Gladiators Of Rome

Gladiators

Today when criminals get caught committing a crime they get sent to jail or get sentenced a probation. They may be put in prison for two years or twenty years. One may believe that these sentences are too vulgar or mean. However, in 46 B.C. criminals or slaves were to be sent to prison camps to train to fight other prisoners like themselves(Ganeri 23). Instead of serving time the prisoner had to fight to stay alive(Watkins 14).

Gladiators were sent to schools which were both prison camps and training centers to learn the basics of fighting. There are four stages of training. In the first stage they use wooden swords and practice moves on straw men or wood posts. Second, they practice against other prisoners with wooden swords. Next, they get to use heavy iron weapons against each other. These weapons didn't inflict much damage to the opponent. In the fourth stage the gladiators get their real weapons and practice in air(Watkins 15).

Gladiator fights began when two brothers had six of their slaves to fight each other to please the gods. More and more fight started to take place at funeral, and the fights grew larger than just six people. Ceaser had fiveÐ'-hundred men, thirty cavalrymen, and twenty battle elephants fight against each other. Later on Ceaser had a huge artificial lake made and had oneÐ'-thousand sailors and twoÐ'-thousand oarsmen to battle(Watkins 14).

There are six main types of gladiators. The first gladiator was the Samnite. He was heavily armored with a visor helmet aqnd a square shield (The Gladiator). The Hoplomach were exactly like the Samnite but were called different after Augustus ruled. The third was the Thracian. They were lightly armored and carried a small square shield. The leg gaurds went from his ankles to his thighs. He carried a short curved sword (Watkins 21-23).

The next gladiator is the Mirmillo. He tries to avoid the Retiarius. The Mirmillo carries a large heavy shield and a small gladius. The Retiarius chase the Mirmillo with a fishing spear called a trident and a fishing net with weights on it. The only armor the Retiarius had was a small shoulder guard on his left shoulder. The Secutor would also chase his opponent around the arena. He was armored heavily with leg guards, a round helmet and a shield (Watkins 26).

The most entertaining form of battle was cavalry battles. Romans liked them because they were fast paced and took place all around the arena (davis 431). Another liked form of battle were small scale sea battles. The arena would be flooded by the Tiber river. Oarsmen and sailors would be put into teams and fight other