The Profession of Gladiator in Roman Times

Gladiatorial combat in the Roman Empire was an inhumane spectacle, vastly different from today’s society. However, historically, gladiators were highly professional athletes, akin to modern-day football players. From its origins, gladiatorial combat was practiced by various peoples in southern Italy during religious funerals.

A scene from the film Gladiator depicting a fighter battling a tiger at the Colosseum.

In the 3rd century BCE, gladiatorial combat was introduced to Rome and gradually lost its sacred nature, transforming into a secular entertainment. Besides the matches between gladiators, there were also fights between humans and animals or among wild beasts.

The day before a gladiatorial event, participants would feast, courtesy of the gladiatorial sponsor, and have the opportunity to comment on the gladiators’ physiques. Before the combat, gladiators would parade in the arena to the sound of horns urging them on. Leading the procession were officials, followed by a group of condemned prisoners in chains. Subsequently, many pairs of gladiators would engage simultaneously amidst the cheers from the crowd to heighten the atmosphere. The referee, dressed in white with a red sash or a laurel, would monitor the fighters to ensure they adhered to the rules. The defeated gladiator had to raise his hand to seek the crowd’s opinion; he would live if the audience raised their thumbs, or be killed on the spot if they pointed their thumbs down.

Although gladiatorial games played a significant role in Roman society, it wasn’t until 80 CE, during Emperor Titus’s reign, that Rome inaugurated a dedicated arena for these events: the Colosseum, which could accommodate between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators. Roman architects designed the arena in an elliptical shape, surrounded by numerous tiers of seating.

The architecture of the Colosseum was inspired by a concept proposed by Curio in 52 BCE: it consisted of two theaters back-to-back that could be rotated to fit together in an elliptical shape.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum was named after the nickname “Colosse” (The Colossus) given to Emperor Nero, who had a statue erected nearby. Seating in the arena was divided into several sections according to social class. The “chicken frenzy” section was a high corridor for common people to sit or stand, with designated areas for women. The lower tier seats were reserved for guilds, such as merchants and teachers. Fourteen rows were specifically allocated for the equestrian class, a wealthy social group often recruited to form cavalry in the military.

Adjacent to the arena was the seating for senior senators, their chairs made of marble engraved with names that would only be removed upon their death. In the royal enclosure, the emperor watched the gladiatorial games alongside family and guests, with absolutely no women present, including the empress. The empress would sit on the opposite side of the stage in a section reserved for high-ranking officials.

The arena floor consisted of wooden planks covered with sand, which could be flooded for naval battle scenes. Below the arena was a holding area for animals, consisting of two levels with many narrow passages. Animal trainers would lead the beasts into individual cages on the lower level. These cages were then hoisted to the upper level, from where the animals would enter the arena. To shield spectators from the sun, ancient architects devised a system of pulleys and ropes to pull a brightly colored canopy over the arena. A circular opening in the center of the canopy allowed light to filter through.

There were various types of gladiators: those wearing fish-shaped helmets would fight against net-wielding gladiators disguised as fishermen, or against gladiators using lassos instead of nets; chariot fighters included two individuals standing back-to-back: one wielding a whip and the other throwing spears; and there were gladiators adorned with feathered helmets, wielding shields and swords to battle against net-wielding opponents.