed that gladiator fights were inspired by Etruscan funeral rituals. Nevertheless, it is known that at the funeral of Brutus Perus in 264 BC. Three duels of gladiators 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 arranging battles between slaves at funerals spread. In 174 BC Titus Flamininus held munera - three-day fights, during which 74 gladiators fought.
They tried to celebrate Munera in December, at the same time as Saturnalia. As you know, Saturn was a deity "responsible" for self-sacrifice. At the same time, the muners were not just a number in the commemoration program. They also practiced fighting with animals - venations. Various wild animals brought from all over the empire were killed by specially trained fighters - venators. Venice served as a symbol of the subjugation of wild animals by Roman power. Fights involving lions, tigers and other dangerous predators showed that the power of Rome embraced not only people but also animals. Any culture that was not part of Rome was declared barbarian, the only purpose of which was to wait until it was conquered by Rome.
As more and more wealthy people became convinced that gladiator fights served great way to perpetuate the memory of the deceased, they more and more often included in their will a requirement to hold such a fight at their commemoration. Soon, a simple fight of several pairs of gladiators became boring to the public. In order to impress the people, it was necessary to arrange grandiose spectacles according to the number of fighters or according to the method of battle. Gradually, the munera became more spectacular and expensive. The fighters began to be equipped with armor, while the style of the armor often copied the style of any of the peoples conquered by Rome. Thus, the munera became a demonstration of the power of Rome.
Over time, the munera became so customary that a person who did not bequeath to arrange a battle after his death risked discrediting his name after death as a miser. Many hosted games in honor of their deceased ancestors. The public expected next fight 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 a former centurion to be buried until the heirs organized a battle. Moreover, it was not a simple disorder in the city, but a real rebellion that forced Tiberius to send troops into the city. One dead man in his will ordered to arrange a fight between his former homosexual lovers. Since all the lovers were young boys, it was decided to annul this clause of the will. Munera eventually developed into true gladiator fights, usually held in purpose-built arenas. The first arenas were built in the form of amphitheaters around the Romanum Forum. The stands were wooden, and the arena itself was covered with sand. Sand in Latin will be garena, hence the name of the entire structure.
The amphitheater built by Flavius, known as the Colosseum, was the first stone building of its kind. The floor of the arena was at first sandy, but then it was rebuilt, organizing a network of underground passages under it - hypogees. Various mechanical devices were located in the passages, facilitating a quick change of scenery in the arena. With the help of these moves, animals and gladiators were also released onto the stage.
Entering the amphitheater, the audience could buy various souvenirs. Bone or clay tessera plates served as entrance tickets. Tessers were distributed for free a few weeks before the start of the fighting. The audience was seated in their places by special ministers - locaria.
For wealthy citizens there were seated stands. 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 occupy a place proper to its status.
The tunnels leading to the stands were run by various "entrepreneurs" from food vendors to prostitutes. As the program progressed, the public's excitement grew. Classical writers describe the roar of the excited crowd as "the roar of a storm". Vendors also crowded the stands among the spectators, offering food, flags, and lists of gladiators. Betting was made on these lists. Ovid says that asking a neighbor to read a program was considered a plausible pretext for getting to know a girl. However, under Augustus, separate places were allocated for women. The front rows were occupied by senators, soldiers, married men, as well as students and teachers. The women were placed in the upper ranks.
The shape of the amphitheater reflected heat inward and sound outward. Any sound made by a gladiator was clearly audible in the stands, even in the very top rows. Hence the rule arose that gladiators should not make unnecessary cries and be silent even in case of injury. Even in the worst places, the spectators had a great view of the arena.
By the end of the II century BC. the battles that lasted several days in a row with the participation of more than one hundred gladiators did not surprise anyone. There were also people for whom the maintenance and training of gladiators became a profession. They were called Lanists. Often they were former gladiators themselves. The social status of the lanist was low, they were despised for making money on the death of other people, while remaining completely safe themselves. If gladiators were compared to prostitutes, then lanists can be compared to pimps. To give themselves a little respectability, the Lanists called themselves "negociator surname gladiatore", which in modern language can be translated as "commercial director of the gladiatorial troupe." The essence of their activity was that they found physically strong slaves in the slave markets, and preferably prisoners of war and even criminals, ransomed them, taught them all the tricks necessary for performing in the arena, and then rented them out to everyone who wanted to arrange gladiator fights.
