Aspects of the Gladiator
There are two sides to every story, clearly this was the case when the first Gladiator took the stage, for a revolution that changed history as we know it. The Gladiator was first known as the munus, or a funeral gift for the dead, but as time progressed so did the Gladiator. Many people in Roman society weren’t exposed to such violence and hatred, but as society today proves, that very well might be the basis of our societies today. Even though the science of the Gladiator was short lived, it still remains as one of the pioneer sports to evolve to what we have today.
The two aspects of the Gladiator that helped in the rise and fall were closely entwined. One being the people who despised such a inhumane act, still found it amusing when a slave was killed or put up to fight. Thus leaving the door wide open for the sport, with little or no contradicting force. In the beginning there wasn’t much of an entertainment side of the Gladiator as much as the sacrifice for the dead. Time did tell a story here when Gladiators were starting to be recruited from slaves, criminals, and prisoners of war not to just be sacrificed for the dead, but for the community in the interest of the people and Emperors. Gladiator fights weren’t incorporated into the public games until the late first century. When it was though, the people and emperors were swept away by Gladiator mania. Emperors such as Caligula and Commodus both participated in the Gladiator fights with weak opponents though. At least seven other emperors of sound mind including Titus and Hadrian either practiced as gladiators or fought in
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the contests. Gladiator fighting was as much a science as is modern boxing. Much of the techniques and forms of fighting we see today relate to the teachings of the ancient Romans.
Young women were so attracted to the Gladiator that one daughter of a senator named Eppia, actually ran off with a Gladiator to Egypt, something very forbidden at the time. The sport started to catch on to the public at large, and many people were willing to sacrifice their life for the games. Free born male citizens not of low class or anything would volunteer to be treated, act, and be a slave to the games. The sport had this much of an impact on the community in ancient Rome.
Of course, there were Romans who did not approve of these contests(pagans). The historian Cassius Dio says that the emperor Marcus Aurelius took extraordinary measures to prevent bloodshed and death for gladiators. Marcus disgust with bloodshed resulted in his view, “Gladiators in Rome should be like athletes fighting without risk of deadly harm,” for he never allowed any one of them to wield an iron sword, and the tips of the weapons they used had a blunt tip. The overwhelming popularity of these contests, and his son Commodus, overpowered his views and although Marcus had the support from many citizens most still attended the Amphitheater for the games. His son Commodus had a passion for the games and participated in them. There were others who felt strongly against the games, Tertullian is a good example of the Christian view of gladiator shows. He called the shows “murder” and says that “innocent gladiators are sold into the games so that they may become the victims of public pleasure.” He went on to say, “Gladiatorial contests are tainted with idolatry (worship of pagan gods), since they originated in funeral contests in honor of the dead.” Tertullian criticizes gladiator shows for the pleasure they evoke in the spectators, “No one comes to pleasure without ignoble desire; no
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one suffers ignoble desire without negative consequences.” The true meaning of the games was conveyed through his words, he also condemned the bad emotional effect that gladiator shows had on the spectators. Even among the people like Tertullian, the thoughts weren’t so much that they were objecting to the death of the Gladiators as much as the moral effect it had on the spectators. That is why so many people today are opposed to any kind of harmful sport, it truly was an inhumane and unnecessary act of violence. Despite these objections, Christian emperors tolerated gladiatorial contests, even Theodosius, whose closing of all pagan sites brought to an end the long tradition of the relatively tame Olympic games. Some Christians, however, were involved in more than the normal toleration of the games. There were rich Christians who actively sponsored gladiatorial contests. A pope in the late fourth century 367 AD, even recruited gladiators to destroy his enemies. Honorius, Theodosius’ son, finally decreed the end of gladiatorial contests in 399 AD. Finally realizing what the true nature of the games were.
During this period in early AD the Romans believed that attending the Gladiator games in the Amphitheater was an essential part of being a Roman, and anyone who opposed or was reluctant to watch was childish, and held with un-Roman moral weakness. Rome was a warrior state and had achieved it’s empire through military power, so the Gladiator games weren’t something that just popped up, it was already part of the society, just not portrayed to the public eye the same. In Rome, prisoners of war were often executed in public, and with many victims of the Roman community who were also held to such punishment as well. So therefor it wasn’t very surprising that the Gladiator games were immensely popular among the community, because it represented the characteristics of the Roman culture for more than seven centuries. The most prominent increase in the popularity of the games occurred during the first two centuries AD,
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when the Augustan peace throughout the empire provided little or no opportunity for citizens to participate in real warfare. “If there were not enough real warfare to satisfy Roman taste, then counterfeit warfare would have to do.” Hopkins calls the Amphitheater “artificial battlefields” where the Romans “created battlefield conditions for public amusement.” War had been converted into a game, a game repeatedly replayed, of cruelty, violence, blood and death.
This was the only excuse the Romans had for making entertainment from such violence and misuse of life, but even though they weren’t at war, they shouldn’t have resorted to the Gladiators for amusement.
Thus gladiatorial combat, despite its bloody cruelty, was pursued with moral meaning for the Romans. Countless gladiators on countless occasions over a period of 700 years repeatedly displayed those moral qualities that both inspired the Roman people and helped explain to them the dominance of their empire(a military empire loves battles) achieved by violence. Although the Romans had used this as a form of entertainment, today all the news and events portrayed to us are violence and crimes. So for eternity to come violence and power will always be the backbone of civilization, like it or not.
