Gladiator (eBook)

Fighting for Life, Glory and Freedom

Ben Hubbard (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
224 Seiten
Amber Books Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-78274-278-4 (ISBN)

Infos

'When everyone had had plenty to eat and drink they called for the gladiators. The moment anyone's throat was cut, they clapped their hands in pleasure. And it sometimes even turned out that someone had specified in their will that the most beautiful women he had purchased were to fight each other....'
- Athenaeus, The Learned Banqueters
With their origins as blood rites staged at the funerals of rich aristocrats, gladiatorial combat is one of the defining images of ancient Rome. For more than 600 years, people flocked to arenas to watch these highly trained warriors participate in a blood-soaked spectacle that was part sport, part theatre and part cold-blooded murder. Gladiatorial contests were a spectacular dramatization of the Roman emperor's formidable power.
Gladiator looks at life and service in the Roman arenas from the origins of the games in the third century BCE through to the demise of the games in the fifth century CE. It explores the lives of the prisoners of war, criminals, slaves and volunteers who became gladiators, their training, and the more than 20 types of gladiator they could become, fighting with different types of weapons.
From Spartacus's slave revolt to the real Emperor Commodius who liked to play at being a gladiator, from female gladiators to the great combats involving hundreds of exotic animals, Gladiator is a colourful, accessible study of the ancient world's famous warrior entertainers.

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"e;When everyone had had plenty to eat and drink they called for the gladiators. The moment anyone's throat was cut, they clapped their hands in pleasure. And it sometimes even turned out that someone had specified in their will that the most beautiful women he had purchased were to fight each other...."e; - Athenaeus, The Learned Banqueters With their origins as blood rites staged at the funerals of rich aristocrats, gladiatorial combat is one of the defining images of ancient Rome. For more than 600 years, people flocked to arenas to watch these highly trained warriors participate in a blood-soaked spectacle that was part sport, part theatre and part cold-blooded murder. Gladiatorial contests were a spectacular dramatisation of the Roman emperor's formidable power. Gladiator looks at life and service in the Roman arenas from the origins of the games in the third century BCE through to the demise of the games in the fifth century CE. It explores the lives of the prisoners of war, criminals, slaves and volunteers who became gladiators, their training, and the more than 20 types of gladiator they could become, fighting with different types of weapons. From Spartacus's slave revolt to the real Emperor Commodus who liked to play at being a gladiator, from female gladiators to the great combats involving hundreds of exotic animals, Gladiator is a colourful, accessible study of the ancient world's famous warrior entertainers.

Textauszug

Introduction

The gladiatorial games lay at the centre of Roman life. Citizens flocked to their local amphitheatre to be entertained by animal hunts, public executions and gladiators fighting to the death. Thousands died during large and lavish games that sometimes lasted for weeks on end. However, these festivals of killing were not unusual for those attending – it was simply a part of being Roman. The history of the gladiators is inextricably linked with the story of Rome and its Emperors. At the peak of Rome’s Imperial age, Emperors provided games on an increasingly extravagant scale. They spared no expense in entertaining the public and showing off Rome’s power and dominion over man and beast.

The Spectacle of Death

Exotic animals such as elephants, crocodiles and rhinoceroses were imported from foreign shores to be slaughtered in front of the crowd. In the amphitheatre, harmless herbivores were let loose among large forest sets before being hunted down and killed en masse.

Other more dangerous animals such as bulls and bears were chained together and forced to fight. Men with spears dispatched panthers, lions and tigers and were, in turn, often torn apart by these dangerous predators. Wild animals were also set onto enemies of state, who were sometimes nailed upside down to a cross. Others were also crucified after first being dressed in tunics covered with pitch; after being nailed to the cross they were set alight. Thousands of Christians executed in this way were used as human torches to illuminate the games held by Emperor Nero. Nero was a great supporter of the gladiatorial spectacles and fond of inventing storylines for the public executions. On one occasion he dressed a man like the mythological figure Daedalus and flew him across the arena on wires to be devoured by bears. Nero even entered the arena himself, sometimes dressing in the skin of a wild animal and attacking the genitals of men and women tied to stakes.

Other emperors also had an appetite for the blood of the amphitheatre: Claudius liked watching the expressions of gladiators as they died; Caligula enjoyed forcing the sick, elderly and disabled to fight to the death. Commodus actually fought in the Colosseum as a gladiator. The Emperor dressed in the skin of a lion, carried a club and likened himself to the mythical demigod Hercules. He also called himself one of the greatest gladiators who had ever lived.

A third century BCE funerary relief created by ‘Ammias of Araxios’, in memory of her husband, a gladiator.

The animal hunts or venationes, shown in this relief, made up the morning event of a gladiatorial spectacle.

An emperor’s participation at a gladiatorial spectacle was an important part of his relationship with his people. Many got it wrong.

However, his bouts in the arena were a farce, as both the Emperor and his opponent were only ever armed with wooden swords. It was only behind his closed palace doors that Commodus used a steel blade, where he often cut the noses and ears off his sparring partners while practising his swordplay.