Entering the ring, the gladiators had to proclaim: Ave Ceasar, morituri te salutant! - Those who go to death greet you, Caesar! According to tradition, before the start of the fight, gladiator fighters were divided into pairs and the first demonstration fight began - prolusio, its participants did not fight for real, their weapons were wooden, the movements were more like a dance than the fight was accompanied by a lute or flute. At the end of the "lyrical introduction", the horn blew and announced that the first real battle was about to begin. Gladiators who changed their minds to fight were beaten, and sometimes even killed with whips.
Junior gladiators entered the battle in pairs, determined by lot. The weapons of the gladiators were demonstrated to the public in order to convince everyone that they were combat weapons. The determined couples dispersed around the arena to the sound of trumpets and the battle began. In the arena, in addition to the fighters, there were doctors who gave commands to the fighters, directing the course of the battles. In addition, slaves with whips and sticks stood ready to “cheer up” one of the gladiators who for some reason refused to fight at full strength. After the duel of 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, showing surrender. From that moment on, his fate depended on the opinion of the audience. The defeated could be spared as a worthy fighter, or they could be doomed to death as a coward and clumsy. Until recently, it was believed that the audience 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 the opposite was true. A raised finger meant "put it on the blade", and lowered - "a weapon in the ground." Considering the fact that not very skilled gladiators were the first to perform, the fate of the vanquished was a foregone conclusion. 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 informal "business". They collected the blood of slain gladiators and sold it to epileptics as the best remedy from their illness. After the duel of inexperienced gladiators, the best fighters entered the arena.
In spectacular battles, when people fought with animals, the duel 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 lowest rung of the social ladder, and after the uprising of Spartacus, the attitude towards gladiators became especially wary. Soldiers and guards watched the gladiators, stopping attempts of disobedience or suicide. Prisoners of war sent to the gladiatorial school wore slave collars and shackles that hindered movement. Volunteers, unlike slaves, did not wear chains. Free people, unlike slaves, did not pose a threat to society. Freed slaves in their status approached free citizens. Petronius the Arbiter, in his Satyricon, extols the virtues of a traveling band of gladiators, saying: “The three-day show is the best I have ever seen. These were not ordinary grunts, but for the most part free people.
Sometimes offspring of noble families also got into the arena. Petronius the Arbiter mentions a woman from a senatorial family who became a female gladiator. Lucian of Samosata, who hated gladiator fights, tells of 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 went into gladiators out of a desire for a thrill. Even emperors pecked at this bait. Emperor Commodus (180-192 AD) was a fan of gladiator fights since childhood. This made it possible for the political opponents of his father - Marcus Aurelius - to say that the emperor's wife survived the young heir from the gladiator. One way or another, Commodus spent almost all his time with 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 opponents of the emperor were armed with lead weapons.
The bulk of the professional arena fighters were from gladiatorial schools. During the reign of Octavian Augustus (about 10 BC), there were 4 imperial schools in Rome: Great, Morning, where bestiaries were trained - gladiators who fought with wild animals, the Gallic school and the Dacian school. While studying at the school, all gladiators were well fed and qualifiedly treated. An example of this is the fact that the famous ancient Roman physician Galen worked for a long time at the Great Imperial School.
Gladiators slept in pairs in small closets with an area of 4-6 sq.m. The workouts, which lasted from morning to evening, were very intense. Under the guidance of a teacher, a former gladiator, beginners learned swordsmanship. Each of them was given a wooden sword and a shield woven from willow. The chaotic ringing of metal evoked anguish in the audience, so the instructors trained the gladiators to fight not only spectacularly, but also effectively. In the Roman army, it was customary for beginners to practice on wooden palus poles 1.7 m high. In gladiator schools, they preferred to use stuffed stuffed with straw, which gave a more visual representation of the enemy. To strengthen the muscles, the next iron training weapon after the wooden one was specially made 2 times heavier than the combat one.
