What the evidence supports
Popular images of Roman entertainment come largely from films, so it helps to start with what is reasonably well established. Gladiator contests were a form of staged combat, usually between trained fighters, put on at public expense or by wealthy sponsors. Many gladiators were enslaved people, prisoners of war or condemned criminals, but some were free volunteers who signed a contract. Fights did not always end in death, and a well-trained gladiator represented a costly investment for his owner. Gladiator shows were one part of a larger menu that also included chariot racing, theatre and animal displays.
Origins and development
The Romans traditionally dated their first gladiator show to 264 BCE, when it was held as part of funeral rites for an aristocrat, a date close to the start of the Punic Wars. Ancient writers disagreed on whether the custom came from the Etruscans or from Campania, and modern scholars still debate it. Whatever the source, the shows grew from private funeral games into large public events. Under the emperors they became an expression of imperial generosity. The Augustan principate set the pattern of emperors presenting themselves as the main providers of public spectacle, and the Flavian Amphitheatre, which we call the Colosseum, opened in 80 CE under Titus.
Training and types of fighter
Gladiators lived and trained in schools called ludi, run by a manager known as a lanista. They were fed, trained and medically treated, because injured fighters were expensive to replace. They fought in recognisable styles, distinguished by armour and weapons:
- the murmillo, with a large shield and crested helmet
- the retiarius, with a net, trident and little armour
- the secutor, a helmeted fighter often matched against the retiarius
- the thraex and the hoplomachus, whose names point to Thracian and Greek-style equipment
Pairings were chosen to produce balanced, interesting contests, and referees supervised the bouts. A defeated fighter could appeal for mercy. The decision lay with the sponsor, who might be influenced by the crowd. The exact gestures used are not securely known, and the popular image of a thumbs-down signal is uncertain. Surviving tombstones show that some gladiators survived many fights and that those who earned freedom were sometimes given a wooden sword, the rudis. The best-known revolt, led by Spartacus in 73 to 71 BCE, began in a gladiator school at Capua and was eventually crushed by the Roman legions.
A day at the amphitheatre
Roman writers describe a typical show as a sequence. Mornings often featured venationes, which were staged hunts or displays with exotic animals, handled by specialists. Midday could include executions of condemned prisoners, which some ancient writers criticised as a grim spectacle. Afternoons were usually given to the gladiator pairs. Sponsors advertised events through painted notices, which survive at Pompeii and mention features such as awnings to shade the crowd.
Seating generally reflected rank, with senators and other élites closest to the action and ordinary citizens and women higher up. The Roman Senate and the equestrian class had reserved places, a rule that goes back to the early imperial period. The Colosseum is usually estimated to have held around fifty thousand spectators, though figures are approximate. Large amphitheatres like this depended on advanced building methods, among them the use of Roman concrete in vaults and foundations.
Some rulers also staged mock naval battles, called naumachiae, on flooded arenas or artificial lakes. Accounts mention examples under Julius Caesar, Augustus and Claudius, though the details are reported in later and sometimes exaggerated sources.
Chariot racing at the circus
Chariot racing was arguably the most popular spectacle of all, and it was held in a long track called a circus. The best known was the Circus Maximus in Rome, whose capacity is estimated at well over a hundred thousand, though the numbers are uncertain. Races were commonly run over seven laps around a central barrier, with up to twelve chariots released from starting gates. Teams were organised into four colour factions, the Reds, Whites, Blues and Greens, and supporters followed them with great loyalty. Charioteers, usually of low social status, could become wealthy and famous, and inscriptions record the careers of leading drivers. Crashes were common and dangerous.
Why the Romans watched
Writers such as Juvenal complained that the people wanted only bread and circuses, but the shows served several purposes. They displayed the sponsor’s wealth and generosity, gave emperors a way to meet their subjects in person, and offered a shared occasion for people of different classes to sit in the same building. Many observers, including some Roman moralists, found the violence disturbing, and ancient opinion was not uniform.
The decline of the games
Gladiator combat faded in the later empire, a process that involved changing tastes, rising costs, imperial laws and Christian objections. It was not abolished in a single moment, and historians still discuss when it finally ended, generally placing the decline in the fourth and fifth centuries CE. Chariot racing survived considerably longer, especially in Constantinople. The study of Roman slavery helps explain how a social system that treated people as property supplied many of the performers, which is a reminder that these shows were entertainment for some and coerced labour for others.