Legislation by Claudius required that quaestors, the lowest rank of Roman magistrate, personally subsidise two-thirds of the costs of games for their small-town communities—in effect, both an advertisement of their personal generosity and a part-purchase of their office. The earliest munera took place at or near the tomb of the deceased and these were organised by their munerator (who made the offering). In the Byzantine Empire, theatrical shows and chariot races continued to attract the crowds, and drew a generous imperial subsidy. By this time, interest in gladiator contests had waned throughout the Roman world.
As a soldier committed his life (voluntarily, at least in theory) to the greater cause of Rome’s victory, he was not expected to survive defeat. As Wiedemann points out, December was also the month for the Saturnalia, Saturn’s festival, in which death was linked to renewal, and the lowest were lanista honoured as the highest. They included a provincial magnate’s five-day munus of thirty pairs, plus beast hunts. Many, if not most, involved venationes, and in the later empire some may have been only that.
A century before this, the emperor Alexander Severus (r. 222–235) may have intended a more even redistribution of munera throughout the year; but this would have broken with what had become the traditional positioning of the major gladiator games, at the year’s ending. Despite the harsh discipline, gladiators represented a substantial investment for their lanista and were otherwise well fed and cared for. A condemned bankrupt or debtor accepted as novice (novicius) could negotiate with his lanista or editor for the partial or complete payment of his debt. In the earliest munera, death was considered a righteous penalty for defeat; later, those who fought well might be granted remission at the whim of the crowd or the editor. Gladiator games were advertised well beforehand, on billboards that gave the reason for the game, its editor, venue, date and the number of paired gladiators (ordinarii) to be used.
Role in Roman life
- It is not known how many gladiatoria munera were given throughout the Roman period.
- He was lanista of the gladiators employed by the state circa 105 BC to instruct the legions and simultaneously entertain the public.
- As a soldier committed his life (voluntarily, at least in theory) to the greater cause of Rome’s victory, he was not expected to survive defeat.
- While the Senate mustered their willing slaves, Hannibal offered his dishonoured Roman captives a chance for honourable death, in what Livy describes as something very like the Roman munus.
- At Pompeii’s amphitheatre, during Nero’s reign, the trading of insults between Pompeians and Nucerian spectators during public ludi led to stone throwing and riots.
In any event, the final decision of death or life belonged to the editor, who signalled his choice with a gesture described by Roman sources as pollice verso meaning “with a turned thumb”; a description too imprecise for reconstruction of the gesture or its symbolism. An outstanding fighter might receive a laurel crown and money from an appreciative crowd but for anyone originally condemned ad ludum the greatest reward was manumission (emancipation), symbolised by the gift of a wooden training sword or staff (rudis) from the editor. The Zliten mosaic in Libya (circa 80–100 AD) shows musicians playing an accompaniment to provincial games (with gladiators, bestiarii, or venatores and prisoners attacked by beasts). Even among the ordinarii, match winners might have to fight a new, well-rested opponent, either a tertiarius (“third choice gladiator”) by prearrangement; or a “substitute” gladiator (suppositicius) who fought at the whim of the editor as an unadvertised, unexpected “extra”. In late Republican munera, between 10 and 13 matches could have been fought on one day; this assumes one match at a time in the course of an afternoon. The gladiators may have held informal warm-up matches, using blunted or dummy weapons—some munera, however, may have used blunted weapons throughout.
Legal and social status
It was inaugurated by Titus in 80 AD as the personal gift of the Emperor to the people of Rome, paid for by the imperial share of booty after the Jewish Revolt. Martial wrote that “Hermes a gladiator who always drew the crowds means riches for the ticket scalpers”. Even after the adoption of Christianity as Rome’s official religion, legislation forbade the involvement of Rome’s upper social classes in the games, though not the games themselves. Augustus, who enjoyed watching the games, forbade the participation of senators, equestrians and their descendants as fighters or arenarii, but in 11 AD he bent his own rules and allowed equestrians to volunteer because “the prohibition was no use”. Caesar’s munus of 46 BC included at least one equestrian, son of a Praetor, and two volunteers of possible senatorial rank. When a gladiator earned their freedom or retirement, they were given a wooden rudis sword to signify proof of their freedom from slavery.
Gladiator
Very little evidence survives of the religious beliefs of gladiators as a class, or their expectations of an afterlife. Some monuments record the gladiator’s career in some detail, including the number of appearances, victories—sometimes represented by an engraved crown or wreath—defeats, career duration, and age at death. Otherwise, the gladiator’s familia, which included his lanista, comrades and blood-kin, might fund his funeral and memorial costs, and use the memorial to assert their moral reputation as responsible, respectful colleagues or family members. Kyle (1998) proposes that gladiators who disgraced themselves might have been subjected to the same indignities as noxii, denied the relative mercies of a quick death and dragged from the arena as carrion. Some mosaics show defeated gladiators kneeling in preparation for the moment of death.
