Gladiator games were used as a form of entertainment for the upper class. At the time of the Gladiator games, (around 50 B.C.), participants consisted  of mostly slaves, prisoners of war and condemned criminals.  The criminals that would participate in the games, were accused of murder, treason, robbery and arson. In addition to these people, there were also free men who fought in these games.  These  free men made up of almost half of the gladiators.

             These free men took competing in the games as a full time profession; but they were mostly outcasts, desperate men and violent men.  Also, many ex-gladiators who were granted their freedom, were in high demand for re-appearances.  An example for their high demand can be illustrated by when Roman Emperor’s paid 1000 gold pieces to each ex-gladiator for one show.  Free men were in higher demand over the slaves because they generally wanted to fight, and they would show a higher rate of enthusiasm and give the crowd a fight they would remember.

            Even though these free men were volunteers, they had to sign contracts explaining that they were under the control of the state.  Also, the men were under control of their new master who could treat them as they were nothing but slaves.  These volunteers had to swear to an oath of submission to be burnt with fire, shackled with chains and whipped with rods.  Nevertheless, they could still buy back their freedom.

  Back in the gladiator times, there were even schools to train these men to fight in the gladiatorial combat.  These schools were called ludi schools and there were three of them, one of which was connected to the Colosseum directly by an underground tunnel.  One other school for training these men was used to prepare them for the beast hunts.

One may ask if their were different types of combat and gladiators.  The simple answer is yes, that the host wanted to make the games as interesting and new to the spectators.  The host actually purchased the gladiators for the games, who each had their own styles from their past war experience.  Gladiators wore different types of armor, and had different weapons depending on the battle.

Here are a few examples of different types of gladiators.

• Thracian- This gladiator had a chest covered of leather/metal.  His other armor included a small shield (parma), which he carried in his left hand, a sword belt, a protective leather band (fasciae) wrapped around his left arm, and greaves for his legs.
• Secutor (chaser) – This man carried a rectangular shield and a high visored helmet.  A greave protected his left leg only and a leather band was on his right arm.
• Retairus (net man) – These gladiators fought with a three pronged pitchfork called a trident.  He also carried a net which he would throw on his opponent to entangle him.  He wore no helmet or shield and his only protection was a metal piece on his left shoulder (galerus).  He was very nimble due to his lack of armor, so he could move faster and quicker compared to his opponent.
• Essedarii- This fighter fought from war chariots and are probably some of the most famous of the different gladiators.  This idea was probably a result of Caesar, who saws this type of fighting when he invaded the British.

 This project was developed by freshmen English students at Sandpoint High School for the 2001 University of Idaho EdTechQuest.  Contact us if you have any questions or comments.