Gladiator Description

A gladiator (Latin: gladiator, "swordsman", from gladius, "sword") was

an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic

and Roman

Empire in violent confrontations.

With other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. ...

The origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate.Hollywood

movies and television shows often depict gladiatorial bouts

as a bloody free-for-all, but most fights operated under fairly

strict rules and regulations.

 Contests were typically single combat between two men of

similar size and experience. ... Nevertheless, the life of a

gladiator was usually brutal and short.Perhaps the most

famous gladiator of all was Spartacus, who led an uprising

of gladiators and slaves from Capua. 

The leading producer of gladiators, in 73 BCE. From Thrace,

the former Roman soldier had become a bandit until his capture

and forced training as a gladiator.They initially happened at

funerals and gravesides as a way of honouring the dead.

As they increased in popularity, they were hosted by the

ruling classes as a way of entertaining the masses and

building their own popularity in society.

But historically, the “arena” was a stage for combat, the

gladiator stadium in Rome. The Latin word arena literally

means sand, because the stage where gladiators fought

was covered by a thin layer of sand.