The spatha was a type of straight and long sword , measuring between 0.5 and 1 metre (20 and 40 inches), with a handle length of between 18 and 20 centimetres (7 and 8 inches), in use in the territory of the Roman Empire during the 1st to 6th centuries AD. Later swords, from the 7th to 10th centuries, like the Viking swords , are recognizable derivatives and sometimes subsumed under the term spatha .
164-473: The Roman spatha was used in war and in gladiatorial fights. The spatha of literature appears in the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD as a weapon used by presumably Celtic auxiliaries and gradually became a standard heavy infantry weapon by the 3rd century AD, relegating the gladius to use as a light infantry weapon. The spatha apparently replaced the gladius in the front ranks, giving
328-679: A Proto-Indo-European stem *sph 2 -dh- . During the Second Punic War , Celtic mercenaries introduced the spatha to the Roman army . The spatha was a weapon used by the cavalrymen , while the auxiliaries and legionaries of the infantry used the gladius instead. Eventually, the Roman infantry would adopt the spatha in the 2nd century. It was a very versatile sword, undergoing many changes from its origins in Gaul to its usage in
492-483: A lanista (owner of a gladiator training school). From the principate onwards, private citizens could hold munera and own gladiators only with imperial permission, and the role of editor was increasingly tied to state officialdom. Legislation by Claudius required that quaestors , the lowest rank of Roman magistrate, personally subsidise two-thirds of the costs of games for their small-town communities—in effect, both an advertisement of their personal generosity and
656-419: A " Viking sword ", to do so would be to neglect the widespread popularity it enjoyed. All over continental Europe between the 8th and 10th centuries, this design and its variations could be found. Many of the best blades were of Frankish origin, given hilts in local centres. These blades had significantly better balance. During Norman times , the blade's length increased by around 10 cm (4 in), and
820-455: A "frenzied crescendo" during combats, perhaps to heighten the suspense during a gladiator's appeal; blows may have been accompanied by trumpet-blasts. The Zliten mosaic in Libya (circa 80–100 AD) shows musicians playing an accompaniment to provincial games (with gladiators, bestiarii , or venatores and prisoners attacked by beasts). Their instruments are a long straight trumpet ( tubicen ),
984-638: A Carthaginian army in New Carthage (modern Cartagena ) and led it northwards along the Iberian coast in May or June. It entered Gaul and took an inland route, to avoid the Roman allies to the south. At the battle of Rhone Crossing , Hannibal defeated a force of local Gauls which sought to bar his way. A Roman fleet carrying the Iberian-bound army landed at Rome's ally Massalia (modern Marseille ) at
1148-403: A Pompeian match between chariot-fighters, Publius Ostorius, with previous 51 wins to his credit, was granted missio after losing to Scylax, with 26 victories. By common custom, the spectators decided whether or not a losing gladiator should be spared, and chose the winner in the rare event of a standing tie. Even more rarely, perhaps uniquely, one stalemate ended in the killing of one gladiator by
1312-432: A considerable degree of stagecraft. Among the cognoscenti, bravado and skill in combat were esteemed over mere hacking and bloodshed; some gladiators made their careers and reputation from bloodless victories. Suetonius describes an exceptional munus by Nero, in which no-one was killed, "not even noxii (enemies of the state)." Trained gladiators were expected to observe professional rules of combat. Most matches employed
1476-474: A distance and avoided close combat. The latter cavalry were usually Numidians . The close-order Libyan infantry and the citizen-militia would fight in a tightly packed formation known as a phalanx . On occasion some of the infantry would wear captured Roman armour, especially among Hannibal 's troops. Both Iberia and Gaul provided large numbers of experienced infantry and cavalry. These infantry were unarmoured troops who would charge ferociously, but had
1640-434: A distance, a short sword and a 90-centimetre (3 ft) shield. The rest were equipped as heavy infantry , with body armour , a large shield and short thrusting swords . They were divided into three ranks: the front rank also carried two javelins, while the second and third ranks were equipped with a thrusting spear instead. Legionary sub-units and individual legionaries both fought in relatively open order . It
1804-448: A draw. In the same century, an epigraph praises one of Ostia 's local elite as the first to "arm women" in the history of its games. Female gladiators probably submitted to the same regulations and training as their male counterparts. 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
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#17327944350071968-619: A fleet of 60 quinqueremes ; and established supply depots at Ariminum and Arretium in preparation for marching north later in the year. Two armies of four legions each, two Roman and two allied but with stronger than usual cavalry contingents, were formed. One was stationed at Arretium and one on the Adriatic coast; they would be able to block Hannibal's possible advance into central Italy and were positioned to move north to operate in Cisalpine Gaul. In early spring 217 BC
2132-621: A force of 18,000. Despite these losses, the Romans besieged Capua , the Carthaginians' key ally in Italy. Hannibal offered battle to the Romans; Livy's account of the subsequent fighting is unclear, but the Romans seem to have suffered heavy casualties while the Carthaginians were unable to lift the siege. Hannibal then assaulted the Romans' siege works, but was again unable to relieve the city. In 211 BC Hannibal again offered battle to
2296-531: A force of Numidian cavalry to Sicily, which was led by the skilled Liby-Phoenician officer Mottones, who inflicted heavy losses on the Roman army through hit-and-run attacks. A fresh Roman army attacked the main Carthaginian stronghold on the island, Agrigentum , in 210 BC and the city was betrayed to the Romans by a discontented Carthaginian officer. The remaining Carthaginian-controlled towns then surrendered or were taken through force or treachery and
2460-499: A gigantic stipend from the public purse. Gladiator games were advertised well beforehand, on billboards that gave the reason for the game, its editor, venue, date and the number of paired gladiators ( ordinarii ) to be used. Other highlighted features could include details of venationes , executions, music and any luxuries to be provided for the spectators, such as an awning against the sun, water sprinklers, food, drink, sweets and occasionally "door prizes". For enthusiasts and gamblers,
2624-492: A gladiator. His gravestone in Sicily includes his record: "Flamma, secutor , lived 30 years, fought 34 times, won 21 times, fought to a draw 9 times, defeated 4 times, a Syrian by nationality. Delicatus made this for his deserving comrade-in-arms." A gladiator could acknowledge defeat by raising a finger ( ad digitum ), in appeal to the referee to stop the combat and refer to the editor , whose decision would usually rest on
