Essay On Roman Gladiators

Would the average person want to live a life of fan worship, fame, and glory but live a short life? This is how the Roman gladiators lived their lives. Gladiators were Romans who would fight against each other, sometimes even to the death for the purpose of entertainment. An average gladiator was a slave, former slave, or condemned prisoner, but there were some who chose to live such a life. Some chose to live like this for gladiators got paid every time they fought and they could keep any rewards or purses of money they received. Even though the rewards came with the chance of being killed at a young age or becoming seriously injured, some people were desperate for money. While most gladiators were men, some were women, but the women
Before they could fight, they had to go through a stage of initial training which did not involve using highly dangerous weapons. Strict rules were enforced during all of gladiator training, especially during this first stage. For instance, new gladiators were not able to speak during meals and were bound in shackles if they weren’t training. Everyone was placed in classes based on record, skill, and ability and they usually specialized in a particular fighting style and set of weaponry. Rules were enforced just as strongly during the actual bouts as they were outside of them. If gladiators lacked enthusiasm while fighting or did not perform to their expected ability, they were whipped with leather whips or metal hot bars. An oath and legal agreement had to be made saying that the gladiators agreed to be beat, burned, and killed by sword if they didn’t perform as required. Some gladiator bouts were often staged for public. Many times Roman emperors, such as Caligula, Titus, and Hadrian would “fight” in these staged bouts to win the love of the spectators. According to Mark Cartright’s article, “Roman gladiator games were an opportunity for emperors and rich aristocrats to display their wealth to the populace, to commemorate military victories, mark visits from important officials, celebrate birthdays, or simply to distract the populace from political and economical problems of the day.” More often than not,