Editing Gladiator (section)

==The gladiators==
{{Main|List of Roman gladiator types}}
[[File:Naples Museum 18 (14972772469).jpg|thumb|left|A [[Cestus]] boxer and a rooster in a [[Roman mosaic]] at the [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples]], 1st century AD]]
The earliest types of gladiator were named after Rome's enemies of that time: the [[Samnite (gladiator type)|Samnite]], [[Thraex|Thracian]] and [[List of Roman gladiator types#Gallus|Gaul]]. The Samnite, heavily armed, elegantly helmed and probably the most popular type, was renamed [[secutor]] and the Gaul renamed [[murmillo]], once these former enemies had been conquered then absorbed into Rome's Empire. In the mid-republican ''munus'', each type seems to have fought against a similar or identical type. In the later Republic and early Empire, various "fantasy" types were introduced, and were set against dissimilar but complementary types. For example, the bareheaded, nimble [[retiarius]] ("net-man"), armoured only at the left arm and shoulder, pitted his net, trident and dagger against the more heavily armoured, helmeted Secutor.<ref>{{harvnb|Kyle|2007|p=313}}</ref> Most depictions of gladiators show the most common and popular types. Passing literary references to others has allowed their tentative reconstruction. Other novelties introduced around this time included gladiators who fought from [[Essedarius|chariots or carts]], or from horseback. At an unknown date, [[cestus]] fighters were introduced to Roman arenas, probably from Greece, armed with potentially lethal boxing gloves.<ref>Green, Thomas, Martial Arts of the World: R–Z, [https://books.google.com/books?id=v32oHSE5t6cC&dq=cestus+gladiator&pg=PA147] Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, pp 45, 149, {{ISBN|978-1576071502}}</ref>

The trade in gladiators was empire-wide, and subject to official supervision. Rome's military success produced a supply of soldier-prisoners who were redistributed for use in State mines or amphitheatres and for sale on the open market. For example, in the aftermath of the [[First Jewish–Roman War|Jewish Revolt]], the gladiator schools received an influx of Jews—those rejected for training were sent straight to the arenas as ''noxii'' (lit. [[wikt:noxius#Latin|"hurtful ones"]]).<ref>Josephus. ''The Jewish War'', 6.418, 7.37–40; {{harvnb|Kyle|1998|p=93}}. ''noxii'' were the most obnoxious of criminal categories in Roman law.</ref> The best—the most robust—were sent to Rome. In Rome's military ethos, enemy soldiers who had surrendered or allowed their own capture and enslavement had been granted an unmerited gift of life. Their training as gladiators gave them the opportunity to redeem their honour in the ''munus''.<ref>{{harvnb|Futrell|2006|pp=120–125}}.</ref>

[[File:Jean-Leon Gerome Pollice Verso.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[Pollice Verso (Gérôme)|Pollice Verso]]'' ("With a Turned Thumb"), an 1872 painting by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]]]]

Two other sources of gladiators, found increasingly during the Principate and the relatively low military activity of the [[Pax Romana]], were slaves condemned to the arena (''damnati''), to gladiator schools or games (''ad ludum gladiatorium'')<ref>''Ludus'' meant both a game and a school&nbsp;– see entries 1 to 2.C, at Lewis and Short ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=lu_dus Perseus Project]).</ref> as punishment for crimes, and the paid volunteers (''[[wikt:auctoro#Latin|auctorati]]'') who by the late Republic may have comprised approximately half—and possibly the most capable half—of all gladiators.<ref>{{harvnb|Futrell|2006|p=124}}. See also Cassius Dio's accusation of entrapment by informers to provide "arena slaves" under Claudius; {{harvnb|Futrell|2006|p=103}}. "the best gladiators", Futrell citing Petronius's ''Satyricon'', 45.</ref> The use of volunteers had a precedent in the Iberian ''munus'' of [[Scipio Africanus]]; but none of those had been paid.<ref name="Futrell, 8-9" />

For the poor, and for non-citizens, enrollment in a gladiator school offered a trade, regular food, housing of sorts and a fighting chance of fame and fortune. [[Mark Antony]] chose a troupe of gladiators to be his personal bodyguard.<ref name="Futrell, 129: citing Dio">{{harvnb|Futrell|2006|p=129}}. Futrell is citing Cassius Dio.</ref> Gladiators customarily kept their prize money and any gifts they received, and these could be substantial. [[Tiberius]] offered several retired gladiators 100,000 ''sesterces'' each to return to the arena.<ref>Suetonius. ''Lives'', "Tiberius", [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suet-tiberius-rolfe.html 7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110204219/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suet-tiberius-rolfe.html |date=10 January 2011 }}.</ref> [[Nero]] gave the gladiator Spiculus property and residence "equal to those of men who had celebrated triumphs."<ref>Suetonius. ''Lives'', "Nero", [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suet-nero-rolfe.html 30] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110140354/http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ancient/suet-nero-rolfe.html |date=10 January 2011 }}.</ref>