2788-512: A large curved horn ( Cornu ) and a water organ ( hydraulis ). Similar representations (musicians, gladiators and bestiari ) are found on a tomb relief in Pompeii . A match was won by the gladiator who overcame his opponent, or killed him outright. Victors received the palm branch and an award from the editor . An outstanding fighter might receive a laurel crown and money from an appreciative crowd but for anyone originally condemned ad ludum
2952-404: A more detailed program ( libellus ) was distributed on the day of the munus , showing the names, types and match records of gladiator pairs, and their order of appearance. Left-handed gladiators were advertised as a rarity; they were trained to fight right-handers, which gave them an advantage over most opponents and produced an interestingly unorthodox combination. The night before the munus ,
3116-415: A palm-leaf and so on. There is no hint of any native Roman sword called a spatha . Referring to an actual sword, the term first appears in the pages of Tacitus with reference to an incident of the early empire . The British king, Caratacus , having rebelled, found himself trapped on a rocky hill, so that if he turned one way he encountered the gladii of the legionaries, and if the other, the spathae of
3280-464: A part-purchase of their office. Bigger games were put on by senior magistrates, who could better afford them. The largest and most lavish of all were paid for by the emperor himself. The earliest types of gladiator were named after Rome's enemies of that time: the Samnite , Thracian and Gaul . The Samnite, heavily armed, elegantly helmed and probably the most popular type, was renamed secutor and
3444-518: A precedent in the Iberian munus of Scipio Africanus ; but none of those had been paid. 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. 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
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#17327944350073608-518: A propitiatory funeral blood-rite that anticipates early Roman gladiator games. Compared to these images, supporting evidence from Etruscan tomb-paintings is tentative and late. The Paestum frescoes may represent the continuation of a much older tradition, acquired or inherited from Greek colonists of the 8th century BC. Livy places the first Roman gladiator games (264 BC) in the early stage of Rome's First Punic War , against Carthage , when Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva had three gladiator pairs fight to
3772-401: A public proclamation as a most cruel murder. A gladiator who was refused missio was despatched by his opponent. To die well, a gladiator should never ask for mercy, nor cry out. A "good death" redeemed the gladiator from the dishonourable weakness and passivity of defeat, and provided a noble example to those who watched: For death, when it stands near us, gives even to inexperienced men
3936-568: A reputation for breaking off if a combat was protracted. The Gallic cavalry, and possibly some of the Iberians, wore armour and fought as close-order troops; most or all of the mounted Iberians were light cavalry. Slingers were frequently recruited from the Balearic Islands. The Carthaginians also employed war elephants ; North Africa had indigenous African forest elephants at the time. Garrison duty and land blockades were
4100-530: A rounded tip. Perhaps the most recognisable descendants of the spathae were the Viking Age blades. These swords took on a much more acute distal taper and point. They had deep fullers running their length, yet still had single-handed hilts which sported a uniquely shaped pommel , flat at the grip side and roughly triangular early on, with the flat curving to fit the hand later. While the pattern of hilt and blade design of this type might readily be called
4264-474: A senior referee ( summa rudis ) and an assistant, shown in mosaics with long staffs ( rudes ) to caution or separate opponents at some crucial point in the match. Referees were usually retired gladiators whose decisions, judgement and discretion were, for the most part, respected; they could stop bouts entirely, or pause them to allow the combatants rest, refreshment and a rub-down. Ludi and munera were accompanied by music, played as interludes, or building to
4428-467: A similarly dignified display of female athletics was met by the crowd with ribald chants and cat-calls. Probably as a result, he banned the use of female gladiators in 200 AD. Caligula , Titus , Hadrian , Lucius Verus , Caracalla , Geta and Didius Julianus were all said to have performed in the arena, either in public or private, but risks to themselves were minimal. Claudius , characterised by his historians as morbidly cruel and boorish, fought
4592-641: A sword". The Greek word σπάθη was used in the middle archaic period for various types of Iron Age swords . The word does not appear in Homeric Greek , but it is mentioned in the works of Alcaeus of Mytilene (sixth century BC) and Theophrastus (fourth century BC). It is likely that spatha is the romanization of the Doric Greek word σπάθα ( spáthā ). The word survives in Modern Greek as σπάθη and σπαθί . The Latin word became
4756-527: A thousand years, reaching their peak between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Christians disapproved of the games because they involved idolatrous pagan rituals, and the popularity of gladiatorial contests declined in the fifth century, leading to their disappearance. Early literary sources seldom agree on the origins of gladiators and the gladiator games. In the late 1st century BC, Nicolaus of Damascus believed they were Etruscan . A generation later, Livy wrote that they were first held in 310 BC by
4920-699: A training program for the military. It proved immensely popular. Thereafter, the gladiator contests formerly restricted to private munera were often included in the state games ( ludi ) that accompanied the major religious festivals. Where traditional ludi had been dedicated to a deity, such as Jupiter , the munera could be dedicated to an aristocratic sponsor's divine or heroic ancestor. Gladiatorial games offered their sponsors extravagantly expensive but effective opportunities for self-promotion, and gave their clients and potential voters exciting entertainment at little or no cost to themselves. Gladiators became big business for trainers and owners, for politicians on
5084-486: A vast booty of gold, silver and siege artillery . He released the captured population and liberated the Iberian hostages held there by the Carthaginians, in an attempt to ensure the loyalty of their tribes. In the spring of 208 BC Hasdrubal moved to engage Scipio at the battle of Baecula . The Carthaginians were defeated, but Hasdrubal was able to withdraw the majority of his army and prevent any Roman pursuit; most of his losses were among his Iberian allies. Scipio
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5248-604: A whale trapped in the harbor in front of a group of spectators. Commentators invariably disapproved of such performances. Commodus was a fanatical participant at the ludi , and compelled Rome's elite to attend his performances as gladiator, bestiarius or 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." He
5412-466: A woman named "Mevia", hunting boars in the arena "with spear in hand and breasts exposed", and Petronius mocks the pretensions of a rich, low-class citizen, whose munus includes a woman fighting from a cart or chariot. A munus of 89 AD, during Domitian 's reign, featured a battle between female gladiators, described as "Amazons". In Halicarnassus, a 2nd-century AD relief depicts two female combatants named "Amazon" and "Achillia"; their match ended in