When a beginner has mastered the basics martial art, he, depending on his abilities and physical fitness, was distributed into specialized groups of one type or another of gladiators. The least capable students fell into the indabats. They were armed with only two daggers, without any additional protection, completed this equipment with a helmet with two holes that did not match the eyes at all. Therefore, the indabats were forced to fight each other almost blindly, brandishing their weapons at random. The attendants "helped" them, pushing them from behind with red-hot iron rods. The public always had a lot of fun looking at the unfortunate, and this part of the gladiatorial fights was considered by the Romans to be the most amusing.
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 got into a gladiatorial school, especially if before that he was free, he needed to perform a number of actions, in many ways purely formal, of course, in order to be legally considered a gladiator. Gladiators took an oath and took an oath similar to a military one, according to which they were supposed to be considered “formally dead” and transferred their lives to the property of the gladiatorial 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 duel - the only way he could contact the public was through gestures. The second unspoken item was the observance of certain "rules" of dignity, which can be compared with the rules of the samurai. A fighter - a gladiator 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 would finish him off, looking at his eyes, or cut his own throat, removing his helmet and opening his face and eyes to the audience, and they should have seen what was in them there is not an iota of fear. The third law was that the gladiator could not choose his own opponent, obviously, 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 to the last with whom he would have to fight.
Among the Roman aristocrats, it was fashionable 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 respect, Julius Caesar outdid everyone, who at one time contained up to 2 thousand gladiator bodyguards, who made up a real army. It must be said that they became gladiators not only under the coercion of the slave owner or by a court sentence to the arena, but also absolutely voluntarily, in pursuit of fame and fortune.
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 the Roman matrons, received solid cash prizes from fans and organizers of the fights, as well as interest on bets. In addition, Roman spectators often threw money, jewelry and other expensive trinkets into the arena to the especially beloved 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 of famous fighters they gave fencing lessons to everyone who wanted to, receiving a very decent fee for this.
However, luck in the arena smiled at very few - the audience wanted to see blood and death, so the gladiators had to fight seriously, bringing the crowd to a frenzy.
Catchers of animals 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, hippos, rhinos, antelopes, deer, giraffes, monkeys perished in the arenas. Once the catchers managed to bring even polar bears to Rome! Apparently, there were simply no impossible tasks for them.
All these animals were victims of bestiary gladiators. Their training was much longer than the classical gladiators. Pupils of the famous Morning School, which received such a name due to the fact that animal persecution took place in the morning, were taught not only the handling of weapons, but also training, and also introduced them 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 driven, but still alive hare, monkeys rode ferocious Hyrcanian hounds, and deer were harnessed to chariots. These amazing tricks were innumerable. But when the satiated crowd demanded blood, fearless venators appeared on the arena (from the Latin wenator - hunter), who knew how to kill animals not only various types weapons, but also with bare hands. It was considered the highest chic among them to throw a cloak over the head of a lion or leopard, wrap it up, and then kill the beast with one blow of a sword or spear.
Gladiator fights were different. There were fights of single pairs, and sometimes several tens or even hundreds of pairs fought at the same time. Sometimes whole performances were played out in the arena, introduced into the practice of mass entertainment by Julius Caesar. So, in a matter of minutes, grandiose scenery was 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 the attack of the Germans on the same legionnaires from an ambush. The fantasy of the directors of the ancient Roman shows knew no bounds.
And although it was extremely difficult to surprise the Romans with something, the emperor Claudius, who ruled in the middle of the 1st century, succeeded quite well. The naumachia (staging of a naval battle) embodied on his orders was of such a magnitude that it turned out to be capable of capturing the imagination of all the inhabitants of the Eternal City, young and old. Although naumachia were arranged quite rarely, as they were very expensive even for emperors and required careful development.
