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Revision as of 09:18, 4 May 2002 by Gianfranco (talk | contribs) (just a start on "real" gladiators)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A Gladiator is a low-class infantry soldier, specifically selected for highly risky operations or combats. Even if a similar figure is found in many armies or regroupements (at least nominally), typically and originally the gladiator was a roman soldier not enrolled in the official Roman Army.
The name comes from Gladius, latin for sword.
Despite their use in very risky operations (or when a huge loss of units was probable), Roman Gladiators were not well reputed among common people, or they directly were considered perhaps worse than slaves. Gladiators in fact, were usually selected among most violent people: criminals, deserters, in some cases among soldiers of defeated armies or slaves. Some volounteers too, however, joined gladiators and were called auctorati; effectively this career was also a sort of last chance for people who had got into economical troubles. Nevertheless, on a military point of view, gladiators were famous as well and severely disciplined soldiers, brave and skilly, well remunerated, supposed to show a certain charme on women, although reduced to a slave dignity status.
Their swear (that Seneca describes as particularly shameful) implied their acceptation of the status of slave and of the worse public consideration (infamia).
Gladiators were trained by (and were property of) a specialised veteran, called lanista, and are now mostly famous for their appearance in the ludi circenses, the "games" played at arenas or amphitheatres (like Colosseum), were they fought agaist lyons, other animals, captured enemies and among themselves. The number of possible combats was usually less than 3 per year, decreasing the probabilties of death. Some emperors too, among which Hadrian, Caligula, Titus and Commodus, were seen entering the arena for (presumedly) ficticious combats.
One of the most famous gladiators was Spartacus, perhaps a thracian slave, allegedly a deserter from Roman Army, deserted also from gladiators and became the leader of a group of other escaped gladiators and slaves hidden on Mount Vesuvius (near Naples), about 70 BC. These escapers fought in several occasions against the official army, and the story of these combats is popularly knwon as the "Third Servile War". Spartacus crossed many times the italian peninsula, reached Gaul on the north and was finally defated in southern Italy by Crassus after a long escape between Calabria and Lucania. He was killed in battle, his comrades were crucified. The last survivors were killed by Pompey, coming back from Iberia. His name has been used by many revolutionaries, but the gladiators' wars were not meant as true revolutions: they were perhaps only military conclicts or, better, conflicts among soldiers, some of which refused to surrender and respect rules.
Gladiator was a popular film that appeared in 2000, starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. It won a number of Academy Awards.
The movie is loosely based on the life of the deranged Roman emperor Commodus (played by Phoenix), who scandalized Roman society by appearing in the Colosseum as a gladiator.