5576-504: Is different: the extent of religious ritual and meaning in them, which constitutes idolatry. Although Tertullian states that these events are forbidden to believers, the fact that he writes a whole treatise to convince Christians that they should not attend ( De Spectaculis ) shows that apparently not everyone agreed to stay away from them. In the next century, Augustine of Hippo deplored the youthful fascination of his friend (and later fellow-convert and bishop ) Alypius of Thagaste , with
5740-473: Is the best surviving source for this part of the war. Several of the city states in southern Italy allied with Hannibal, or were captured when pro-Carthaginian factions betrayed their defences. These included the large city of Capua and the major port city of Tarentum (modern Taranto). Two of the major Samnite tribes also joined the Carthaginian cause. By 214 BC the bulk of southern Italy had turned against Rome, although there were many exceptions and
5904-499: The Aetolian League , a coalition of Greek city states which was already at war with Macedonia. In 205 BC this war ended with a negotiated peace. A rebellion in support of the Carthaginians broke out on Sardinia in 213 BC, but it was quickly put down by the Romans. Prior to 215 BC Sicily remained firmly in Roman hands, blocking the ready seaborne reinforcement and resupply of Hannibal from Carthage. Hiero II ,
6068-914: The Battle of the Metaurus . At the battle of Ilipa in 206 Scipio permanently ended the Carthaginian presence in Iberia. Scipio invaded Carthaginian Africa in 204 BC, compelling the Carthaginian Senate to recall Hannibal's army from Italy. The final engagement of the war took place between armies under Scipio and Hannibal at Zama in 202 and resulted in Hannibal's defeat and in Carthage suing for peace . The peace treaty dictated by Rome stripped Carthage of all of its overseas territories and some of its African ones. An indemnity of 10,000 silver talents
6232-574: The Campanians in celebration of their victory over the Samnites . Long after the games had ceased, the 7th century AD writer Isidore of Seville derived Latin lanista (manager of gladiators) from the Etruscan word for "executioner", and the title of " Charon " (an official who accompanied the dead from the Roman gladiatorial arena) from Charun , psychopomp of the Etruscan underworld. This
6396-547: The First Punic War was the issue of control of the independent Sicilian city state of Messana (modern Messina ). In 264 BC Carthage and Rome went to war. The war was fought primarily on Sicily and its surrounding waters; the Romans also unsuccessfully invaded North Africa in 256 BC. It was the longest continuous conflict and the greatest naval war of antiquity, with immense materiel and human losses on both sides. In 241 BC, after 23 years of war,
6560-590: The Forum Romanum , using twenty-two pairs of gladiators. Ten years later, Scipio Africanus gave a commemorative munus in Iberia for his father and uncle, casualties in the Punic Wars. High status non-Romans, and possibly Romans too, volunteered as his gladiators. The context of the Punic Wars and Rome's near-disastrous defeat at the Battle of Cannae (216 BC) link these early games to munificence,
6724-530: The Roman Empire during the 3rd and 4th centuries they would come into contact with the spatha . Surviving examples of these Germanic Iron Age swords have blades measuring between 71 and 81 cm (28 and 32 in) in length and 43 to 61 mm ( 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 2 + 3 ⁄ 8 in) in width. These single-handed weapons of war sport a tang 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 in) long and have very little taper in their blades. They usually end in
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6888-424: The Roman military . The blade was 60 to 75 cm (24 to 30 inches) long. The pattern welding was used to strengthen the core of the blade. The appearance of the metal was enhanced due to inlay and contrasting metals. The sword also incorporated one or two forged fullers, thus making the spatha a strong and lightweight blade. The spatha was first introduced to the Romans by Celtic mercenaries during
7052-515: The Second Punic War . The Celts would have used weaponry and armor from their homeland, and one of the Celtic weapons would have been the spatha. Although many believe that the spatha was adopted by the Romans due to contact with Germania , this is not true. The earlier gladius sword was gradually replaced by the spatha from the late 2nd to the 3rd century AD. From the early 3rd century, legionaries and cavalrymen began to wear their swords on
7216-579: The Western Roman Empire . According to Theodoret , the ban was in consequence of Saint Telemachus ' martyrdom by spectators at a gladiator munus. Valentinian III (r. 425–455) repeated the ban in 438, perhaps effectively, though venationes continued beyond 536. By this time, interest in gladiator contests had waned throughout the Roman world. In the Byzantine Empire, theatrical shows and chariot races continued to attract
7380-480: The battle of Insubria in 203 BC. After a Roman army invaded the Carthaginian homeland in 204 BC, defeating the Carthaginians in two major battles and winning the allegiance of the Numidian kingdoms of North Africa, Hannibal and the remnants of his army were recalled. They sailed from Croton and landed at Carthage with 15,000–20,000 experienced veterans. Mago was also recalled; he died of wounds on
7544-436: The editor himself. In any event, the final decision of death or life belonged to the editor , who signalled his choice with a gesture described by Roman sources as pollice verso meaning "with a turned thumb"; a description too imprecise for reconstruction of the gesture or its symbolism. Whether victorious or defeated, a gladiator was bound by oath to accept or implement his editor's decision, "the victor being nothing but
7708-643: The munera spectacle as inimical to a Christian life and salvation . Amphitheatres continued to host the spectacular administration of Imperial justice: in 315 Constantine the Great condemned child-snatchers ad bestias in the arena. Ten years later, he forbade criminals being forced to fight to the death as gladiators: Bloody spectacles do not please us in civil ease and domestic quiet. For that reason we forbid those people to be gladiators who by reason of some criminal act were accustomed to deserve this condition and sentence. You shall rather sentence them to serve in
7872-583: The munus . 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 ) as punishment for crimes, and the paid volunteers ( auctorati ) who by the late Republic may have comprised approximately half—and possibly the most capable half—of all gladiators. The use of volunteers had
8036-422: The retiarius , would tire less rapidly than their heavily armed opponents; most bouts would have lasted 10 to 15 minutes, or 20 minutes at most. In late Republican munera , between 10 and 13 matches could have been fought on one day; this assumes one match at a time in the course of an afternoon. Spectators preferred to watch highly skilled, well matched ordinarii with complementary fighting styles; these were
8200-578: The 37 with which he left Iberia – some time in November; the Romans had already gone into their winter quarters. Hannibal's surprise entry into the Italian peninsula led to the cancellation of Rome's planned campaign for the year: an invasion of Africa. Shortly after arriving in Italy the Carthaginians captured the chief city of the hostile Taurini (in the area of modern Turin ) and seized its food stocks. In late November 218 BC
