Gladiators

            The Romans were very powerful people; their customs and traditions exceeded other cultures. Some of the customs are used during every day life, like some of the marriage processes and dinner extravaganza. After many centuries, Roman lives fascinate people. .
             The Gladiators followed instructions, which was to live and die in honor. The word gladiator is a divertive from the Latin word, gladius; which means sword. This custom came from the Etruscans who used to fight in private settings before fighting in front if a large group of people. The first gladiator games took place in Rome in 264 BC by the son of Junius Brutus Pera in their father's honor after he had died. From that point on, this type of combat became very popular as a form of public entertainment. Most of the gladiators that fought were prisoners of war, slaves, or sentenced criminals. The gladiator slaves were owned and trained by a person called a lanista. This training is similar to boxing; the training involved the learning of figures, which were broken down into phrases. The reason for training was because the Romans thought that it was dangerous to allow citizens to own and train gladiators, because they could be taught to go against the government. To the emperor, the lanista was viewed on the bottom of the social scale. There were free men and professional gladiators that fought for a source of pride and honor. Captured soldiers had to fight with their own weapons or the weapons of the people they killed. The most common dress was a wide leather belt, a large oblong shield, a sword, an elaborate helmet, a greave on the left leg, and a protective sleeve on the right arm. For the gladiator, life was terrible. They got three meals a day, medical care, and if they won a lot of games; they could be freed. In some competitions, they could earn certain things as bonuses. Because they were gladiators, they could never be Roman citizens.