Now that Ridley Scott is preparing the sequel to his Oscar-winning film Gladiator It is a more than ideal moment to take an in-depth look at the lives of the protagonists of the arena, what happens in their lives since they step on the ludus for the first time until they abandon it due to age or death. Some lives that we know more from the myths that revolve around them than from reality.
2. Life of the gladiators
The lanistae they had three sources of supply for their ludus:
The main quarry gladiators during the republic and early empire. Because of their military experience they were considered fit for gladiatorship. To get the best lanistae they had scouts who accompanied the legions during campaigns. Something that was a great benefit to them since, as there were no intermediaries, they could acquire the slaves at a lower price.
In the same camp there were imperial and private scouts, so the prisoners who arrived at the slave market presented less qualities.
When a criminal was judged, he could either be a participant in the venationes, as we will see later, or a gladiator (damnatio ad ludumcondemns the ludus) This is the reason why many ludus were located on islands, to make it more difficult for slaves to escape.
Many entered gladiatorship out of the mere desire to become gladiators. But this is a point that we will develop shortly because to talk about this group we have to talk about the concept of infamy. This concept had the same meaning that it has today, that is, people considered infamous (actors, prostitutes and gladiators) are the lowest of society since they have no will over themselves (their body and life depend on others)
Others entered the gladiator for mere subsistence. For those who lacked any other means of livelihood, the ludus offered daily food and shelter until the day of combat. If the person survived, he also obtained the commission for the fight plus the prizes.
3. The authoritative and the infamy
The authoritative They were the ones who gave the best show since they had chosen the trade of their own free will or because they were former gladiators who decided to re-enter the trade.
When a citizen wished to become a gladiator, he had to declare it before a tribune of the plebs and the lanista to which he was assigned, which had to give his consent to accept the volunteer. Afterwards, the volunteer swore the oath (since whipping a Roman citizen or punishing him as was done with the gladiators was a crime) in the presence of the lanista and of the tribune. If, on the other hand, the volunteer preferred to serve autonomously, that is, without lanista (case of the great stars of the arena that returned to the profession), in the declaration would be the editor that he was going to hire him and the oath was not taken.
PETRONIO (20-66), Satyricon, 117: «uri, vinciri, verberari ferroque necari». (Burned, chained, beaten and killed by the sword.)
The desire to become a gladiator was something that was born from an early age. In fact, in Pompeii a clay baby bottle was found that had the figure of a gladiator engraved on it since, it was believed, that way the baby acquired the strength and courage of said fighters.
Later these citizens practiced with the sword privately but still had the desire to be seen publicly so that everyone would admire their skill with the sword. gladius, something they couldn’t afford infamy.
As we have already anticipated, despite being admired by the people for their strength and courage (the gladiator blood market is well known since it was believed that the strength of the fighter resided in it, which was a remedy for things such as sexual impotence) a gladiator was considered a infamies, a disgraceful social category that included actors and prostitutes. In the case of the gladiator, these were affected by the infamy for two reasons: the submission of his will to that of others (the people), his display in public. Is infamy could be marked in two ways:
- to fire This was the case of slaves, prisoners of war and the condemned. The purpose was to be able to identify them immediately so that they could be returned to the lanista
- Tattoo (stigma). Taking into account the inscriptions that we have on gladiatorial weapons, we assume that they would be abbreviations.
However, there was the paradox that you could fight in the arena without being affected by the infamy. Some of the circumstances that freed the person from infamy are:
- Fulfill a family obligation.
- Perform a social obligation.
Also, if the auctoratus he did not receive money but only fought to show his value was not affected by the infamy.
4. Life in the ludus
4.1 Arrival
The novice gladiator received the name of threw. Regardless of its origin, it had to go through the same initial selection process:
- He was put in work clothes (only with the subligaculum)
- He was assigned to a doctor for a first evaluation.
- Armed with a rudis (wooden sword) was to attack one of the magister (assistant teachers) in order to be evaluated.
If he did not show qualities, he was assigned to the group of gregarii, the “filler” gladiators so to speak since they were the ones who fell first. If he had them, then his strength and agility were studied to know which group he should join: the one with heavy weapons (secutor, oplomachus, murmilloetc) or light weapons (thraeces, retiarii, etc.)
