The Latin word for gladiator was swordsman which means one who bears arms.

Gladiator fighting was a popular event that was celebrated widely across Rome. The

gladiator fights too place in the years 105 BCE until 404 CE. Fighting took place in many

parts of Rome, the fights were open to the public for free and were in large

amphitheaters. These amphitheaters could seat up to 50,000 spectators. The largest

amphitheater was the colosseum which still stands today in Rome. The colosseum sat up

to 50,000 spectators and had unique features like a massive awning that protected

spectators from the sun. Games were free to the public because a wealthy citizen or

government official would donate money to fund the games. The wealthy citizen or

government official would do this to gain fame and prosperity. Many feasts and parties

would be held in the donators name. Gladiator fighting was extremely complex and brutal

but attracted the attention from all of Rome.

Gladiators were not born into fighting they were chosen based on their actions.

Gladiators were most commonly slaves, former slaves, criminals, and prisoners of war.

There was also the rare occasion where ordinary citizens would enter the arena for

money, or on the rarest of occasions you would see a fighter fighting for glory and

nothing else. The fighters were chosen by certain members of the Roman community and

then sent immediately to training. After the gladiators arrived at the training centers they

would be introduced by the head of the training, there were many training centers across

the Roman territory. Training leaders were shamed upon by the citizens of Rome because

they had such a tight knit relationship with the fighters. After the head introduced himself
the gladiators would move on to their cells. Gladiators were treated like they criminals

and slaves that they were. The fighters would spend most of their times in shackles and

during rest times they would sleep in a cell, much like a prison cell. The prisoners would

endure months or even years of extremely hard training. Many fighters in training would

die because the training was so intense. There were few who would actually make it to

the day of fighting.

Although fighters were treated as prisoners they ate better than most citizens from

Rome. Their diets consisted of foods that were high in protein and carbohydrates. They

would be fed high in protein diets to make the fighters stronger and build a layer of

strength so if the fighter were to be struck by a sword or such they would not bleed as

much. Their diets were also high in carbohydrates to give the fighters energy to fight

throughout the day. Various meats and breads would be fed to the fighters to supplement

these diets for the fighters. Again, these fighters ate better than most outside their

confinements, this was not to give the fighters a good time but to get them ready for their

almost immanent death.

Training was extremely hard on the soon to be gladiators and most would not

make it through the training. While in training, the fighters would learn strategic moves

to oppose an enemy and other moves to defend themselves from the enemy. Each fighter

would know their away around their weapons of choice or the weapon that was assigned

to them. Each fighter was made into a certain type of gladiator. There were over 20 types

of different Roman gladiators. There were five gladiators that were seen many times
throughout the gladiator games. The main five were Equite, Laquearius, Murmillo,

Retiarus, and the Provocator. The gladiator type Equite was horse mounted and weiled a

short sword, the Equite also held a round shield to defend apposing gladiators. Next, the

gladiator type Laquearius features a large lasso to snare opponents and a dagger to finish

those opponents. Another popular opponent was the Murmillo who wore an ornate helmet

and fought with a short sword. The murmillo held a long shield to protect from enemys.

Retiarus was another feared opponent who held a large net to capture opponents and a

trident to impale opponents. The last popular gladiator to fight in the gladiator ring was

the Provocator who was most liked by the large part of Rome. The gladiator was known

for putting on epic fights that lasted a long time and were extremely violent. The

Provocator wielded a short sword, like most, and a rectangular shield. The Provocator

only fought against other Provocators and was so popular because the Provocator

mirrored the Roman soldier.

Finally, on the day of the fight gladiators were transported to their respected arena.

Gladiators had a large feast on the night before the fight to celebrate the day of games.

There were many events of the day of gladiator games. These events included a parade,

music, animal hunting in the arena, prisoner executions, gladiator vs animals, and lastly

the gladiator fights which lasted the longest and were most popularly liked. When

fighters arrived, they would suit up to get ready for their fight. If the fighters were

unlucky they would not have their weapon of choice at the arena. The luckiest of fighters

would have the weapons that they trained with during their entire training. It could take
hours before gladiators fought which caused immense anxiety. There were many types of

gladiator fighting games such as team fights and individual fights. The most popular was

individual fights that commenced the night. The fights were typically three to ten minutes

and were extremely brutal. If one gladiator knocked down another he would ask the

crowd if he should eliminate the other gladiator, this was based on how the gladiator did

during the fight, the ruler had the final say in death of life. That is all about the gladiator

fights and how brutal they were.