Gladiators
To start, Gladiators There were even different classes for the gladiators. Some classes were Cestus, Eques, Gallus, Gladiatrix, etc.
Cestus: They would fight with their fists, and they would also have the cestus. The cestus was a heavy knuckleduster, and that would be the only form or armor they would wear.
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Eques: They were forbidden from participating in Gladiator games. Early forms of this gladiator didn't have a ton of weapons, they would normally use a sword or spear. Their helmet was lightly decorated with two feathers. Later on, they would have protection
for their legs.
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Gallus: They were often prisoners of war. They had a lot of armor, and later they became known as the murmillo.
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Murmillo: This is the later version of the Gallus. They would have a stylized fish, and they were heavily armored. They would typically fight the Thracian, but not all the time.
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Thracians: Many considered Thracians to be like barbarians. They were looked down on and we only know about them from outside sources.
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Gladiatrix: Gladiatrix's were female gladiators of any type. They were not common and we don't know much about them since they were not documented very well. They were eventually banned.
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There are many more classes, some more respected than others.
Even kings would participate in the games! People would even bet money on who they thought would win. The games were clearly a popular source of entertainment. It wasn't too popular to start out, but as time went on it got extremely popular.
Many people lost their lives while participating though.
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How Many Died?
The gladiator games were quite popular, but many people still died during them.
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One of the arenas, the Colosseum, was estimated to have 400,000 deaths. Even so, the games were still organized, and people were still betting on it and being entertained.
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Gladiators were expecting death too. They were trained how to die: bravely. They were to die without showing any fear since it was expected of them. Dying while cowering in fear wouldn't be entertaining for the people watching, so they had to die bravely, even if they were terrified of losing their life.
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People weren't the only things that died...
They would also kill animals. About 1 million animals were killed. They would host a game of hunting, and the animals would be hunted.
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This sport often took place in the morning, before the gladiator games. The animals, at the time, were thought to be extremely rare and exotic.
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Sometimes an animal would kill a human instead. The person might not have been strong enough, or the animals were supposed to kill people. Animals were often used to execute prisoners.
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The prisoner would be left alone with the animal, but it attracted crowds, just like gladiator games would.
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Why did people enjoy this?
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Most of the people who died in the arena didn't matter to the Romans. It was just a show to them. Since most people who fought were prisoners, they weren't considered to be human, so no one spectating cared if they died.
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Gladiator games were a good way to get people to be scared and cause fear. It would be like saying, "If you commit a crime, then you'll be killed in this arena too." By giving people fear, it would mean to not cross paths with the Emperor.
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The people spectating also might have enjoyed watching the games since they would sometimes be in control of the gladiators life. With their thumb, the could determine if the gladiator got to live or die.
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Another reason people would enjoy these games was because they got to see exotic and rare animals. It was giving people a chance to see these animals they wouldn't be able to see otherwise.