Tell about Gladiator ?

Crowe reportedly didn’t love the now-famous line, “And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.” He tried to come up with something better on set, but in the end, decided to stick with it.

There was a symbolic side to this grisly affair, with the animals like lions, tigers and other predators alluding to the savages and ‘barbarians’ of the world that mighty Rome had subjugated (interestingly enough, the Mongols also had a similar type of hunting ritual that involved the ‘tactical’ killing of innocent beasts).

Joaquin Phoenix improvised the line where he screamed, “Am I not merciful?!” which scared the bejeesus out of Connie Nielsen, who was not expecting it at all.

And, as the Roman Republic grew in pomp and size, her nobles thought out news and grander ways to commemorate their legacy – by even making provisions its their wills for such funeral contests.

In essence, the funerary service became more of a political statement (combined with bloody spectacles) that supposedly espoused the greatness of the patrons.

As a result, being miserly regarding such ‘expected’ contests often incurred the displeasure of the common townsfolk.

One particular incident aptly exemplifies such hedonistic attitudes – during the reign of Tiberius, a centurion’s funeral service was forcibly interrupted by the townspeople as they demanded for funerary games.

The situation soon turned into a riot, and the emperor had to send his troops to quell the disturbance.

2) 186 arenas around the Roman realm, and a mishap that supposedly killed 50,000 people!

The popularity of such funeral contests among the Romans increased exponentially – so much so that the patrons had to accommodate a variety of spectacles at specialized purpose-built venues, thus culminating in the final ‘evolution’ of gladiatorial games.

These amphitheaters mostly sprung up inside Rome (the city) beside the Forum, and were initially constructed from wood with sand floors. In fact, the very word harena which meant sand, gave way to the term arena.

Suffice it to say, overcrowding was a major predicament for the engineers, and as such one of the accidental mishaps resulted in the collapse of the entire superstructure of an amphitheater at Fidenae.

According to the Tacitus, the death toll reached over 50,000 people – which might have been an exaggeration on the author’s part, but still hints at the massive surge of popularity of such gladiatorial contests that took hold across Rome.

The nature of the incredible demand for gladiatorial combats could also be measured by the actual number of amphitheaters inside the Roman-held lands.

According to architect and archaeologist Jean-Claude Golvin, this figure accounted for 186 venues spread over the Roman-ruled realms, while being additionally complemented by 86 other possible locations that might have had some kind of arenas for gladiators and their bloody spectacles.

3) The Hoplomachi – professional entertainers/fighters of the day

While the gladiatorial combats had their precursors in funerary contests fought among ill-equipped slaves, the spectacles at their gory zenith were ‘fueled’ by the professional warriors called hoplomachi (or armored fighting men) and their prowess inside the bloody arena.

To that end, these men were the actual ‘gladiators’ that we are accustomed to seeing being depicted in the popular movies and television programs. Skillful in handling their short swords (gladius), the combatants were trained to ‘entertain’ the crowds whether it be in single combats or staged battles inside the arena. Such forms of crowd-pleasing entertainment alluded to the spectacle of long-drawn conflict as opposed to quick bloody events.

In that regard, the hoplomachi were experts in prolonging the suffering of their opponents that entailed the drawing of blood and its spilling onto the sand. Simply put, they were a far-cry from the ill-prepared criminals that went into the arena to die.

Instead they were viewed more as dashing dare-devils, who while sharing some of their bad luck as being initially dispossessed, lived to please the rousing and often ruthless Roman spectators.

4) A paradox of low class and high fame –

The question naturally arises – where did such professional gladiators come from?

Well, in majority of the cases, the men (and few women) were bought from thriving slave markets.

Some among them were simply sold by their masters because of their past crimes or transgressions, while others were prisoners of war.

However, beyond the scope of dispossessed slaves and war victims, even free men joined the ranks of gladiators – some who had lost their inheritance and some who were simply addicted to the thrill of fighting and winning accolades from the crowds.