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A gladiator (Latin: gladiator, "swordsman", from gladius, "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing ...
May 24, 2024 · gladiator, professional combatant in ancient Rome. The gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, no doubt with intent to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world; hence the fights were usually to the death.
May 3, 2018 · A Roman Gladiator was an ancient professional fighter who usually specialised with particular weapons and types of armour. They fought before the public in hugely popular organised games held in large purpose-built arenas throughout the Roman Empire from 105 BCE to 404 CE (official contests).
Perhaps no figure from ancient Rome is as famous as the gladiator — a warrior of the arena that fought to the death against beasts, criminals, and other gladiators, for the entertainment of Roman society. Gladiators have become heavily mythologized figures, in part thanks to famous works of fiction like the film Gladiator, directed by Ridley ...
Gladiators could be prisoners of war, enslaved people and those freed from bondage, or volunteers (auctoritas) from society’s lower classes. They were occasionally joined by former aristocrats, who enrolled on their volition after losing their fortunes and in need of other means of income.
Jun 30, 2022 · Who were the most renowned Roman gladiators? From slave rebel Spartacus to debauched emperor Commodus, they varied widely.
Oct 28, 2019 · A Roman gladiator was a man (rarely a woman), typically a convicted criminal or enslaved person, who participated in one-on-one battles with each other, often to the death, for the entertainment of crowds of spectators in the Roman Empire .