8364-632: The Adriatic coast, then turned south into Apulia , hoping to win over some of the ethnic Greek and Italic cities of southern Italy. News of the defeat again caused a panic in Rome. The head of the embassy that was sent to Carthage right before the war broke out in 218 BC, Quintus Fabius Maximus, was elected dictator by the Roman Assembly and adopted the " Fabian strategy " of avoiding pitched battles, relying instead on low-level harassment to wear
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#17327944350078528-526: The Carthaginian cavalry routed the cavalry and light infantry of the Romans at the battle of Ticinus . As a result, most of the Gallic tribes declared for the Carthaginian cause and Hannibal's army grew to more than 40,000 men. The Senate ordered the army in Sicily north to join the force already facing Hannibal, thus abandoning the plan to invade Africa. The combined Roman force under the command of Sempronius
8692-500: The Carthaginian forces in Iberia were divided into three armies which were deployed apart from each other, the Romans split their forces. This strategy resulted in two separate battles in 211, usually referred to jointly as the battle of the Upper Baetis . Both battles ended in complete defeat for the Romans, as Hasdrubal had bribed the Romans' mercenaries to desert. The Roman survivors retreated to their coastal stronghold north of
8856-475: The Carthaginians caught a Roman army off guard outside Herdonia, heavily defeating it after its commander accepted battle . Livy then has Hannibal fighting the inconclusive battle of Numistro , although modern historians doubt his account. The Romans stayed on Hannibal's heels, fighting another pitched battle at Canusium in 209 BC and again suffering heavy losses. This battle enabled another Roman army to approach Tarentum and capture it by treachery . In
9020-544: The Carthaginians crossed the Apennines unopposed, taking a difficult but unguarded route. Hannibal attempted to draw the main Roman army under Gaius Flaminius into a pitched battle by devastating the area they had been sent to protect provoking Flaminius into a hasty pursuit. Hannibal set an ambush and in the battle of Lake Trasimene completely defeated the Roman army, killing 15,000 Romans, including Flaminius, and taking 10,000 prisoners . A cavalry force of 4,000 from
9184-559: The Carthaginians were defeated. Under the Roman-dictated Treaty of Lutatius Carthage ceded its Sicilian possessions to Rome. Rome exploited Carthage's distraction during the Truceless War against rebellious mercenaries and Libyan subjects to break the peace treaty and annex Carthaginian Sardinia and Corsica in 238 BC. Under the leadership of Hamilcar Barca , Carthage defeated the rebels in 237 BC. With
9348-451: The Ebro, from which the Carthaginians again failed to expel them. Claudius Nero brought over reinforcements in 210 BC and stabilised the situation. In 210 BC Publius Cornelius Scipio , arrived in Iberia with further Roman reinforcements. In a carefully planned assault in 209 BC he captured the lightly defended centre of Carthaginian power in Iberia, New Carthage, seizing
9512-510: The French épée , Catalan and Occitan espasa , Portuguese and Spanish espada , Italian spada , Romanian spadă and Albanian shpata , all meaning "sword". The English word spatula comes from Latin spat ( h ) ula , the diminutive of spatha . English spade , from Old English spadu or spædu , is the Germanic cognate , derived from a Common Germanic *spadō , ultimately from
9676-473: 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
9840-537: The Greek cities of southern Italy ( Magna Graecia ) submitted. During this period of Roman expansion, Carthage, with its capital in what is now Tunisia , had come to dominate southern Iberia , much of the coastal regions of North Africa, the Balearic Islands , Corsica , Sardinia and the western half of Sicily. By 264 BC Carthage was the dominant external power on Sicily, and Carthage and Rome were
10004-402: The Iberian tribes was too fragile and the Roman forces in the area too strong for him to execute the planned movement. In 215 Hasdrubal eventually acted, besieging a pro-Roman town and offering battle at Dertosa , where he attempted to use his cavalry superiority to clear the flanks of the Roman army while enveloping their centre on both sides with his infantry. However, the Romans broke through
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#173279443500710168-672: The Macedonian king, Philip V , pledged his support to Hannibal, initiating the First Macedonian War against Rome in 215 BC. The Romans were concerned that the Macedonians would attempt to cross the Strait of Otranto and land in Italy. They strongly reinforced their navy in the area and despatched a legion to stand guard, and the threat petered out. In 211 BC Rome contained the Macedonians by allying with
10332-628: The Po and appropriating large areas of the best land. Most of the Gauls resented this intrusion. During 218 BC there was some naval skirmishing in the waters around Sicily; the Romans repulsed a Carthaginian attack and captured the island of Malta . In Cisalpine Gaul (modern northern Italy), the major Gallic tribes attacked the Roman colonies there, causing the settlers to flee to their previously established colony of Mutina (modern Modena ), where they were besieged. A Roman relief force broke through
10496-436: The Roman elite from the bankruptcies they would otherwise suffer, and restricting gladiator munera to the festivals of Saturnalia and Quinquatria . Henceforth, an imperial praetor 's official munus was allowed a maximum of 120 gladiators at a ceiling cost of 25,000 denarii; an imperial ludi might cost no less than 180,000 denarii. Throughout the empire, the greatest and most celebrated games would now be identified with
10660-456: The Romans by marching his army overland from Iberia, through Gaul and over the Alps to Cisalpine Gaul (modern northern Italy). Reinforced by Gallic allies he obtained crushing victories over the Romans at the battles of Trebia (218) and Lake Trasimene (217). Moving to southern Italy in 216 Hannibal defeated the Romans again at the battle of Cannae , where he annihilated the largest army
10824-412: The Romans could still field multiple armies, which in total greatly outnumbered his own forces. The greatest gain was the second largest city of Italy, Capua, when Hannibal's army marched into Campania in 216 BC. The inhabitants of Capua held limited Roman citizenship and the aristocracy was linked to the Romans via marriage and friendship, but the possibility of becoming the supreme city of Italy after
10988-556: The Romans had ever assembled. After the death or capture of more than 120,000 Roman troops in less than three years, many of Rome's Italian allies , notably Capua , defected to Carthage, giving Hannibal control over much of southern Italy. As Syracuse and Macedonia joined the Carthaginian side after Cannae, the conflict spread. Between 215 and 210 BC the Carthaginians attempted to capture Roman-held Sicily and Sardinia, but were unsuccessful. The Romans took drastic steps to raise new legions: enrolling slaves, criminals and those who did not meet
