How Gladiators Came to be

In the Roman empire, one could end up a slave via, er, multiple channels – those defeated in war, unlucky victims of piracy, inability to repay debts, and by being found guilty of certain crimes. In theory, one could come out of slavery by buying one’s freedom or if one’s master was willing to release the individual. In practice, while such things did happen, they were very rare.

 

As you can imagine, slavery was “functional” – it existed to serve a need, cruel though it was. This was true not just in Rome but all ancient civilizations, from Egypt to Greece.

 

Rome though was the first empire that also used slavery for entertainment. That trend started off due to the Roman practice of re-enacting the acts of a military figure who had died – bit by bit, it extended to include athletic events, even chariot races, and eventually opened up to everyone around, not just relatives of the deceased! Like Indian weddings nowadays, it soon became a competition of sorts – who could afford the most lavish event?

 

As it became a source of entertainment for others, the state stepped in – after all, they had the most money to make the spectacle really grand, and they could throw it open to everyone in the city. “Bread and circuses”. And thus the need for gladiators began to grow. Thus, the best, fittest, strongest among the defeated enemy combatants were now enlisted as gladiators instead of being thrown into slavery. They were made to dress in their “traditional” garb, use the armoury and weapons from the regions they came from – all this to provide an air of “authenticity” to the Roman public. Amphitheatres to host these events kept growing in size, culminating in the Colosseum.

 

Soon training schools were setup for these gladiators – there was so much money to be made, after all. In the amphitheatres, these muscled and skilled men might come across as celebrities, but their life was brutal. And short. On the plus side, these men got better nourishment than many Roman citizens, and their hygiene was catered too (even massages weren’t unheard of) – after all, they were very valuable, so much was being spent on their training…

 

In a fight, gladiators could surrender, and their request was decided by the crowd’s mood. Those who fought well and died were taken to the morgue for respectful disposal. Those who died poorly were thrown into the river or a dump and left for wild animals to desecrate.

 

I guess modern movies like Hunger Games are probably based on Rome and its gladiators.