The threw he went through all those units to see which gladiatorial type he had the most qualities for, which one he performed best in. Once this is determined threw was assigned to the unit in question. There was a doctor specialist in each gladiatorial type. Over the doctors It must be said that they were already retired gladiators who had excelled in the weapon they now taught. The doctor was hired by lanista, which gave him an agreed portion of the profits produced by the gladiators he had groomed. Because normally the doctor he was an elderly retired gladiator, they were the magister those in charge of teaching “practice” (punches, feints, etc.)
The young learned from the older ones, and felt true respect and admiration for the doctors. They would probably also admire the lanista. Young people learned from these survivors of the arena their techniques and strategies, and also heard from them the legends and stories of the trade, the stories of the lives of famous gladiators, such as Tritanus – known for his strength – or Spicules. That was how the spirit of family that they would feel for the rest of their lives.
The newbie (threw) still was threw until he came out of the first fight alive.
4.2 The nickname
After the first fight the threw happened to be veteranus and he adopted a nickname as bombastic as possible so that it would attract attention in advertisements and people could easily learn it. He also had to inspire fear and respect to the rival.
For example in the image we see a gladiator called Bellerefonsnickname that refers to Bellerophon, hero of Greek mythology and son of Poseidon and Eurynome famous for killing the Chimera monster.
4.3 Left-handed (scaevae)
Lefties had a special status among gladiators as it was a highly prized quality for the same reasons as today: most of the competitors were right-handed. Taking this into account, right-handers, being used to facing right-handers, had problems facing left-handers since the entire fight scheme is reversed. However, left-handers were used to being measured against right-handers so they didn’t have that much of a problem.
Commodus, for example, was left-handed and when a left-handed gladiator died he did not forget to mention that trait in his epitaph.
Arena stars, of course, learned to use weapons with both hands so they wouldn’t have this problem.
4.4 Life conditions
The living conditions of the gladiators depended on the origin of the gladiator. Convicted prisoners were subject to stricter surveillance, since if they escaped the lanista there were legal consequences. Those who were slaves purchased by the lanista They had more freedom. As for the volunteer gladiators (authoritative), they enjoyed almost total freedom. In fact, some lived outside the ludusat home, with his wife and children, going to the ludus just to train. If he auctoratus he had no home he was given his own dependency on the ludus.
4.5 The gladiatorial family
One of the things that was done in the ludus, In addition to physical training, it was to form the feeling of belonging to a family. The ludus became a place where he had his fellow professionals, among whom a feeling of brotherhood reigned that even led them to claim the body of a gladiator of the ludus that he had no family to be able to bury him, and also where he could have his biological family, that is, his wife and children.
4.6 Training and nutrition
The training to prepare the general physical condition was very much based on the
knowledge of Greek coaches. Therefore, the physical training plans were very similar to those of the Greek combat sports (wrestling, pugilism and pancracy) Mainly strength was needed, to carry weapons and to prevail in the melee, resistance, to endure all the combat, and fast and powerful movements.
In the early second century, Greek trainers developed the four-day cycle, the tetrad. It consisted of:
- First day: preparatory exercises
- Second day: intense work.
- Third day: rest day
- Fourth day: work at medium intensity.
Strength was worked on by lifting weights (halterae), speed, practicing wrestling and other combat sports, and endurance were trained either in wrestling practice itself, or with a game called harpastum. It is a game similar to rugby in which almost everything was worth and it would be to kill the dead hours.
But they were not only trained as warriors but also as actors. They had to offer a show since that could give them points to get out alive in the arena, especially in the Colosseum since living depended on liking the six vestals.
The diet was considered as an element without which the gladiator could not develop
full potential due to the strength needs of gladiatorial combat. For this reason, meat was a predominant food in said diet. This meat was obtained mainly from the venationes themselves.
Along with meat, the diet was supplemented with some food rich in carbohydrates, so the lanistae they opted for barley (the cheapest food, cheaper than wheat but of similar nutritional value), which was eaten in the form of porridge. Along with these two foods, a large quantity of legumes was also consumed, especially beans, something that Galen (a doctor of gladiators who also became a doctor of emperors such as Septimius Severus) also pointed out and that is corroborated by the remains found in Ephesus. Plus the diet…