Реферат: The Rise Of Gladiatorial Combat In Rome

displayed elsewhere. That was why the games were not popular with a few rulers

such as Marcus Aurelius. He directed that if a gladiator was freed as a result

of popular outcry in the amphitheater the liberation was to be annulled.

Aurelius found the sport boring and indeed he was unenthusiastic about Roman

entertainment in general. (10:87)

The teaching of gladiators was highly elaborate affair involving

expertise appreciated by those members of the public who attended the games for

something more than blood and thrills. Gladiators were trained at gladiator

schools established during the late Republic at the time of Sulla 138-78 BC.

(2:86) Novices practiced with wooden swords on a man of straw or a wooden post.

The weapons used in more adept practice were heavier than those used in the

arena. Discipline was severe, with ruthless punishments. The barracks they

lived in were so low inmates could only sit or lie.(3:68) Breaking any rules

was not tolerated and resulted in strict reprimanding: shackles, flogging or

even death. (2:86) The main objective of the schools were to produce the best

possible fighters for the arena, thus scrupulous attention was invested in

gladiator health. Their schools were situated in favorable climates, and

equipped with first class doctors. The schools were also provided with resident

medical consultants to check the men’s diet. Gladiators were called hordearii,

barley men, because of the amount of barley that they ate, a muscle building

food. (12:111)

The Types of Gladiators

From Republican times onward, foreign prisoners were made to fight with

their own weapons and in their own styles. Many of these men, were merely

prisoners herded into the arena, but various classes of professional gladiators

likewise came from this category. Such, for example was the origin of the

gladiators known as the Samnites. Generally regarded as the prototypes of all

Rome’s gladiators, they are said to have come into existence after its Samnite

enemies introduced a splendid new type of military equipment in 310 BC.