The first Naumachia was held in 46 BC. Julius Caesar. Then, a huge artificial lake was dug out on the Field of Mars in Rome to conduct a naval battle. This performance was attended by 16 galleys, on which there were 4,000 rowers and 2,000 gladiator soldiers. It seemed that it was no longer possible to arrange a larger spectacle, but in 2 BC. the first Roman emperor Octavian Augustus, after a year of preparation, presented the Romans with naumachia with the participation of 24 ships and 3 thousand soldiers, not counting the rowers, who played the battle between the Greeks and the Persians at Salamis.
Only the aforementioned emperor Claudius managed to beat this record. For the naumachia conceived by him, the Futsin Lake, located 80 kilometers from Rome, was chosen. No other nearby body of water simply could accommodate 50 real combat triremes and biremes, the crews of which amounted to 20,000 criminals sentenced to the arena. To do this, Claudius devastated all city prisons, putting on ships everyone who could carry weapons.
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 amphitheatre. There was no shortage of spectators: about 500 thousand people - almost the entire adult population of Rome, settled down on the slopes.
The ships, divided into two fleets, depicted the confrontation between the Rhodians and the Sicilians. The battle, which began at about 10 am, ended only at four o'clock in the afternoon, when the last "Sicilian" ship surrendered. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote: "The morale of the fighting criminals was not inferior to the morale 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 the survivors, with the exception of a few crews who, in his opinion, evaded 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 literally the whole city mourned his death, because he, like no other, perhaps with the exception of Nero, knew how to entertain the public. And although during his reign Claudius showed himself to be far from being 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 audience could stop the fight themselves and demand from the editor - the organizer of the games - to let both fighters out of the arena. And the editor obeyed the "voice of the people." The same thing happened if the gladiator so pleased the public with his skill and courage that she demanded the immediate delivery of a wooden training sword - rudis - to him as a symbol of complete liberation not only from fights in the arena, but also from slavery. Of course, this concerned only prisoners of war and slaves, but not volunteers.
The name of the gladiator Flamma has survived to this day, during whose career admiring spectators demanded a wooden sword four times, and he refused all four times! It is possible that Flamma showed such unheard of stubbornness in the pursuit of fame and money. One way or another, but he succeeded, he left the arena voluntarily, more or less unharmed, and in a fairly adulthood and being the owner of a decent fortune.
Gladiator fights were not alien to the most educated people of that time. Cicero, for example, assessed these games as follows: “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, the games accustom the warlike people to the form of murder and prepare them for war. Pliny, Tacitus and many other prominent Roman writers and thinkers were ardent admirers of gladiatorial spectacles. The only exception was, perhaps, the philosopher Seneca, who in every possible way advocated for their prohibition, which not least led to his forced suicide on the orders of his crowned pupil Nero.
Nearly all Roman emperors sought to outdo each other in grandiosity 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 different ways 17 thousand Jews who worked on its construction for ten years. Emperor Domitian, being a virtuoso in archery, loved to amuse the audience by hitting the head of a lion or a bear with arrows so that the arrows seemed to become horns for them. And naturally horned animals - deer, bulls, bison, and so on, he killed with a shot in the eye. I must say that the Roman people loved this ruler very much.
Met among the Roman emperors and merry fellows. A very funny story is connected with the name of Gallienus, for example. One jeweler, who sold counterfeit gems 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's cage. The unfortunate man, with bated breath, was waiting for an inevitable and, moreover, terrible death, and then the cage door swung open, and a chicken came out of it. Unable to withstand the stress, the jeweler fainted. When the audience laughed enough, Gallienus ordered to announce: "This man was deceiving, 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, gladiator fights and animal baiting began to gradually decline. It was a 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 rising in price. Therefore, the Roman emperors of that period had enough worries, in addition to the arrangement of expensive games. And, nevertheless, they continued, although already without the former scope. Finally, gladiator fights were banned 72 years before the fall of the Roman Empire.