11152-426: The Romans stormed Syracuse in a surprise night assault and captured several districts of the city. Meanwhile, the Carthaginian army was crippled by plague . After the Carthaginians failed to resupply the city, the rest of Syracuse fell in the autumn of 212 BC; Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier. Carthage sent more reinforcements to Sicily in 211 BC and went on the offensive. In 211 BC Hannibal sent
11316-526: The Second Punic War is the historian Polybius ( c. 200 – c. 118 BC ), a Greek sent to Rome in 167 BC as a hostage. He is best known for The Histories , written sometime after 146 BC. Polybius's work is considered broadly objective and largely neutral between Carthaginian and Roman points of view. Polybius was an analytical historian and wherever possible interviewed participants, from both sides, in
11480-481: The Second Punic War is missing after 216 BC or only exists in fragmentary form. As a result, the main source for much of the war is the account written by the Roman historian Livy . This is commonly used by modern historians where Polybius's account is not extant. Livy relied heavily on Polybius, but wrote in a more structured way, with more details about Roman politics; he was also openly pro-Roman. His accounts of military encounters are often demonstrably inaccurate;
11644-602: The Sicilian grain supply to Rome and its armies was resumed. For 11 years after Cannae the war surged around southern Italy as cities went over to the Carthaginians or were taken by subterfuge and the Romans recaptured them by siege or by suborning factions within to give them entry. Hannibal repeatedly defeated Roman armies, but wherever his main army was not active the Romans threatened Carthaginian-supporting towns or sought battle with Carthaginian or Carthaginian-allied detachments; frequently with success. By 208 BC many of
11808-423: The arena and in 384 attempted, like most of his predecessors, to limit the expenses of gladiatora munera . In 393, Theodosius I (r. 379–395) adopted Nicene Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire and banned pagan festivals. The ludi continued, very gradually shorn of their stubbornly pagan elements. Honorius (r. 395–423) legally ended gladiator games in 399, and again in 404, at least in
11972-556: The arena. Nero gave the gladiator Spiculus property and residence "equal to those of men who had celebrated triumphs." From the 60s AD female gladiators appear as rare and "exotic markers of exceptionally lavish spectacle". In 66 AD, Nero had Ethiopian women, men and children fight at a munus to impress the King Tiridates I of Armenia . Romans seem to have found the idea of a female gladiator novel and entertaining, or downright absurd; Juvenal titillates his readers with
12136-480: The armies in the battle of Cannae . The Roman legions forced their way through Hannibal's deliberately weak centre, but Libyan heavy infantry on the wings swung around their advance, menacing their flanks. Hasdrubal Gisco led the Carthaginian cavalry on the left wing and routed the Roman cavalry opposite, then swept around the rear of the Romans to attack their cavalry on the other wing. The heavily outnumbered Carthaginian infantry held out until Hasdrubal charged into
12300-654: The auxiliaries. There is no indication in Tacitus that they were cavalry. The next mention of spathae is in the 5th century, by Vegetius , now as a weapon carried by infantry. The spatha remained in use in the Byzantine Empire and its army . In the Byzantine court, spatharios (σπαθάριος), or "bearer of the spatha ", was a mid-level court title . Other variants deriving from it were protospatharios , spatharokandidatos and spatharokoubikoularios ,
12464-434: The besieging Roman forces, this time they declined to leave their fortifications. In desperation Hannibal again assaulted them and again failed to break through. He next marched his army towards Rome, hoping to compel the Romans to abandon the siege to defend it; however, the besieging force stayed in place and Capua fell soon afterwards. The city was stripped of its political autonomy and placed under Roman appointees. In 210
12628-547: The bogs in the belief that they could go with a deceased chief on his voyage to a better place. A cache of 90 swords was found at Nydam Mose in Denmark in 1858. They were in the form of the spatha and therefore have been classified as "Roman swords". They are dated to the 3rd to 4th centuries. Many connect the Nydam cache with the sword of Beowulf , who was supposed to be a contemporary. When Germanic tribes began to invade
12792-520: The brink of collapse. Within a few weeks of Cannae a Roman army of 25,000 was ambushed by Boii Gauls in Cisalpine Gaul at the battle of Silva Litana and annihilated. Fabius became consul in 215 BC and was re-elected in 214 BC. Little has survived of Polybius's account of Hannibal's army in Italy after Cannae. Livy gives a fuller record, but according to Goldsworthy "his reliability is often suspect", especially with regard to his descriptions of battles; many modern historians agree, but nevertheless his
12956-428: The cast list as Roman territories expanded. Most gladiators were armed and armoured in the manner of the enemies of Rome. The gladiator munus became a morally instructive form of historic enactment in which the only honourable option for the gladiator was to fight well, or else die well. In 216 BC, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , late consul and augur , was honoured by his sons with three days of munera gladiatoria in
13120-424: The celebration of military victory and the religious expiation of military disaster; these munera appear to serve a morale-raising agenda in an era of military threat and expansion. The next recorded munus , held for the funeral of Publius Licinius in 183 BC, was more extravagant. It involved three days of funeral games, 120 gladiators, and public distribution of meat ( visceratio data ) —a practice that reflected
13284-421: The centre of the Carthaginian line and then defeated each wing separately, inflicting severe losses. It was no longer possible for Hasdrubal to reinforce Hannibal in Italy. The Carthaginians suffered a wave of defections of local Celtiberian tribes to Rome. The Roman commanders captured Saguntum in 212 BC and in 211 BC hired 20,000 Celtiberian mercenaries to reinforce their army. Observing that
13448-530: The cities and territories which had joined the Carthaginian cause had returned to their Roman allegiance. Fabius captured the Carthaginian-allied town Arpi in 213 BC. In 212 BC Hannibal destroyed the Roman army of Centenius Penula at the battle of the Silarus in northwest Lucania. Later the same year, Hannibal defeated another Roman army at the battle of Herdonia , with 16,000 men lost from
13612-847: The classicist Adrian Goldsworthy says Livy's "reliability is often suspect", and the historian Phillip Sabin refers to Livy's "military ignorance". Other, later, ancient histories of the war exist, although often in fragmentary or summary form. Modern historians usually take into account the writings of Diodorus Siculus and Cassius Dio , two Greek authors writing during the Roman era ; they are described by John Lazenby as "clearly far inferior" to Livy, but some fragments of Polybius can be recovered from their texts. The Greek moralist Plutarch wrote several biographies of Roman commanders in his Parallel Lives . Other sources include coins, inscriptions, archaeological evidence and empirical evidence from reconstructions. Most male Roman citizens were liable for military service and would serve as infantry ,
