The Gladiator Contests in The Roman Empire

The Roman Games were cruel and brutal in the way that people would put their life on the line, just to impress the crowd. This essay will be looking specifically into the Gladiator contests and what the day of a gladiatorial game looked like.

The first and original creators of the Roman games were the Etruscans of northern Italy and held public games. These included Gladiator battles, Roman boxing, Hoop rolling, Roman ball game, Indoor Roman games and chariot races. These were held as a sacrifice to the gods. The Romans would hold the games roughly 10-12 times per year. The games were paid for by the emperor. This is because the emperor wanted the poor to stay unemployed, and not rebel or hassle the upper class about not being occupied. The emperor would do this to distract the poor from their poverty levels.

Although there were other venues in which the games were held, they would be held mainly in the Colosseum which was located just east of the Roman Forum. It was commissioned around 70-72 AD by the emperor Vespasian as a gift to the Roman People. In 80 AD, Vespasian’s son ‘Titus’ opened the Colosseum. 100 days of games were held there until after four centuries of use, it fell into neglect. After this, it was used for building resources up until the 18th century. Nearly two-thirds of the amphitheatre was used and destroyed in this process.

Gladiators were mostly unfree individuals. Most gladiators were lower class or volunteers, simply playing against slaves for fame, monetary rewards and just for the excitement. Anyone who became a gladiator was automatically classed as ‘infamis’ (which means a loss of legal or social standing) by law. Some gladiators were also upper class and even though it was prohibited by law, they would still fight. All gladiators were required to swear a solemn oath (Sacramentum gladiatorial), similar to that sworn by the legionary but much direr: “I will endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword.”

Once the events became more popular, limits were put on how many fighting pairs were allowed to participate in a show at once. There was also a limit on how much money was allowed to be put into the games. Some people would hire gladiators to fight in a pair with them and if the hired gladiator was returned in bad condition, a fine would often have to be paid by the person that hired the gladiator.

In the first century BCE, schools were made to help train people to become gladiators. Trained gladiators had the ability to survive and even thrive off the game. Some gladiators didn't even live long enough to fight two or three battles but the best would become popular heroes, appearing on graffiti. An example of a well-proclaimed fighter would be “Celadus the Thraex who is the heart-throb of the girls”.

Gladiatorial games began with a procession that included the fighters and were led by the sponsor of the games. In Rome during the imperial period, this usually was the emperor, and in the provinces, it was a high-ranking magistrate. Music would also accompany the ceremony. Often instruments such as a water organ or the curved horn would be used. This would be followed by animal displays that would perform tricks.

After that, a lunch break would take place. This was when criminals would be executed. The executions would be held in public on purpose because the atmosphere would make the criminals feel degraded and outcasted. They were also made to be painful as a way to stop citizens from committing the same crimes. Some criminals were also made to fight a gladiator battle with no training as another type of punishment before their fate.

The high point of the games was the afternoon which was the most sought for part of the day. This is when the gladiatorial games would begin. Before the games, it was believed that the gladiators would say a bout such as 'Those who are about to die, we salute you.' Once the gladiators had started fighting, if they felt like they were so hurt that they couldn’t fight any longer, they were allowed to raise their index finger to stop the fight. If this happened, it was believed that the crowd would vote for the life of the competitor. If the crowd put their thumbs up, the victim would be killed and if the crowd put their thumbs down, they would be spared. Although the sponsor would have the main say in the execution decision.