Roman Gladiator Research Paper
Gladiators were the insignificant outsiders and the lowest rank of Roman society. Criminals, captives of war, religious dissidents, the poor and destitute and disobedient slaves in possession of a strong body and resourceful mind could well have found themselves being sold to the familia gladiatoria (a gladiatorial school/troupe). The existence of a gladiator was perilous, painful and usually brief, but beyond the physical dangers and hardship, gladiators were restricted in a public and political sense. Roman legislation (from as early as the 1st century B.C.E.) states that anyone that has take part in gladiatorial games would be prevented from holding a political office in local government, serve on juries or become soldiers of the Empire.
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While the philosophers like Seneca would show their contempt of a gladiator, others like Pliny the Younger (a distinguished senator, famous for his 10 books of letters) would applaud the enormous moral importance of fighting bravely and dying nobly, which was seen as a fine Roman trait. More generally, and perhaps more importantly, Roman homesteads and property seem to be beleaguered with gladiatorial paraphernalia. There are literally tons of artefacts from excavated from all over the Empire depicting various categories and forms of gladiators in action. Not just expensive floor mosaics, frescos and wall carvings but lamps, coins, statuettes, glass beakers, signet rings, candlesticks, ivory knife handles, water flasks and even a baby’s bottle all contain images of the heroes from the arena. Perhaps the most eye-opening aspect that I have come across while researching this essay were the effects that gladiators would have on the female citizens of the Roman Empire. This seems to be the strongest image of a Roman gladiator – as a sex-symbol. Arenas from El Djem, in modern day Tunisia, to Pompeii contain graffiti carved by the actual gladiators boasting of their sexual prowess and popularity with the ladies, rather than their arena exploits. The satirist Juvenal penned a short, witty account of Eppia, a senator’s wife, who had outrageously eloped with a
While the philosophers like Seneca would show their contempt of a gladiator, others like Pliny the Younger (a distinguished senator, famous for his 10 books of letters) would applaud the enormous moral importance of fighting bravely and dying nobly, which was seen as a fine Roman trait. More generally, and perhaps more importantly, Roman homesteads and property seem to be beleaguered with gladiatorial paraphernalia. There are literally tons of artefacts from excavated from all over the Empire depicting various categories and forms of gladiators in action. Not just expensive floor mosaics, frescos and wall carvings but lamps, coins, statuettes, glass beakers, signet rings, candlesticks, ivory knife handles, water flasks and even a baby’s bottle all contain images of the heroes from the arena. Perhaps the most eye-opening aspect that I have come across while researching this essay were the effects that gladiators would have on the female citizens of the Roman Empire. This seems to be the strongest image of a Roman gladiator – as a sex-symbol. Arenas from El Djem, in modern day Tunisia, to Pompeii contain graffiti carved by the actual gladiators boasting of their sexual prowess and popularity with the ladies, rather than their arena exploits. The satirist Juvenal penned a short, witty account of Eppia, a senator’s wife, who had outrageously eloped with a