13776-637: The consul Claudius Nero . They reinforced the Romans under the second consul, Marcus Salinator , who were already facing Hasdrubal. This combined Roman force attacked at the battle of the Metaurus and destroyed the Carthaginian army, killing Hasdrubal. This battle confirmed Roman dominance in Italy and marked the end of their Fabian strategy. Without the expected reinforcement Hannibal's forces were compelled to evacuate allied towns and withdraw to Bruttium . In 205 BC Mago Barca, another of Hannibal's younger brothers, landed in Genua in north-west Italy with
13940-569: The cost of three gladiators, rather than four; such contests were prolonged, and in some cases, more bloody. Most were probably of poor quality, but the emperor Caracalla chose to test a notably skilled and successful fighter named Bato against first one supposicitius , whom he beat, and then another, who killed him. At the opposite level of the profession, a gladiator reluctant to confront his opponent might be whipped, or goaded with hot irons, until he engaged through sheer desperation. Combats between experienced, well trained gladiators demonstrated
14104-400: The courage not to seek to avoid the inevitable. So the gladiator, no matter how faint-hearted he has been throughout the fight, offers his throat to his opponent and directs the wavering blade to the vital spot. (Seneca. Epistles , 30.8) Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome , the two main powers of
14268-621: The crowd's response. In the earliest munera , death was considered a righteous penalty for defeat; later, those who fought well might be granted remission at the whim of the crowd or the editor . During the Imperial era, matches advertised as sine missione (usually understood to mean "without reprieve" for the defeated) suggest that missio (the sparing of a defeated gladiator's life) had become common practice. The contract between editor and his lanista could include compensation for unexpected deaths; this could be "some fifty times higher than
14432-639: The crowd, and the gladiators themselves, preferred the "dignity" of an even contest. There were also comedy fights; some may have been lethal. A crude Pompeian graffito suggests a burlesque of musicians, dressed as animals named Ursus tibicen (flute-playing bear) and Pullus cornicen (horn-blowing chicken), perhaps as accompaniment to clowning by paegniarii during a "mock" contest of the ludi meridiani . The gladiators may have held informal warm-up matches, using blunted or dummy weapons—some munera , however, may have used blunted weapons throughout. The editor, his representative or an honoured guest would check
14596-452: The crowds, and drew a generous imperial subsidy. The earliest munera took place at or near the tomb of the deceased and these were organised by their munerator (who made the offering). Later games were held by an editor , either identical with the munerator or an official employed by him. As time passed, these titles and meanings may have merged. In the republican era, private citizens could own and train gladiators, or lease them from
14760-412: The death in Rome's "cattle market" forum ( Forum Boarium ) to honor his dead father, Brutus Pera. Livy describes this as a " munus " (plural: munera ), a gift, in this case a commemorative duty owed the manes (spirit, or shade) of a dead ancestor by his descendants. The development of the gladiator munus and its gladiator types was most strongly influenced by Samnium's support for Hannibal and
14924-442: The events he wrote about. Modern historians consider Polybius to have treated the relatives of Scipio Aemilianus , his patron and friend, unduly favourably but the consensus is to accept his account largely at face value. The modern historian Andrew Curry sees Polybius as being "fairly reliable"; Craige Champion describes him as "a remarkably well-informed, industrious, and insightful historian". Much of Polybius's account of
15088-462: The evident Roman disasters proved too strong a temptation. The treaty between them and Hannibal can be described as an agreement of friendship, since the Capuans had no obligations. When the port city of Locri defected to Carthage in the summer of 215 BC it was immediately used to reinforce the Carthaginian forces in Italy with soldiers, supplies and war elephants. It was the only time during
15252-439: The fighting, and Iberian and Gallic forces fought on both sides. There were three main military theatres during the war: Italy, where Hannibal defeated the Roman legions repeatedly, with occasional subsidiary campaigns in Sicily, Sardinia and Greece; Iberia, where Hasdrubal , a younger brother of Hannibal, defended the Carthaginian colonial cities with mixed success before moving into Italy; and Africa, where Rome finally won
15416-514: The front handguard into a full cross-guard , and the reduction of the typical Viking Age lobated pommel into simpler brazil nut or disc shapes. The sword of Otto III , (total length 95.5 cm), preserved as a relic in Essen , is an example of the emerging arming sword, although it has been encrusted with decorations during the ensuing centuries. Gladiator A gladiator ( Latin : gladiator , "swordsman", from gladius , "sword")
15580-406: The full complement of the legions deployed would have been in excess of 100,000 men, plus, as always, a similar number of allied troops. The majority were deployed in southern Italy in field armies of approximately 20,000 men each. This was insufficient to challenge Hannibal's army in open battle, but sufficient to force him to concentrate his forces and to hamper his movements. During 215 BC
15744-470: The games as a matter of undiminished public interest. In the early 3rd century AD, the Christian writer Tertullian condemned the attendance of Christians: the combats, he said, were murder, their witnessing spiritually and morally harmful and the gladiator an instrument of pagan human sacrifice. Carolyn Osiek comments: The reason, we would suppose, would be primarily the bloodthirsty violence, but his
15908-580: The gladiatorial fights at Campanian banquets described by Livy and later deplored by Silius Italicus. The enthusiastic adoption of munera gladiatoria by Rome's Iberian allies shows how easily, and how early, the culture of the gladiator munus permeated places far from Rome itself. By 174 BC, "small" Roman munera (private or public), provided by an editor of relatively low importance, may have been so commonplace and unremarkable they were not considered worth recording: Many gladiatorial games were given in that year, some unimportant, one noteworthy beyond
16072-440: The gladiators were given a banquet and opportunity to order their personal and private affairs; Futrell notes its similarity to a ritualistic or sacramental "last meal". These were probably both family and public events which included even the noxii , sentenced to die in the arena the following day; and the damnati , who would have at least a slender chance of survival. The event may also have been used to drum up more publicity for
16236-408: The greatest reward was manumission (emancipation), symbolised by the gift of a wooden training sword or staff ( rudis ) from the editor . Martial describes a match between Priscus and Verus , who fought so evenly and bravely for so long that when both acknowledged defeat at the same instant, Titus awarded victory and a rudis to each. Flamma was awarded the rudis four times, but chose to remain
