Before ancient Roman gladiators fought grisly battles in rowdy public arenas like the Colosseum, they clashed in far more solemn places: funerals.
The first gladiator fights began in the 3rd century BCE as ritual offerings of blood to the spirits of recently deceased nobles. That changed around 27 BCE, when Augustus seized power in Rome, says Michael J. Carter, professor of classics at Brock University in Ontario: “He detached gladiatorial combat from its purely funerary context and forms a regular part of the entertainment cycle in Rome.” This change gave rise to some of today’s most famous gladiators: Spartacus, Spiculus, Marcus Attilius and many others.
Most gladiators were slaves forced to fight. But a small contingent was made up of free-born citizens who volunteered in hopes of earning money and fame. Before they could enter combat, gladiators trained for months in specialized schools run by wealthy investors who profited from the success of their fighters.
Contrary to popular perception, gladiators did not necessarily fight to the death. Instead, fights progressed until one of them surrendered, usually by raising a single finger. In total, only 10-20% of gladiators died during matches, which partly reflects their high financial value to investors.
It was not easy for gladiators to stand out. Each warrior only fought two to three times a year, usually in events featuring 10 to 13 gladiator fights, according to Murray, with each individual match lasting around 10 to 15 minutes. But some, because of their extravagant personalities, their personal backgrounds or their memorable performances, have achieved lasting fame via ancient artists or historians. Here are five gladiators still remembered centuries later:
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Marcus Attilius
A free-born Roman, Attilius enrolled in gladiator school, apparently of his own free will, making him part of a small, elite band of gladiators who volunteered to fight.
To make matches as equal as possible, Roman overseers usually assigned gladiators to face people of roughly similar levels of experience: novices against novices, experts against experts. But when Marcus Attilius first entered an amphitheater in Pompeii, as a “tiro” – a term for a new gladiator – he faced off against Hilarus, a veteran fighter who had won 12 of 14 matches in his career. several years of experience. as a gladiator.
In a stunning performance, young Marcus Attilius not only fought Hilarus to surrender, but in his next battle he defeated another 12-time victor gladiator. The ensuing upheavals prompted Pompeian graffiti artists of the time to commemorate his achievement. While Attilus was probably not widely known throughout the Roman Empire – one scholar suggests his fame was only regional at best – his fame in Pompeii came at an opportune historical moment: in AD 79, a few Only decades after Attilus’ battles, Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the city – and its graffiti – preserving its legacy for centuries.
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spiculus
Spiculus attended the school of gladiators in the Italian city of Capua, where he must have shown immense promise. In his first match in the amphitheater he faced Aptonetus, a veteran and Free Roman gladiator who had won 16 fights. In a stunning upset, Spiculus defeated – and then killed – Aptonetus. His triumph caught the attention of Nero, then Emperor of Rome.
Taking a liking to Spiculus, Nero lavished gifts on him, including a palace. This placed the young gladiator in a particular social position: technically enslaved, but living in luxury, served by servants themselves enslaved.
In AD 68, when Nero faced rebellion in the empire and near certain death, he asked his friend Spiculus to execute him. But Spiculus did not understand the message or refused, and Nero committed suicide. Subsequently, Roman citizens protesting against his brutal rule began to uproot and destroy statues of the emperor; according to the writer Plutarch, the mob used them to crush his friend Spiculus to death.
READ MORE: Did women fight as gladiators in ancient Rome?
Convenient
Today, Commodus is best known as the “mad” emperor whose disastrous reign from 180 to 192 AD marked the end of Rome’s Golden Age (also known as Pax Romana). Son of Marcus Aurelius, Commodus became co-emperor with his father at the age of 16. He rose to power alone in 180 AD, after his father died, possibly of illness, possibly murder.
Cruel, lewd and debauched, according to early historian Aelius Lampridius, Commodus maintained a harem of 600 boys and young women and considered himself a god. Believing he was the reincarnation of Hercules, he often wandered around the mythical strongman’s iconic lion-skin coated palace.
Unsurprisingly, Commodus also called himself a gladiator. He allegedly entered the ring 735 times, often fighting against animals, but occasionally battling other gladiators. Commodus was not particularly skilled, but no rival combatant dared to wound or kill a reigning emperor, wrote the historian Herodian; hurting Commodus seemed like a certain path to their own gruesome deaths.
Flame
The Syrian-born gladiator, who rose to fame during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (AD 117 to 138), is best known for the length of his career and for winning his freedom four times – and denying it to many times. Flamma completed an impressive 34 matches, mostly in Sicily. He owes his long career not only to his success in the amphitheater, but also to the mercy of event organizers: he received some 13 reprieves, during which the referees spared his life in a defeat or crowned the two winning contestants.
Flamma’s record shows how dependent gladiators were at the mercy of referees, who could either save the life of a losing gladiator or allow the opposing fighter to deliver a fatal blow. Flamma eventually died at the age of 30, older than many of his peers.
Spartacus
Colored engraving of Spartacus (109-71 BC), ancient Roman leader of the slave revolt that evolved into the Third Servile War
UniversalImagesGroup / Contributor
Ancient Rome’s most prominent gladiator never fought in an amphitheater. Spartacus, memorialized in Kirk Douglas’ 1960 film of the same name, was likely born in the Balkans and sold as a slave to train at a gladiatorial school in Capua.
In 73 BCE, still early in his training, Spartacus had had enough of the abuses of the gladiatorial school. He fled and took refuge on Mount Vesuvius. Soon, thousands of other enslaved gladiators fled their schools and joined Spartacus as he staged one of ancient Rome’s most famous uprisings: the Third Servile War. In 72 BCE, a year after his flight, Spartacus led an army of slaves – by some estimates as many as 100,000 – to fight the Romans in Gaul. His success spurred the Roman Empire into action, and at Lucania the following year General Marcus Licinius Crassus crushed the rebels. Almost all of Spartacus’ army perished, including Spartacus himself.
