The Roman Gladiatorial Games was an interesting sport that involved a lot of contact that would often lead to death. The first Gladiatorial games were offered in Rome. The games were held in many different places, one of the most famous was the Colosseum. The players in these games were usually criminals. There were many different types of gladiators. Not only was the gladiators weapons risky but their training was challenging as well. A simple day at the Arena was a lingering adventure.
The first Roman Gladiatorial games were given in 264 BCE by Decimus Junius Brutus. The games were in honor of his late father. The munus was what the Romans referred the gladiatorial games to, which meant a duty to the dead ancestor paid for by the descendent. Therefore Gladiatorial games were linked to a certain person's death.
The Gladiaitorial games were held in amphitheaters. Before the late first century BC, gladiatorial contest were held in the Circus Maximus, and at other places. Usually Chariot races were held here. Temporary wooden stands were put up when the games were held in the Forum. Statilius Taurus built the earliest stable stone amphitheater in Rome in 29 BC. There were amphitheaters throughout the rest of Italy, Spain, Gaul, northern Africa, and the Greek east. A lot of these amphitheatres are still in existence today and used for things such as bullfighting. The amphitheater reflected a miniature Roman society. The seating was arranged by social class and status. For example, first it was the emperor who sat in distinctive box seating on a podium. Then came the senators who sat on marble. From the senators to the summa cavea sat many other sections and rows of social status. The summa cavea were poorer citizens, slaves, freedmen, and foreigners. .
The most popular Roman amphitheater is the Colosseum, which still continues to be a great tourist atrraction these days. There are three tiers of arches and an attic story on the exterior of the Colosseum.