Once 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 variant - the diet is more balanced and varied, mainly included vegetarian food. Plemyash is not a vegetarian, but the desire for a curvaceous pumped up body was very strong. In a conversation with him, they touched on the topic of gladiators ancient rome and I remembered that they were vegetarians. I myself became interested and I looked for information about them. That's how this article came about. Maybe someone will be interested too)
There are many myths about gladiators and their arena fights. Western cinema shoots serials and individual films that, in fact, have nothing to do with the historical realities of that time. Let's figure out where is the truth and where is the myth, based on historical documents. I am most interested in the nutrition of gladiators, which helps to endure heavy physical exertion, fights and contributes to the 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, casts were made and profiles were sculpted, statues were cast, their exploits were depicted on vessels and interior items. Gladiators were from different social strata - it is a mistake to think that all gladiators were slaves. Initially, of course, it was like that - those who were taken prisoner, bought at the slave market, caught for murder or theft, who fell into a debt hole, were released into the arena. Arena fights were arranged 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, the gladiators were chosen in the most careful way and prepared specifically for the fights.
The myth that gladiators in the arena died like flies is nothing more than a myth. The life of a gladiator was very expensive - the gladiator had to train for several months before entering the arena, the preparation took a very long time, and therefore the gladiators were taken care of. Along with arena fights between people, fights between gladiators and animals were also practiced. As opposed to human life, bulls, lions, tigers and crocodiles came out. On major holidays, Indian elephants were specially brought. Gladiators who especially distinguished themselves and liked the public were presented with a wooden sword, symbolizing freedom. Gladiators, "having gone free", re-signed the contract and entered the arena. Accustomed to the roar of the public, respect and daily training, the gladiators could not imagine themselves outside the walls of the arena and the training barracks.
As excavations and fragments of history testify, successful gladiators were very wealthy people who had their own estate, family and children. The fate of the gladiatorial life was not bypassed by some emperors, for example, Commodus, who ruled in 176-192. The thirst for glory, and maybe adrenaline, pushed the emperor to more and more battles. The emperor ordered his every entry into the arena to be celebrated in historical references, thanks to which we can say with confidence that it was 735 times. Is it a lot or a little? For 20-30 fights, a gladiator could get freedom. If a gladiator participated in 50 battles and managed to survive, then his popularity could be compared with the popularity of our Prima Donna in the Soviet era. Many things were forgiven to such gladiators, their people loved and revered for gods, perpetuating busts and profiles in the annals of history.
Gladiators were required to possess the following values:
- Fortitudo (strength)
- Discipline (discipline)
- Constantia (excerpt)
- Patientia (patience)
- Contemptus mortis (contempt for death)
- Amor laudis (lust for glory)
- Cupido victoriae (lust for victory)
This explains why the people tolerated the emperor-gladiator, who completely forgot about the state. On December 31, 192, 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 arena fights, continuing fights on the water. Battles on ships were called naumachia, from the Greek. "Ναυμαχία" - naval battle. History captured the first naval battle in 46g. 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, a whole lake was dug out on the Campus Martius in Rome. To appreciate the scope of the battle and the preparations for it, suffice it to say that there were 16 galleys with 2 thousand gladiators in them on the lake. Another major battle on the same lake was an imitation of the Salamis battle between the Greek and Persian fleets, 24 warships and 3000 gladiators participated. The largest naumachia was the “show” on the orders of Emperor Claudius. Lake Fucino near Rome could accommodate 50 warships and 20 thousand gladiators. A feature of the "sea" battles was that there was no place for personal or personal battles - success depended on the well-coordinated work of the team, therefore, blood flowed like water only in such battles.
More than half a million spectators gathered for the Naumachia of Claudius. All the gladiators who survived were released from gladiatorial obligations and released. The exception was the crews of several galleys, which evaded the main battle.
Despite the seriousness of the battles, there were cases when they joked in the arena. So in the reign of Emperor Galien, the bullfighter could not hit the bull in 10 attempts, but, nevertheless, he was awarded the laurel wreath of the winner. When the public roared in indignation, the emperor announced through heralds that he was rewarding the winner for doing the impossible - it is impossible not to hit the bull for so many attempts ... A peculiar, of course, joke. Another story tells of a jeweler who deceived the emperor's wife by handing her a ring with false jewels. The trembling jeweler was brought onto the stage, announcing that he would fight the lions. However, roosters were released to the general laughter of the public.
