Ancient Roman gladiators: origins and history

[Peter1469]

Ancient Roman gladiators: origins and history

I knew the history of gladiators- the professional types. This article goes to the origins- basically funeral rites. Rich dudes had in their will a provision for a couple of their slaves to fight during the funeral. Interesting. A good read.

Often viewed as the working-class heroes of the Roman society, the gladiators have surely seen their fair share of screen time in our modern-day popular media. However, beyond grand spectacles and bloody feats, the very nature of gladiatorial contests alluded to the ‘institutionalization of violence‘ ingrained in the Roman society since its tribal days. So, without further ado, let us take a gander at the origins and history of the Roman gladiators that go beyond the realm of glitzy fiction to account for brutal reality.


In what might have been the precursor to latter-day gladiatorial combats, a nobleman named Brutus Pera made his death wish in 264 BC that his two sons should pay for combats that were to take place in the marketplace to mark his funeral. In less than a hundred years, such contests became pretty commonplace, and the combatants were generally the slaves of the organizer. In fact, in 174 BC, one of the munera (a ritualistic service dedicated to the dead) involved 74 men pitted against each other in a gruesome event that took place over three days.


And as time went by, the munera expanded in scopes to include spectacles like the venatio – which entailed the hunting of over hundreds of exotic animals across the Roman lands by the trained venatores.

There was a symbolic side to this grisly affair, with the animals like lions, tigers and other predators alluding to the savages and ‘barbarians’ of the world that mighty Rome had subjugated (interestingly enough, the Mongols also had a similar type of hunting ritual that involved the ‘tactical’ killing of innocent beasts).


And, as the Roman Republic grew in pomp and size, her nobles thought out newer and grander ways to commemorate their legacy – by even making provisions in their wills for such funeral contests. In essence, the funerary service became more of a political statement (combined with bloody spectacles) that supposedly espoused the greatness of the patrons. As a result, being miserly regarding such ‘expected’ contests often incurred the displeasure of the common townsfolk. One particular incident aptly exemplifies such hedonistic attitudes – during the reign of Tiberius, a centurion’s funeral service was forcibly interrupted by the townspeople as they demanded funerary games. The situation soon turned into a riot, and the emperor had to send his troops to quell the disturbance.