Search results
A gladiator ( Latin: gladiator, "swordsman", from gladius, "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals.
May 3, 2018 · A Roman Gladiator was an ancient professional fighter who usually specialised with particular weapons and types of armour. They fought before the public in hugely popular organised games held in large purpose-built arenas throughout the Roman Empire from 105 BCE to 404 CE (official contests).
Jul 4, 2024 · gladiator, professional combatant in ancient Rome. The gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, no doubt with intent to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world; hence the fights were usually to the death.
Perhaps no figure from ancient Rome is as famous as the gladiator — a warrior of the arena that fought to the death against beasts, criminals, and other gladiators, for the entertainment of Roman society. Gladiators have become heavily mythologized figures, in part thanks to famous works of fiction like the film Gladiator, directed by Ridley ...
Mar 4, 2014 · Gladiators often became celebrities and sex symbols. Though often dismissed as uncivilized brutes by Roman historians, the gladiators won massive fame among the lower classes.
Jun 30, 2022 · Who were the most renowned Roman gladiators? From slave rebel Spartacus to debauched emperor Commodus, they varied widely.
Oct 28, 2019 · A Roman gladiator was a man (rarely a woman), typically a convicted criminal or enslaved person, who participated in one-on-one battles with each other, often to the death, for the entertainment of crowds of spectators in the Roman Empire .
