These gladiator facts will have you screaming at your local Emperor for more! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most fascinating bits of information regarding Roman gladiators.
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00:00And that specific moment, you could say that they are the heavyweight champions of the Roman Empire.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most fascinating bits of information regarding Roman gladiators.
00:12But now, controversial new fighters are stepping into the arena.
00:17Hail, Jesus!
00:20Number 25.
00:21The name means swordsman.
00:23The word gladiator stems from the Latin word gladius, meaning sword.
00:27As the fighters were typically armed with a sword or similar bladed weapons,
00:31gladius became gladiator, meaning swordsman, or more generally, one who fights with a sword.
00:39The frost. Sometimes it makes the blade stick.
00:42Number 24.
00:43There were different types of gladiators.
00:45Like modern MMA fighters, each gladiator had their own distinct style.
00:50Some examples include the murmillo, which were heavily armored,
00:54retiarius, who fought with nets and tridents,
00:57and the haplomachus, who battled with long spears.
01:00Sword! Give me a sword!
01:03Seize your sword! Seize your sword!
01:07Number 23.
01:08Commodus loved the gladiators.
01:10The Roman Emperor Commodus was obsessed with gladiatorial combat,
01:14and often performed in the Colosseum himself, fighting humans and animals alike.
01:18But, as is depicted in Ridley Scott's movie,
01:21most of his fights were rigged, and all of his opponents surrendered.
01:27Strap on his armor. Conceal the wound.
01:30Number 22.
01:31The fights are rooted in religion.
01:33The gladiator fights weren't just for entertainment and spectacle.
01:37Many historians believe that they have roots in funerary rites and blood offerings,
01:41and over time, gladiatorial combat became incorporated into major Roman religious festivals.
01:47Is there the sign of your gods?
01:52Well, they're not angry then.
01:54Number 21.
01:55Public opinion was mixed.
01:57Don't let the packed Colosseum fool you.
02:00Public opinion about gladiator fights was highly divisive.
02:03Some saw these spectacles as thrilling entertainment,
02:06while others condemned the fights as immoral and barbaric.
02:09Opposition grew particularly strong as Christianity gained prominence,
02:13and later, emperors like Constantine and Heronius would take great steps to stop the gains.
02:18The Romans see Christianity as a threat because of its promise to undermine Roman conceptions
02:25of how power and authority were supposed to work.
02:29Number 20.
02:30Many gladiators fought voluntarily.
02:32It's a common misconception that all gladiators were forced into the arena.
02:36There were also the auctorati, free men who willingly chose to become gladiators,
02:42and who, by the late Republic, comprised about half of all fighters.
02:46Do you ever find it hard to do your duty?
02:51Sometimes I do what I want to do.
02:54The rest of the time, I do what I have to.
02:57Number 19.
02:58The fights expanded with Rome's military campaigns.
03:01A significant portion of the gladiatorial population
03:04was made up of individuals captured during Rome's many military campaigns.
03:08These prisoners of war were widely traded within the Roman Empire.
03:12These prisoners of war were widely traded within the Roman Empire
03:16and often trained as fighters, or sometimes just thrown into the arena unprepared,
03:21as was the case with the noxii.
03:23The general who became a slave.
03:27The slave who became a gladiator.
03:30Number 18.
03:31Some gladiators fought to restore their honor.
03:34The concept of restoring honor was significant in Roman society,
03:39particularly among military prisoners who had surrendered in battle.
03:42To Romans, surrendering was undignified,
03:45and captured prisoners of war were allowed to fight as gladiators
03:49in order to restore their honor, and die a dignified death.
03:53I was the best because the crowd loved me.
03:56Win the crowd, and you'll win your freedom.
04:00Number 17.
04:01Fights lasted about ten minutes.
04:04When you think about it, gladiator matches are really just the ancient form of MMA.
04:09Like modern fights, they only lasted between ten and twenty minutes,
04:13and roughly ten matches would be fought in one afternoon,
04:16making up an ancient form of a fight card.
04:19And in the afternoon is when you had the paired combats, the gladiators,
04:23the ones that entertained most of the people.
04:25Number 16.
04:26Successful gladiators were given wooden swords.
04:30For many gladiators, receiving a wooden sword or staff was the highest form of honor.
04:35This was called a rudis, and it was the retirement watch of the gladiator community,
04:39signifying their freedom.
04:41Retired fighters were called rudiarii,
04:44and many chose to remain in the sport in the form of referees and trainers.
04:48There is only one staff,
04:51and that means
04:54there can only be one winner!
04:58Number 15.
04:59Many gladiators had stage names.
05:02Gladiator fights were spectacles,
05:04and naturally, that included fun stage names.
05:07Many gladiators adopted stage names to add to their mystique and popular appeal,
05:12including Amazon, Achillea, and Flama, meaning the flame.
