The movie Gladiator was very entertaining and certainly raised
the profile of gladiators. The question, however, is whether the movie
accurately portrayed these warriors.
In history, there are few topics that are more interesting
than the gladiators of Rome. From the very start, these people who thrust into
battle with other men and many different animals have interested historians and
the public at large. But what started the tradition of gladiators, and who
would consent to perform at such a dangerous job?
Gladiators were not generally volunteers. Although a few men
were trained at gladiator schools throughout Rome, most of the gladiators that
battled in the arenas were prisoners of war, slaves, and criminals. Gladiator
fights were started by the Etruscans, who believed that when a good (wealthy)
man died, blood must be shed in order to pay honour to dead ancestors. These
first gladiator fights were usually arranged and took place between slaves
owned by wealthy men. Rome took up the tradition of these fights and expanded
upon it – and the gladiators battled in arenas until the process was finally
banned in 404 AD.
Gladiators usually fought in pairs, one man against another.
These battles were not meant to be “to the death”, but often ended up that way
as one gladiator or the other was killed due to being wounded. At the end of
the gladiators' fight, one of the men would acknowledge that he was defeated by
holding up one finger. At this time, the audience (or emperor) was encouraged
to give a thumb signal (up or down) to show whether the defeated gladiator
should die. If it was decided he should die, the man was taken in the back of the
arena and “humanely” killed by an executioner. Occasionally, men would fight
well enough and win enough battles to gain their freedom, in which case they
were given a wooden sword, symbolic of their battles.
The regular population had mixed feelings about the
gladiators. Some felt they were not to be bothered with, as they were just
slaves and criminals. Other gladiators, however, gained a sort of celebrity and
were sought after by women. There is evidence that there were some female
gladiators, and it's said that at least one emperor enjoyed staging fights
between women and dwarfs.
Gladiators were an interesting and important part of the culture
of Rome, but their existence did not last long during the empire. In fact,
gladiator fights only took place for about 150 years, and they were banned
after several Servile Wars with gladiators fighting against Rome. Hollywood has
always been fascinated by gladiators, and it's safe to say that more movies
starring this group of people will probably grace the screen.
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