Roman Achievement

Today was the day I could finally go see my first gladiator fight at the Colosseum. My father had been to multiple games already and has told me all about them, but it is finally my turn to see them for the first time. When my father and uncle were fifteen like me, they went to their first games with my grandfather. I could not be more excited to witness my first time at the games!

We are going to the afternoon/evening show to see the gladiators fight. From what I have heard from my father, the morning games are when the beast hunts occur, which are known as the Venationes. These games can be animal vs. animal, human vs. animal or just plain animal tricks. After the morning show, they execute condemned criminals for everyone to see. Because I am still young, my father does not want me to attend this show. We will be seeing the gladiatorial combat during the afternoon/evening show.

After impatiently waiting all day, it was finally time to leave for the games! Walking up to the Colosseum has been something I’ve done many times, but finally being able to enter the building was an amazing moment for me. My Father and I walked into the stadium and bought out seats. Looking around the stadium, all you saw were tons of rows where people were seated. Each row higher than the one before it so everyone could clearly see the fights. We made it to our seats and waited for the event to start.

The fights began with the Praegenarii, where the opening act are gladiators who fight with clubs or shields. There are multiple types of gladiators including the Retiarius, the Secutor, the Murmillo, the Thrax, the Eques, the Essedarius, and the Hoplomachus. Most gladiators who performed were either low in the social status, aristocrats, or those who were very popular in the public’s eye. After those beginning fights, the main gladiatorial fights began! An example of a certain match up would be between the Retiarius and the Secutor, that match was my favorite. Going into these games, I was lucky enough to have had my father tell me all about how the games worked so I had an idea of what was happening throughout. Being able to hear what my father had told me about them and then finally seeing it in real life was such an amazing experience.