Schools and training
The enthusiastic adoption of munera gladiatoria by Rome’s Iberian allies shows how easily, and how early, the culture of the gladiator munus permeated places far from Rome itself. In 216 BC, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, late consul and augur, was honoured by his sons with three days of munera gladiatoria in the Forum Romanum, using twenty-two pairs of gladiators. Tomb frescoes from the Campanian city of Paestum (4th century BC) show paired fighters, with helmets, spears and shields, in a propitiatory funeral blood-rite that anticipates early Roman gladiator games. For some modern scholars, reappraisal of pictorial evidence supports a Campanian origin, or at least a borrowing, for the games and gladiators. Early literary sources seldom agree on the origins of gladiators and the gladiator games.
Even the most complex and sophisticated munera of the Imperial era evoked the ancient, ancestral dii manes of the underworld and were framed by the protective, lawful rites of sacrificium. During the Civil Wars that led to the Principate, Octavian (later Augustus) acquired the personal gladiator troop of his erstwhile opponent, Mark Antony. A career as a volunteer gladiator may have seemed an attractive option for some. Roman military discipline was ferocious; severe enough to provoke mutiny, despite the consequences. The dearth of freemen necessitated a new kind of enlistment; 8,000 sturdy youths from amongst the slaves were armed at the public cost, after they had each been asked whether they were willing to serve or no.
- Ordinary citizens, slaves and freedmen were usually buried beyond the town or city limits, to avoid the ritual and physical pollution of the living; professional gladiators had their own, separate cemeteries.
- By the 1st century BC, noxii were being condemned to the beasts (damnati ad bestias) in the arena, with almost no chance of survival, or were made to kill each other.
- In the next century, Augustine of Hippo deplored the youthful fascination of his friend (and later fellow-convert and bishop) Alypius of Thagaste, with the munera spectacle as inimical to a Christian life and salvation.
- Martial wrote that “Hermes a gladiator who always drew the crowds means riches for the ticket scalpers”.
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By the 1st century BC, noxii were being condemned to the beasts (damnati ad bestias) in the arena, with almost no chance of survival, or were made to kill each other. Modern customs and institutions offer few useful parallels to the legal and social context of the gladiatoria munera. Remains of a Pompeian ludus site attest to developments in supply, demand and discipline; in its earliest phase, the building could accommodate 15–20 gladiators. As most ordinarii at games were from the same school, this kept potential opponents separate and safe from each other until the lawful munus. Novices (novicii) trained under teachers of particular fighting styles, probably retired gladiators. The city of Rome itself had four; the Ludus Magnus (the largest and most important, housing up to about 2,000 gladiators), Ludus Dacicus, Ludus Gallicus, and the Ludus Matutinus, which trained bestiarii.
The amphitheatre munus thus served the Roman community as living theatre and a court in miniature, in which judgement could be served not only on those in the arena below, but on their judges. Petitions could be submitted to the editor (as magistrate) in full view of the community. From across the stands, crowd and editor could assess each other’s character and temperament. Their seating tiers surrounded the arena below, where the community’s judgments were meted out, in full public view.
The Paestum frescoes may represent the continuation of a much older tradition, acquired or inherited from Greek colonists of the 8th century BC. This was accepted and repeated in most early modern, standard histories of the games. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death. Join us and discover an online casino experience that’s truly enjoyable, reliable, and built for players like you. Built with players in mind, Lanista offers a modern online casino experience that feels effortless from the moment you log in.Licensed in Curacao, we operate with transparency and trust, making sure every spin, bet, and game is backed by secure and regulated standards.
In Roman art and culture
One gladiator was even granted “citizenship” to several Greek cities of the Eastern Roman world. A rescript of Hadrian reminded magistrates that “those sentenced to the sword” (execution) should be despatched immediately “or at least within the year”, and those sentenced to the ludi should not be discharged before five years, or three years if granted manumission. “He vows to endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword.” The gladiator’s oath as cited by Petronius (Satyricon, 117). Regular massage and high quality medical care helped mitigate an otherwise very severe training regimen.
Many schools and amphitheatres were sited at or near military barracks, and some provincial army units owned gladiator troupes. The gladiator as a specialist fighter, and the ethos and organization of the gladiator schools, would inform the development of the Roman military as the most effective force of its time. While the Senate mustered their willing slaves, Hannibal offered his dishonoured Roman captives a chance for honourable death, in what Livy describes as something very like the Roman munus. Devotio (willingness to sacrifice one’s life to the greater good) was central to the Roman military ideal, and was the core of the Roman military oath. From the early days of the Republic, ten years of military service were a citizen’s duty and a prerequisite for election to public office.
Of the 176 days reserved for spectacles of various kinds, 102 were for theatrical shows, 64 for chariot races and just 10 in December for gladiator games and venationes. A single late primary source, the Calendar of Furius Dionysius Philocalus for 354, shows how seldom gladiators featured among a multitude of official festivals. In the early imperial era, munera in Pompeii and neighbouring towns were dispersed from March through November. It is not known how many gladiatoria munera were given throughout the Roman period.