GLADIATORS

In ancient Rome, the specially trained slaves who were to fight each other in the arena to the delight of the crowds were called gladiators. It is quite commonly accepted that the custom of gladiatorial fights was adopted by the Romans from the Etruscans and probably the Samnites. The first gladiatorial fights in Rome are documented in the 3rd century BC, and the first gladiatorial fights organized by Roman consuls took place at the end of the 2nd century BC. (about 105 BC). For the sake of order, it is worth adding that these fights were forbidden in the 4th century AD, along with the growing position of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Many gladiators were Germans, Thracians, and Gauls, although there were also indigenous Romans among them. In the period of the 3rd-1st centuries BC, the main center for the training of gladiators was Campania, especially Capua, where special schools prepared gladiators for fighting. Gladiators, due to their armament, were divided into several types, including: Andabata (a gladiator wearing chain mail and a helmet with a veil), Myrmilo (he had a fish-shaped helmet on his head, a shoulder guard, a sword and an oblong shield) or Retiarius (his armament was a trident or a harpoon, a dagger and a net, most often he fought without a helmet). It is worth adding that gladiators organized at least several uprisings in the history of Rome, among which we can distinguish, for example, the First Sicilian uprising (138-132 BC), the rebellion of Vettius or especially the Spartacus uprising of 73-71 BC, the suppression of which caused the Romans a lot of problems.