16400-610: The hilt changed significantly. Instead of the Brazil-nut pommel, a thick disc-shaped pommel was attached "on-edge" to the bottom of the iron hilt. In addition the upper guard grew substantially from the near-absent design predating it. Also, the blades tended to taper slightly less than those found in the time of the Vikings . Jan Petersen , in De Norske Vikingsverd ( The Norwegian Viking Swords , 1919), introduced
16564-405: The imminent game. Official munera of the early Imperial era seem to have followed a standard form ( munus legitimum ). A procession ( pompa ) entered the arena, led by lictors who bore the fasces that signified the magistrate- editor' s power over life and death. They were followed by a small band of trumpeters ( tubicines ) playing a fanfare. Images of the gods were carried in to "witness"
16728-457: The infantry more reach when thrusting. While the infantry version had a long point, versions carried by the cavalry had a rounded tip that prevented accidental stabbing of the cavalryman's own foot or horse. Archaeologically many instances of the spatha have been found in Britain and Germany. It was used extensively by Germanic warriors . It is unclear whether it came from the gladius or
16892-413: The instrument of his [editor's] will." Not all editors chose to go with the crowd, and not all those condemned to death for putting on a poor show chose to submit: Once a band of five retiarii in tunics, matched against the same number of secutores , yielded without a struggle; but when their death was ordered, one of them caught up his trident and slew all the victors. Caligula bewailed this in
17056-399: The invader down, until Rome could rebuild its military strength. Hannibal was left largely free to ravage Apulia for the next year. Fabius was unpopular at this period with parts of the Roman army, public and the senate, for avoiding battle while Italy was being devastated by the enemy: there was awareness that his tactics would not lead to a quick end to the war. Hannibal marched through
17220-479: The later theatrical ethos of the Roman gladiator show: splendidly, exotically armed and armoured barbarians , treacherous and degenerate, are dominated by Roman iron and native courage. His plain Romans virtuously dedicate the magnificent spoils of war to the gods. Their Campanian allies stage a dinner entertainment using gladiators who may not be Samnites, but play the Samnite role. Other groups and tribes would join
17384-489: The latter reserved for eunuchs . One of the more famous spatharokandidatoi was Harald Hardrada . The term " Roman Iron Age " refers approximately to the time of the Roman Empire in northern Europe , which was outside the jurisdiction of the empire, but, judging from the imported Roman artifacts, was influenced by Roman civilization. One source of artifacts from this period are the bogs of Schleswig , Holstein and Denmark . Objects were deliberately broken and thrown into
17548-432: The lease price" of the gladiator. Under Augustus' rule, the demand for gladiators began to exceed supply, and matches sine missione were officially banned; an economical, pragmatic development that happened to match popular notions of "natural justice". When Caligula and Claudius refused to spare defeated but popular fighters, their own popularity suffered. In general, gladiators who fought well were likely to survive. At
17712-552: The left arm and shoulder, pitted his net, trident and dagger against the more heavily armoured, helmeted Secutor. 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 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. The trade in gladiators
17876-513: The left side, perhaps because the scutum had been abandoned and the spatha had replaced the gladius . In the imperial period, the Romans adopted the original Greek term, spáthē (σπάθη), as spatha , which still carried the general meaning of any object considered long and flat. Spatha appears, first in Pliny and then in Seneca , with different meanings: a spatula, a metal-working implement,
18040-495: The legions from behind. As a result, the Roman infantry was surrounded with no means of escape. At least 67,500 Romans were killed or captured. Miles describes Cannae as "Rome's greatest military disaster". Toni Ñaco del Hoyo describes the Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae as the three "great military calamities" suffered by the Romans in the first three years of the war. Brian Carey writes that these three defeats brought Rome to
18204-675: The longer Celtic swords , or whether it served as a model for the various arming swords and Viking swords of Europe. The spatha remained popular throughout the Migration Period . It evolved into the knightly sword of the High Middle Ages by the 12th century. The word comes from the Latin spatha , which derives from the Greek word σπάθη ( spáthē ), meaning "any broad blade, of wood or metal" but also "broad blade of
18368-674: The majority of Rome's allies in central Italy remained loyal. All except the smallest towns were too well fortified for Hannibal to take by assault, and blockade could be a long-drawn-out affair, or if the target was a port, impossible. Carthage's new allies felt little sense of community with Carthage, or even with each other. They increased the number of places which Hannibal's army was expected to defend from Roman retribution, but provided relatively few fresh troops to assist him in doing so. Such Italian forces as were raised resisted operating away from their home cities and performed poorly when they did. An important part of Hannibal's campaign in Italy
18532-519: The make and those who had reached the top and wished to stay there. A politically ambitious privatus (private citizen) might postpone his deceased father's munus to the election season, when a generous show might drum up votes; those in power and those seeking it needed the support of the plebeians and their tribunes , whose votes might be won with the mere promise of an exceptionally good show. Sulla , during his term as praetor , showed his usual acumen in breaking his own sumptuary laws to give
18696-406: The mines so that they may acknowledge the penalties of their crimes with blood. This has been interpreted as a ban on gladiatorial combat. Yet, in the last year of his life, Constantine wrote a letter to the citizens of Hispellum, granting its people the right to celebrate his rule with gladiatorial games. In 365, Valentinian I (r. 364–375) threatened to fine a judge who sentenced Christians to
18860-400: The most common operations. When armies were campaigning, surprise attacks, ambushes and stratagems were common. More formal battles were usually preceded by the two armies camping 2–12 kilometres (1–7 mi) apart for days or weeks; sometimes forming up in battle order each day. If either commander felt at a disadvantage, they might march off without engaging. In such circumstances it
19024-452: The most costly to train and to hire. A general melee of several, lower-skilled gladiators was far less costly, but also less popular. Even among the ordinarii , match winners might have to fight a new, well-rested opponent, either a tertiarius ("third choice gladiator") by prearrangement; or a "substitute" gladiator ( suppositicius ) who fought at the whim of the editor as an unadvertised, unexpected "extra". This yielded two combats for
