1. You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator

2. When Did Gladiators First Appear?
The Romans believed that the first gladiators were made to fight at the funeral of a wealthy and important aristocrat in 264 BC.
This fight was arranged by the family of the deceased to honour his memory.
This first “Gladiatorial” fight was to the death!

3. Why Did the Gladiator Games Continue?
Gradually, the games were staged by the wealthy as a means of displaying their power and influence within the Roman community.
Gladiator owners and sponsors of the games arranged extravagant
gladiator fights to gain
political favours from
those in powerful
positions.

4. Why Were the Games So Popular?
The games were a cheap form of public entertainment.
To the Romans, gladiators were celebrities!
Shouting and cheering, the crowds loved to watch the gladiators battle it out!

5. Who Were These Brave Gladiators?
Gladiators were recruited from different sources:
Slaves who were brought from different lands under Roman control
Prisoners of war
Volunteers (who at a time accounted for half of all the gladiators). Volunteers were paid and were skilled fighters.

6. Who Were These Brave Gladiators?
Most of the gladiators were Thracians, Gauls and Africans.
There is evidence to suggest that women also participated in gladiator fights.
Even emperors like Caligula, Titus and Claudius participated in such sports (although they were never truly harmed)

7. Who Were These Brave Gladiators?
The ethnicity of gladiators was also evident from the way they were dressed and armed. (You will research this!)
Gladiators used swords, spears, short javelins and shields as weapons and wore helmets and body armor for protection.

8. Who Were These Brave Gladiators?
Now it is YOUR turn to do some research!
Using a laptop, locate the document titled
“You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Gladiator” in the S Drive, under Langan in the Social Studies folder.
Complete the task outlined in the document!