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But most were given a name specifically for the arena.
#SPARTACUS GLADIATOR FULL#
So a man with little armour was vulnerable yet swift, while those in full breastplate tired quickly.Īmong the first gladiators were prisoners of war – experienced warriors who kept their names, such as Thracians (such as Spartacus), Samnites and Gallus. They’d have seen a well-orchestrated sequence of dozens of different warriors – of course, still doing the fight to the death over and over.Įach type of gladiator had his set weapons, armour and look, and would be matched off against a different fighter. When Romans went to the gladiatorial games, they wouldn’t just have seen the same old fight to the death over and over. Q: What types of Roman gladiator were there?
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Gladiators were divided into categories – each armed and attired in a characteristic manner – and were then pitched against one another in pairings designed to show a variety of forms of combat. In the manner of his fighting, and above all in his quiet and courageous acceptance of death, even a gladiator, a despised slave, could display this. Above most qualities, the Romans valued ‘virtus’, which meant, first and foremost, acting in a brave and soldierly fashion. This remained the case no matter how much they were feted by the people. Gladiators were at the bottom of the heap in Roman society. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images) Q: What was life like for a gladiator in ancient Rome?Ī: Until the discovery of the cities of Vesuvius in the 18th century, virtually everything we knew about gladiators came from references in ancient texts, from random finds of stone sculptures and inscriptions, and the impressive structures of the amphitheatres dotted about all over the Roman empire, writes Tony Wilmott. There were dozens of different gladiators, but spare a thought for the ones that had to fight blindfolded.