Rome: Training, Diet, and Life of Gladiators

Summary

Gladiatorial combat had deep social, cultural, political, and religious significance in the Roman world, but it was also a popular spectacle, and the spectators were knowledgeable aficionados. They understood and appreciated the skills of gladiators and the technical expectations of gladiatorial combat. This was a dangerous form of man-to-man combat but, contrary to many modern preconceptions, was primarily concerned with achieving ostentatious victory. The whole institution of gladiatura, the organization, the training, and the life lived by the gladiators, was directed at achieving popular expectations. For the most part, gladiators were professionals, and they were trained as part of a larger group, the familia gladiatoria, in a standard institution, the ludus gladiatorius. The archaeological remains of several ludi survive from across the empire. From a variety of evidence, we can study the personnel of a gladiatorial familia, including specialized trainers, medical staff, and resultant gladiatorial organization. We are also able to determine the techniques and equipment involved in training and the diet consumed by gladiators. All organization and training was geared toward success in the expected forms of combat. Gladiatorial training was a purposeful activity, designed to create gladiators to succeed in the spectacle of armed combat in the arena.