Commodus’ antics in the arena made him a laughing-stock with the public and the Roman Senate. The games were an Emperor’s gift to his people, but they were also a time when he had to judge his participation carefully. A clever Emperor would enjoy the games as an enthusiastic spectator but also maintain his royal dignity. Tiberius got it wrong by not showing up to the games at all; Commodus, on the other hand, took it too far. He sealed his ignominious end by announcing he would inaugurate the year 193 CE dressed as a gladiator.

Plebeians and Patricians

The games were attended by both rich and poor and the amphitheatre was a microcosm of Roman society: wealthy citizens known as Patricians sat nearest the arena floor, dressed in white togas; other, lesser citizens called Plebeians sat above them in their colourful tunics. The amphitheatre was a great amplifier of public opinion and ordinary Romans, feeling protected within the crowd, often voiced their displeasure at the Emperor. This had to be done carefully, as some Emperors were known to bristle at criticism and then become vindictive. Caligula once remarked he wished the Colosseum crowd had a single neck so he could kill it at one blow; Domitian threw a spectator to the dogs after he badmouthed a murmillo, his favourite type of gladiator.

Astute Emperors gave the people what they wanted. Titus had wooden balls thrown into the crowd at the day’s end, each one representing a gift to be collected. More commonly, Emperors curried favour with the spectators by obeying their wishes to let a defeated gladiator live or be killed. This occurred at the end of a bout where one gladiator had been beaten, lost his weaponry or was too injured to go on. At this time he would hold his index finger up in submission. His opponent would then look to the crowd questioningly: “Should I kill him, or not?” This was the spectators’ cue to make their feelings clear. By sticking out their hands and turning their thumbs they would indicate whether the defeated man should be finished off or granted a missio, a reprieve. Emperors wanting to please the crowd followed their lead. Others, who included both Caligula and Domitian, showed their antipathy for their people by going against them.

Defeated gladiators who had fought bravely and won the respect of the crowd were often allowed to live. Every gladiator was expected to fight according to the virtues that had made Rome great, including training (disciplina), contempt for death (contemptus mortis), love of glory (amor laudis) and the desire to win (cupido victoriae). However, those defeated gladiators who had not been granted a missio were still expected to die honourably. They would do so by wrapping their arms around their opponent’s legs and waiting for the fatal sword thrust between their shoulder blades.

Much of what we know about the gladiators comes from mosaics in Roman villas such as this one from Negrar, in modern Verona.

Gladiators included prisoners of war, condemned criminals and disobedient slaves, who were clapped in chains and transported to a gladiator school.

Power and Glory

The virtues that Rome demanded of its gladiators were those displayed by its legionaries, who, under the command of ambitious generals, conquered two-thirds of the ancient world. Rome’s invasions of Sicily, Carthage and the countries of the western Mediterranean set it on its path to becoming the greatest power the world had ever known. Riches plundered from these new territories were sent back to Rome by the wagonload.

Alongside the tonnes of gold, silver and bronze entering Rome were vast numbers of slaves and prisoners of war. The armaments of these conquered tribal warriors such as the Gauls and Thracians were styled into the first types of gladiators. This gave the public the chance to see in the arena the enemies of Rome who had been overcome on the battlefield. Many foreign warriors who had fought against Rome ended up being sentenced to a gladiator school. They were now the infamis – the disgraced, lower on the social ladder than actors and prostitutes. Their only chance of survival was to train hard and beat every opponent in the arena. Only the greatest and best-loved gladiators were awarded the wooden rudis, the symbol of their freedom, and allowed to leave the arena forever.

A romantic rendering shows the Forum Romanum, the centre of Rome and the setting for early munera.

As Rome grew into a large Empire, its elite families became wealthier from the spoils of war than they could ever have imagined. Many grabbed huge tracts of land, pushing Roman farmers out and making their new slaves work the soil. As corrupt senators feathered their nests and ordinary Romans became destitute, a new brand of military “hard man” seized control. These were the men still well known to us in the modern age: Sulla, Pompey, Caesar. Each of these ruthless generals cared little for the democratic machinations of the Senate or the ideological pretentions of the Roman Republic. Instead they wanted power and the creation of a legacy that would make their names live forever.

Bread and Circuses

Julius Caesar knew the best way to achieve control was to win over the Roman public. He did so by providing the most grandiose gladiatorial games the ancient world had ever seen. He gave gifts of money and grain to the people of Rome, bankrupting himself in the process and borrowing heavily against his future successes. It was a political masterstroke, one that earned Caesar the love and adulation of the public and sparked the poet’s phrase that still lives on 2000 years later – panem et circenses, bread and circuses.

The success of Roman civilization was based on the brilliance of its engineering works. Many of the aqueducts, which brought clean water to all Roman citizens, still stand today.

With his policy of bread and circuses, Caesar created the blueprint of rule for every Roman leader who followed him. Caesar, of course, did not survive long enough to witness the full success of his policy: the Senate, fearing the general had become a tyrant, stabbed him to death during a senatorial meeting. But Caesar’s heir and successor, Augustus, adopted bread...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 14.8.2015
• Reihe/Serie: Landscape History
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Vor- und Frühgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften
• Schlagworte: Ancient • Arena • Brutus • Caesar • crowe • Duel • Emperor • Gladiator • lanista • net • provocator • Rome • Spartacus • Sword • Trident • Triumph
• ISBN-10: 1-78274-278-6 / 1782742786
• ISBN-13: 978-1-78274-278-4 / 9781782742784