Gladiator, which means "sword" in translation, is a condemned person, slave or offender, specially trained to fight in the arenas of amphitheaters. The Romans learned gladiatorial combat from the Greeks and Egyptians and supported their idea of sacrifice to Mars, the god of war.
How we became gladiators
Initially, people sentenced to death, who had nothing to lose, became gladiators. The statutes of ancient Rome made it possible to fight for freedom and, in case of victory, it was possible to exchange life for the finances gained in battle. Then ordinary people joined the gladiatorial battles, who desperately wanted to achieve fame and material well-being. In order to become one of the fighters, they had to take an oath and become "legally dead." Every person who decided on this was fed free of charge high-calorie food and provided timely treatment. The sponsors of the fights spent a lot of money on the maintenance of gladiators, so often the entrance ticket to the show where the fight was fought was very expensive. There are cases when bloody gladiatorial battles of women were organized.
Gladiator schools
In ancient Rome, there were even special institutions in which gladiators were trained in combat. They could belong to both the state and a private person. The manager of such an institution was called "lanista". In his submission was a staff of teachers teaching fencing, weaponry, as well as cooks, doctors and even a funeral team. The daily routine and discipline at the gladiatorial school was extremely strict.
In some of these institutions, they taught and fights with wild animals. Such fighters took much longer training. They were taught the training, the habits of various types of animals. Elephants, lions, tigers, bears, panthers, leopards died in the ring along with people.
Gladiator classification
Ancient Rome was full of gladiator fights, which were first organized during church holidays, and then became an integral part of almost everyday entertainment of citizens. There was even a classification of fighters by specialization.
1. Andabats - gladiators who fought on the principle of cavalry competitions, without the right to see the opponent.
2. The bestiaries were originally criminals sentenced to combat with animals. The convicts had virtually no chance of survival. Subsequently, these gladiators began to receive training. Armed with javelins or daggers, fighters began to often win in such fights.
3. Bustarii - gladiators who fought in memory of those killed at the ceremonial games.
4. Velites are walking gladiators who fought with darts, small daggers and shields.
5. The Venators were not gladiators, but were present at every battle. They entertained the audience using animals. They performed tricks: they thrust their hands into the mouth of a lion, rode a camel.
6. Dimachers in the process of struggle had 2 swords with them. Helmet and shield were not allowed.
7. The Gauls were armed with a spear, a small shield and a helmet.
8. Lakeware. Their task was to catch the enemy with a lasso.
9. Murmillons. On the crest of their helmet was a stylized fish. Armed with a short sword and shield.
10. Noxia - criminals who were released to fight each other. Sometimes they were blindfolded, given one or another weapon. The judge or someone from the crowd was allowed to prompt the fighters. However, most often the audience shouted over the instructions and the fighters could not hear anything.
11. Pregenaria. They were the first to speak, “warming up” the crowd. These gladiators wrapped their bodies in rags and used wooden swords.
12. Provocateurs - armed with gladius and gladiator shields, were the only ones allowed to defend the body with a cuirass.
13. Rudiaries - fighters who deserve freedom, but decided to stay in the ranks of gladiators. They were awarded with a wooden sword. They became coaches, judges or assistants.
14. The Sagittarii fought on horseback and were armed with a bow.
15. Skissors - fighters armed with weapons resembling scissors.
16. Tertiarius is a substitute player who came on as a substitute if, for some reason, one of the gladiators could not participate in the battle. In other battles, the Tertiarii fought the winner of the main competition.
17. Equites spent the first half of the battle on horseback, and after the spear with which they were armed was thrown, they continued to fight on their feet with short swords.
18. Cestus - fighters who fought using only cestus - an old analogue of brass knuckles.
The tradition of gladiatorial fights on the territory of Ancient Rome was preserved for more than half a millennium.
