From Albacon 2018, me running a game of Hoc, Habet, Hoc
Most
Gladiators were unwilling participants forced to fight against their will. In
fact, originally, they were slaves, prisoners of war, and condemned prisoners.
Although
historians and other social scientists debate the motivations and appeal of the
Roman Games, they generally agree that the Roman Games were a bloody spectacle
where the authorities publicly displayed their dominance over criminal elements
within the empire, foreign enemies, and the threatening aspects of nature represented
in the form of wild and savage animals.
It’s
for this reason that those who fought and died in the arena were slaves, prisoners
of war, and criminals, condemned men. On occasion these were noteworthy
condemned men, for instance, Caligula, one of Rome’s most decadent and insane
emperors, occasionally ordered nobles who had offended him or someone else he
considered important to fight in the arena but they were still condemned men.
(Nossov, p. 147)
Although
some gladiators voluntarily took to the life of being a professional fighter
who killed and risked death, maiming, or wounding for the amusement of others,
this was rare.
To
fight in the arena was unpleasant and dangerous. Not only could gladiators be
killed, injured, or maimed, they also could be called upon to fight and kill
people they trained with, lived with, and were friends with. Not only that, but
in Roman culture, people who entertained others were looked down upon. As the
gladiators fought for their lives, drunken spectators would laugh and jeer at
them. It was not uncommon for gladiators to attempt suicide rather than face
the arena, and although steps were taken to prevent this, nevertheless, some
succeeded at ending their own lives. (Nossov, p. 151)
Many
gladiators resented their lot. Today, most people have heard of Spartacus’s
revolt. Spartacus, a prisoner of war, was forced into being a gladiator. He and
his fellow gladiators eventually found a way to take over their ludi (gladiator
troupe), escape, and then stage a revolt of gladiators and other slaves. This
was a desperate act with little likelihood of real long-term success. Although
they had several successes in battle
against the Roman authorities and army, ultimately their revolt was put down
and the bulk of the surviving participants executed. A fuller accounting of
these vents is included in a later chapter of this work.
One
detail of the revolt that is of particular interest here is that on at least
one occasion when Spartacus and his troops captured Roman soldiers, they forced
them, in turn, to fight as gladiators for the amusement of he and his troops,
something that horrified the Roman authorities when they heard of it. To these
gladiators turned rebels, this turnabout and punishment of their aggressors, gives
an insight into how they really felt about their lot.
Sometimes
the organizers of games did not just want slaves for the arena but wanted
particular kinds of slaves in order to present a unique or particularly themed
event. Dwarves and women were sometimes sought as a variation on the standard
battle between two men. Although Blacks were not uncommon in the arena, there
was one game where all the participants were Black, a unique twist on the
standard event, much appreciated perhaps by the crowds.
Still, as stated above,
not all gladiators were forced into this role. Some were volunteers. As time went on and the games became more
popular and interest in not just gladiatorial events but specific gladiators
grew, and some gladiators became popular and admired by the spectators,
ordinary Romans often dreamed of emulating them. In time, volunteer gladiators, called
“auctorati,” became increasingly common. Some had debts they had accrued and
needed to pay off. Others sought thrills
or glory. Aside from thrill seeking or wishing the glory, although glory mixed
with disgust, that eventually came from being a gladiator, motivations could
vary. Some were people who had spent their inheritance and now needed
funds. (Wisdom, p. 13) As kidnapping was
a real problem in the Roman empire, others took to the arena to win sufficient
cash to ransom a friend or relative who was being held captive. (Wisdom, p. 16) (Nossov, p. 146, 147-148)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Auget. 1994, 1972. Cruelty and Civilization --The
Roman Games. New York: Barnes and Noble Books.
Fields, Nic. 2009. Spartacus and the
Slave War, 73-71 BC -A Gladiator Rebels Against Rome. Oxford, UK : Osprey
Publishing .
Junkelmann, Marcus. 2000. "Familia
Gladiatoria -The Heroes of the Amphitheatre." In Gladiators and
Caesars the Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome, by Kohne Ewigleben.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kohne, Eckart and Ewigleben, ?? 2000. Gladiators
and Caesars --The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome. Berkeley,
California: University of California Press.
Nossov, Konstantin. 2009. Gladiators
--Rome's Bloody Spectacles. Oxford UK: Osprey.
Strauss, Barry. 2009. The Spartacus
War. New York, N.Y. : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks .
Wisdom, Stephen. 2001. Gladiators
100BC -AD 200. Oxford: Osprey.
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