The Gladiators were professional fighters who fought until death in the amphitheaters of Ancient Rome.
The gladiatorial fights originated in central Italy, probably as a funeral sacrifice. The first gladiatorial games in Rome were held in 264 BC, when three pairs of gladiators fought as part of a funeral celebration. By 174 BC, 37 pairs participated at a 3-day event. The Roman Senate limited the number of contestants after Julius Caesar held an event with 300 pairs of gladiators. The emperor Domitian in AD 90 presented combats between women and dwarfs.
The gladiators were male slaves, condemned criminals, prisoners of war, and sometimes Christians. They were forced to become swordsmen in training schools called ludi, and special measures were taken to discipline them and prevent them from committing suicide.
A successful gladiator received great acclaim; he was praised by poets, his portrait appeared on gems and vases, and patrician ladies pampered him. A gladiator who survived many combats might be relieved from further obligation. Occasionally, freedmen and Roman citizens entered the arena, as did the insane Emperor Commodus.
According to the weapons they used and their methods of fighting, gladiators were divided into various classes. There were heavily and lightly armed gladiators, and they fought against each other. For example, the retiarius (net man), who wore a short tunic, attempted to capture his fully armed opponent, the secutor (pursuer), with a net and then to kill him with a dagger. Other classes fought using different weapons, or from horseback or chariots. According to tradition, when a gladiator had overpowered his opponent, the spectators decided the fate of the weaker man. If they wished to let the defeated man live, they would wave their handkerchiefs. If they wanted the man to die, they would turn their thumbs downwards.
Constantine the Great banned gladiatorial contests in AD 325, but they continued to be held until about 500AD.