The life of a gladiator was similar to modern soldier everyday life - gladiators lived in barracks that were locked at night. In the morning they were waiting for breakfast and many hours of training. Before sunset - dinner and sleep. The discipline was tough and the training hard. A doctor was attached to the gladiatorial hut, who often examined the soldiers for their physical and moral health, made up a diet and recommended the intensity of training.
It is impossible not to talk about hygiene, which Roman doctors paid great attention to. The proverb - "It is better to prevent a disease than to cure it" - just from Rome. The hygiene was highest level, the purity of drinking water, sold fruits and vegetables were given the closest attention. Special employees checked all drinking water bodies and all goods sold for cleanliness.
The nutrition of the gladiators, 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, so as not to get sick (the Romans did not drink pure milk and always diluted it with water).
- Do not eat heavy meals at night.
- Healthy food is fruits and flour products.
- You should not eat rich bread, raw meat, raisins and smoked meats.
Food was prepared with big amount spices, thus compensating for the lack of flavors and micronutrients. The food was not salted. Salt was used as a food preservative so that food 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 come down to our time.
The food of a recruit who had just got into the gladiatorial barracks included stews and cereals, the stew was a kind of diet to cleanse the body of the “old” food. The recipe for one of the stews includes a mixture of flour, honey, grated cheese, olive oil and water. Later, after a while, the recruit was allowed to eat porridge, and later the main dishes. The main dishes include barley groats and beans. Beans were consumed with a lot of vegetables. Also in the diet were dried fruits and mineral water.
In the diet of gladiators there was one dish that "a certain nationality" passes off as their own invention. In the form in which it is now - perhaps, but the first recipe and the idea itself belongs to Greece, from which Rome adopted it! This is ... borscht!!! “Wash yourself”, brothers and sisters from kindred Ukraine. With bacon - this is your invention, but nutritious, healthy and tasty - this is Greek ... Beets and cabbage were specially grown for borscht. Surprisingly, but ... cabbage was considered the most healing in borscht. The diet of not only gladiators, but the whole of Rome included a huge number of recipes based on cabbage. Even Cicero devoted his laudatory odes to cabbage. There were a lot of recipes for borscht, it was the Romans who guessed before cooking borscht, fry beets in oil.
The bread that is baked, as already mentioned above, was not included in the diet of 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 lot of the poor and the lower class.
It is very curious 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 do hard training and training with weapons. Only a year later it was possible to enter the arena, and the point here is not at all that for a year the fighters were prepared for battle, after all, there were also experienced captured warriors. And the fact that the fighters quickly gained the necessary weight on plant foods, the bones acquired a fortress, the body was cleansed of toxins, which caused excessive strain in the muscles and reduced the reaction rate of the gladiator, interfering with his victory. The gladiators were by no means muscular and lean "Hollywood bullies", but strong men of a dense physique with a small "belly". Fat layer protect the body from falls, bumps and injuries.
Researchers from Medical University Veins, after analyzing several thousand bones belonging to the gladiators, confirmed the fact of a vegetarian diet. Comparing the bones of gladiators with the bones of "ordinary inhabitants 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 a layer of fat served as additional protection against melee weapons during fights. Strontium, contained in plant foods, strengthens bones and promotes the speedy healing of wounds. Subcutaneous fat, with a vegetarian diet, is dense and well supplied with blood. With meat nutrition - it is very loose and blood supply is very difficult. Don't believe? 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. The body does not form toxins, there is no overvoltage gastrointestinal tract from too much work. After all, even Hippocrates wrote that beef causes melancholy and is poorly digested by the stomach. He recommended eating beans and cereals, which became widespread.
If the gladiators with their intense training, elevated physical activity and frequent multiple injuries preferred plant foods, maybe you should think about your diet ...