===Women===
{{main|Gladiatrix}}
From the 60s AD [[female gladiator]]s appear as rare and "exotic markers of exceptionally lavish spectacle".<ref name="Futrell 2006 153–156">{{harvnb|Futrell|2006|pp=153–156}}.</ref> In 66 AD, [[Nero]] had Ethiopian women, men and children fight at a ''munus'' to impress the King [[Tiridates I of Armenia]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wiedemann|1992|p=112}}; {{harvnb|Jacobelli|2003|p=17}}, citing Cassius Dio, 62.3.1.</ref> Romans seem to have found the idea of a female gladiator novel and entertaining, or downright absurd; Juvenal titillates his readers with a woman named "Mevia", hunting boars in the arena "with spear in hand and breasts exposed",<ref>{{harvnb|Jacobelli|2003|p=17}}, citing Juvenal's ''Saturae'', 1.22–1.23.</ref> and [[Petronius]] mocks the pretensions of a rich, low-class citizen, whose ''munus'' includes a woman fighting from a cart or chariot.<ref>{{harvnb|Jacobelli|2003|p=18}}, citing Petronius's ''Satyricon'', 45.7.</ref> A ''munus'' of 89 AD, during [[Domitian]]'s reign, featured a battle between female gladiators, described as "Amazons".<ref>{{harvnb|Jacobelli|2003|p=18}}, citing Dio Cassius 67.8.4, Suetonius's ''Domitianus'' 4.2, and Statius's ''Silvae'' 1.8.51–1.8.56: see also Brunet (2014) p. 480.</ref> In Halicarnassus, a 2nd-century AD relief depicts two female combatants named "Amazon" and "Achillia"; their match ended in a draw.<ref name="Jacobelli 2003 18">{{harvnb|Jacobelli|2003|p=18}}; {{harvnb|Potter|2010|p=408}}.</ref> In the same century, an epigraph praises one of [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]]'s local elite as the first to "arm women" in the history of its games.<ref name="Jacobelli 2003 18" /> Female gladiators probably submitted to the same regulations and training as their male counterparts.<ref>{{harvnb|Potter|2010|p=408}}.</ref> Roman morality required that all gladiators be of the lowest social classes, and emperors who failed to respect this distinction earned the scorn of posterity. [[Cassius Dio]] takes pains to point out that when the much admired emperor [[Titus]] used female gladiators, they were of acceptably low class.<ref name="Futrell 2006 153–156" />

Some regarded female gladiators of any type or class as a symptom of corrupted Roman appetites, morals and womanhood. Before he became emperor, [[Septimius Severus]] may have attended the [[Antioch]]ene Olympic Games, which had been revived by the emperor [[Commodus]] and included traditional Greek female athletics. Septimius' attempt to give Rome a similarly dignified display of female athletics was met by the crowd with ribald chants and cat-calls.<ref>{{harvnb|Potter|2010|p=407}}.</ref> Probably as a result, he banned the use of female gladiators in 200 AD.<ref>{{harvnb|Jacobelli|2003|p=18}}, citing Dio Cassius 75.16.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Potter|2010|p=407}}, citing Dio Cassius 75.16.1.</ref>

===Emperors===
[[Caligula]], [[Titus]], [[Hadrian]], [[Lucius Verus]], [[Caracalla]], [[Publius Septimius Geta|Geta]] and [[Didius Julianus]] were all said to have performed in the arena, either in public or private, but risks to themselves were minimal.<ref>{{harvnb|Barton|1993|p=66}}.</ref> [[Claudius]], characterised by his historians as morbidly cruel and boorish, fought a whale trapped in the harbor in front of a group of spectators.<ref>{{harvnb|Fox|2006|p=576}}. Fox is citing Pliny.</ref> Commentators invariably disapproved of such performances.<ref>{{harvnb|Futrell|2006|p=158}}.</ref>

[[Commodus]] was a fanatical participant at the ''ludi'', and compelled Rome's elite to attend his performances as gladiator, ''[[Bestiarii|bestiarius]]'' or ''[[Venatio|venator]]''. Most of his performances as a gladiator were bloodless affairs, fought with wooden swords; he invariably won. He was said to have restyled Nero's colossal statue in his own image as "[[Hercules]] Reborn", dedicated to himself as "Champion of ''secutores''; only left-handed fighter to conquer twelve times one thousand men."<ref>Cassius Dio. ''Commodus'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.htm 73 (Epitome)]</ref> He was said to have killed 100 lions in one day, almost certainly from an elevated platform surrounding the arena perimeter, which allowed him to safely demonstrate his marksmanship. On another occasion, he decapitated a running ostrich with a specially designed dart, carried the bloodied head and his sword over to the Senatorial seats and gesticulated as though they were next.<ref>{{harvnb|Gibbon|Womersley|2000|p=118}}.</ref> As reward for these services, he drew a gigantic stipend from the public purse.<ref>Cassius Dio. ''Commodus'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/73*.html 73 (Epitome)]. Commodus was assassinated and posthumously declared a public enemy but was later deified.</ref>