In Roman times the death penaltywas sometimes aggravated by the damnatio ad bestias: i.e. being mauled to death by ferocious beasts in the amphitheatre. The condemned person was generally tied to a pole and exposed to ferocious animals that had been kept fastening so as to be more aggressive. A further aggravation consisted in using small …
Games were important to the Roman people:read here the graffiti from Pompeii about games and gladiators, and see here what a character from Petronius Arbiter’s Satyricon says about it. The expense was enormous, and the problem must have been a grave one, because at the times of Tiberius the Senate forbade the organization of games to the …
There weredifferent specializations (familiae) of gladiators, according to the outfit and the weapons used. With the expansion of the empire many different kind of soldiers of the peoples conquered by Rome were represented, and of course also the training was specialized. In the ludus, the gladiator used for the training a wooden sword called rudis, and also …
Ut quisquem vicerit occidat – Kill the loser whoever he may be The Romanscould have free spectacles; it was a right of the citizens to join banquets offered by the rich and famous, and to enjoy shows in the circus or the amphitheatre. Everywhere in the Roman world rich and prominent citizens felt like a duty to …
Here aresome examples of graffiti from Pompeii, painted or scratched on the walls, that advertise gladiatorial fights.AnnouncementCumis gladiatorum paria XX et eorum suppositicii pugnabunt Kalendis Octobribus III pridie Nonas Octobres. Cruciarii, venatio et vela erunt. Curiculus scriptor Lucceio salutem. Glossary:Cumae, arum, f : Cumes ( ville de Campanie)paria, n, pl : couple, pairesuppositicius ,ii : …
Staged hunts (venationes)usually took place in the morning, as an introduction and complement to the gladiators’ combats, that started in the afternoon.Livy, the great historian of Rome, dates the first hunts to the year 568 AUC (ab Urbe Condita, that means from the foundation of the city, i.e. 185 BC), with the games offered by …
For the Romansthe games weren’t just a moment of leisure, but were also an occasion in which people, institutions and the powers congregated. Valerius Maximus tells that Senators and the common people, at least up to the year 560 b.C., assisted to the shows together, standing. Later on the division deepened, and the amphitheatre reflected this …
Gladiators were organizedin ludi (schools), directed by a lanista – a word of Etruscan origin – who had the power of life and death over his men. The ludi – something halfway between barrack and prison – had the same basic layout all over the empire: gladiators were lodged in small cells around the yard where they trained. At the beginning …
The origin of the gladiatorial games(in Latin munus, pl. munera, or “offered”) is still a matter of debate. Many think that they descend from the Etruscan custom of making human sacrifices to celebrate the death of a nobleman, in order to appease the spirit of the dead. The Roman historian Livy, on the contrary, stated that the …
“Whatever is viewed in the Circus and the Amphitheater, that, Caesar, the wealth of your water has afforded you. So no more of Fucinus and the lake of direful Nero; let this be the only sea fight known to posterity.” Martial, On the Spectacles (XXVIII) The naumachiaewere reproductions of famous naval battles and were staged in …