05:16Why doesn't the hero reveal himself and tell us all your real name?
05:22You do have a name.
05:24Number 14.
05:25Bravado was highly valued.
05:27A gladiator fight wasn't just sticking two people on the stage and watching them kill each other.
05:32Nope.
05:33Stagecraft was actually highly valued amongst gladiators,
05:36and a show of bravado was necessary to endear audiences to a specific fighter.
05:47Number 13.
05:48Many were physically coerced into fighting.
05:51As you can imagine, many gladiators were reluctant to fight,
05:55especially those who had been forced into it without any training, like the Noxian.
05:59However, these gladiators were often forced into the ring under extreme duress,
06:04often being painfully whipped or branded with hot irons until they started the fight.
06:15Number 12.
06:16Most fights did not end in death.
06:18In direct defiance of traditional pop culture,
06:21most gladiator fights did not end in death.
06:24In fact, only about one in nine fights ended with someone losing their life.
06:28In reality, a losing gladiator could admit defeat by raising his finger,
06:33and most of these fighters were spared, provided they fought nobly.
06:44Number 11.
06:45An early form of advertising.
06:47Gladiator fights were widely advertised in ancient Rome,
06:51especially the anticipated battles between famous foes.
06:55Billboards would line the streets, informing citizens of the date, venue, fighters,
07:00and even things like door prizes and concessions.
07:12Number 10.
07:13There were rules.
07:15Like all sports, gladiator fights were governed by rules and were overseen by a referee.
07:20Like boxing or MMA referees, they had the power to separate fighting opponents,
07:25judge various infractions, and even stop fights should the situation call for it.
07:38Number 9.
07:39Gladiators swore oaths.
07:41All gladiators were bound by a sacred oath called a sacramentum,
07:45and as you can imagine, it wasn't exactly a fun one.
07:48According to the Roman courtier Petronius,
07:51he vows to endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword.
08:05Number 8.
08:06They were given good medical care.
08:08Despite the often poor conditions that gladiators were forced to live in,
08:12they did receive substantial and free medical care.
08:15Gladiators were meant to stay in peak fighting condition,
08:18so they were seen to by trained doctors, given herbal remedies and physical therapy,
08:23and even surgery should a nasty injury occur.
08:33Number 7.
08:34There were female gladiators.
08:36While they were often seen as exotic and novel, there were indeed female gladiators.
08:41They are called gladiatrices, and they were used under emperors like Domitian and Titus.
08:46However, they were eventually banned in the year 200 following vocal criticism of female athletics.
09:04Number 6.
09:05Their blood was considered magic.
09:07The gladiators, being warriors and often viewed as embodiments of courage and resilience,
09:12were thought to carry a certain spirit in their blood.
09:15As such, their blood was considered magical,
09:18and many people actually tried to collect it after a fight,
09:21believing it could cure various ailments like epilepsy.
09:28Number 5.
09:29They were bodyguards for Marc Antony.
09:31Some gladiators even had jobs outside of the arena.
09:34The famous Roman politician Marc Antony valued the fighters very highly
09:38and hired them as his personal bodyguards,
09:40a tactic that defied convention and greatly confused his rivals.
09:50Number 4.
09:51They were given last meals.
09:53In a practice very similar to last meals in prison,
09:56condemned gladiators were provided with a special banquet the night before a fight.
10:01These meals served as both a final gesture of compassion and a practical necessity,
10:06as gladiators needed energy for combat.
10:19Number 3.
10:20They were trained in special schools.
10:22While some skipped it entirely and went straight to the arena,
10:25most gladiators were trained in special schools called ludi,
10:29but this was not a cushy affair.
10:31Training was brutal and exhaustive.
10:33Gladiators lived in cramped conditions,
10:36were subjected to psychological conditioning,
10:38and often faced strict discipline.
10:54Number 2.
10:55They had a short life expectancy.
10:57While some gladiators were rewarded the wooden sword and lived comfortably in retirement,
11:02that was certainly not the norm.
11:04Modern scholars have done extensive research into this subject
11:07and found that the average age of death for a gladiator was between 18 and 27.
11:16Ultimately, we're all dead men.
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11:36Number 1.
11:37They were mostly vegetarian.
11:39While you'd think buff gladiators would be full of steak and chicken,
11:42that couldn't be further from the truth.
11:44In fact, gladiators were largely vegetarian,
11:47subsisting mainly on beans, fruit, and barley.
11:50In fact, gladiators were known to consume so much of the latter
11:54that they were given the nickname podiari, meaning eaters of barley.
11:58So once the poulse has cooked down, dish it up and serve.
12:01And here we are, barley and bean poulse for a Roman gladiator.
12:06Do you have any other interesting factoids?
12:08Let us know in the comments below.
12:11Your fame is well-deserved, Spaniard.
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