Gladitorial+Games+by+Kyle

Gladitorial Games

The first record of gladiatorial games took place when three groups of Gladiators fought to the death at the funeral of Junius Brutus in 264 BCE, though others could have taken place before. Gladiator games used to take place in open fields with temporary seating but because of the large crowd they had to expand. Romans did this by building buildings for this purpose and called them amphitheaters because seating stretched all the way around the arena. The first amphitheaters were made of wood and then changed to stone because they realized that stone was sturdier and would hold up longer. The nicest amphitheater was located in [|Rome] and called the Flavian Amphitheater because it was built by the emperors of the gens Flavia, but then the name was changed to what we know it by today, the Colosseum. After rome fell, the Colosseum's stones got stolen and used to build houses and other buildings. Below, is a picture of the [|Colosseum] when it was fully built.

Gladiators got their name from a Roman sword called a [|gladius]. Gladiators were usually condemned criminals, prisoners of war, or slaves; but some were volunteers. Before they fought, they swore the following oath: “I will endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword.” Trained gladiators had to chance to survive and even thrive. Some gladiators only fought 2 or 3 times a year and good gladiators even became heroes and showed up in graffiti. Skilled gladiators made a great amount of money. If a gladiator won a lot of fights, he was freed and could fight for money or retire and teach at a gladiator school. There were four main types of gladiators: [|Thracians], [|Secutors], [|retiarius], and [|Bestiarius]. They were also other types such as the [|Samnite] who were the first type of gladiator. Thracians wore a wide-brimmed crested helmet and visor, high greaves on both legs, arm protector,a used a very small shield, and a short, curved sword. The Secutors wore egg-shaped helmet with circular eye-holes, a greave on one leg, an arm protector, and used a shield and sword. Retiarius wore arm protector, no helmet, and used a large net and a small trident. Bestiarius wore leather or cloth and used a whip to fight animals. These were the least popular gladiators. Below is a picture of some of the types of gladiator.



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