19188-561: The most lavish munus yet seen in Rome, for the funeral of his wife, Metella. In the closing years of the politically and socially unstable Late Republic, any aristocratic owner of gladiators had political muscle at his disposal. In 65 BC, newly elected curule aedile Julius Caesar held games that he justified as munus to his father, who had been dead for 20 years. Despite an already enormous personal debt, he used 320 gladiator pairs in silvered armour. He had more available in Capua but
19352-523: The most widely used classification of swords of the Viking Age, describing 26 types labelled A–Z. In 1927, R. E. M. Wheeler condensed Petersen's typology into a simplified typology of nine groups, numbered I–IX. The transition from the Viking Age spatha -inspired sword to the High Medieval knightly sword took place between the 10th and 11th centuries. The main development was the growth of
19516-477: The mouth of the Rhone, but Hannibal evaded the Romans and continued to Italy. The Carthaginians reached the foot of the Alps by late autumn and crossed them in 15 days, surmounting the difficulties of climate, terrain and the guerrilla warfare tactics of the native Ligurians. Hannibal arrived in Cisalpine Gaul with 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and an unknown number of elephants – the survivors of
19680-514: The much admired emperor Titus used female gladiators, they were of acceptably low class. 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 Antiochene Olympic Games, which had been revived by the emperor Commodus and included traditional Greek female athletics. Septimius' attempt to give Rome
19844-519: The northern boundary of the Carthaginian sphere of influence . At some time during the next six years Rome made a separate agreement with the city of Saguntum , which was situated well south of the Ebro. In 219 BC a Carthaginian army under Hannibal besieged Saguntum , and after eight months captured and sacked it. Rome complained to the Carthaginian government, sending an embassy headed by Quintus Fabius Maximus to its senate with peremptory demands. When these were rejected Rome declared war in
20008-410: The offensive in Iberia and were badly defeated but maintained their hold on the north-east. In 209 BC the new Roman commander Publius Scipio captured Carthago Nova , the main Carthaginian base in the peninsula. In 208 Scipio defeated Hasdrubal , although Hasdrubal was able to withdraw most of his troops into Gaul and then Cisalpine Gaul in spring 207 BC. This new Carthaginian invasion was defeated at
20172-425: The old tyrant of Syracuse of forty-five-years standing and a staunch Roman ally, died in 215 BC and his successor Hieronymus was discontented with his situation. Hannibal negotiated a treaty whereby Syracuse came over to Carthage, at the price of making the whole of Sicily a Syracusan possession. The Syracusan army proved no match for a Roman army led by Claudius Marcellus and by spring 213 BC Syracuse
20336-501: The other Roman army was also defeated at the battle of Umbrian Lake and annihilated. The prisoners were badly treated if they were Romans; captured Latin allies were well treated by the Carthaginians and many were freed and sent back to their cities, in the expectation they would speak well of Carthaginian martial prowess and of their treatment. Hannibal hoped some of these allies could be persuaded to defect . The Carthaginians continued their march through Etruria , then Umbria , to
20500-454: The preeminent powers in the western Mediterranean. Relationships were good, the two states had several times declared their mutual friendship and there were strong commercial links. According to the classicist Richard Miles Rome's expansionary attitude after southern Italy came under its control combined with Carthage's proprietary approach to Sicily caused the two powers to stumble into war more by accident than design. The immediate cause of
20664-633: The proceedings, followed by a scribe to record the outcome, and a man carrying the palm branch used to honour victors. The magistrate editor entered among a retinue who carried the arms and armour to be used; the gladiators presumably came in last. The entertainments often began with venationes (beast hunts) and bestiarii (beast fighters). Next came the ludi meridiani , which were of variable content but usually involved executions of noxii , some of whom were condemned to be subjects of fatal re-enactments, based on Greek or Roman myths. Gladiators may have been involved in these as executioners, though most of
20828-408: The remnants of his Spanish army. It soon received Gallic and Ligurian reinforcements. Mago's arrival in the north of the Italian peninsula was followed by Hannibal's inconclusive battle of Crotona in 204 BC in the far south of the peninsula. Mago marched his reinforced army towards the lands of Carthage's main Gallic allies in Cisalpine Gaul, but was checked by a large Roman army and defeated at
20992-508: The republic and beyond. Anti-corruption laws of 65 and 63 BC attempted but failed to curb the political usefulness of the games to their sponsors. Following Caesar's assassination and the Roman Civil War , Augustus assumed imperial authority over the games, including munera , and formalised their provision as a civic and religious duty. His revision of sumptuary law capped private and public expenditure on munera , claiming to save
21156-461: The rest—that of Titus Flamininus which he gave to commemorate the death of his father, which lasted four days, and was accompanied by a public distribution of meats, a banquet, and scenic performances. The climax of the show which was big for the time was that in three days seventy four gladiators fought. In 105 BC, the ruling consuls offered Rome its first taste of state-sponsored " barbarian combat" demonstrated by gladiators from Capua, as part of
21320-492: The richest and most fertile provinces of Italy, hoping the devastation would draw Fabius into battle, but Fabius refused. The Roman populace derided Fabius as "the Delayer" (in Latin , Cunctator ) and in 216 BC elected new consuls: Gaius Terentius Varro , who advocated pursuing a more aggressive war strategy, and Lucius Aemilius Paullus , who advocated a strategy somewhere between Fabius's and that suggested by Varro. In
21484-497: The senate, mindful of the recent Spartacus revolt and fearful of Caesar's burgeoning private armies and rising popularity, imposed a limit of 320 pairs as the maximum number of gladiators any citizen could keep in Rome. Caesar's showmanship was unprecedented in scale and expense; he had staged a munus as memorial rather than funeral rite, eroding any practical or meaningful distinction between munus and ludi . Gladiatorial games, usually linked with beast shows, spread throughout
21648-400: The shields of the one were inlaid with gold, of the other with silver ... The Romans had already heard of these splendid accoutrements, but their generals had taught them that a soldier should be rough to look on, not adorned with gold and silver but putting his trust in iron and in courage ... The Dictator, as decreed by the senate, celebrated a triumph, in which by far the finest show
21812-531: The siege, but was then ambushed and itself besieged. An army had previously been raised by the Romans to campaign in Iberia, but the Roman Senate detached one Roman and one allied legion from it to send to north Italy. Recruiting fresh troops to replace these delayed the army's departure for Iberia until September. At the same time a Roman army in Sicily under the consul Sempronius Longus was preparing for an invasion of Africa. Meanwhile, Hannibal assembled
21976-521: The silver mines, agricultural wealth, manpower , military facilities such as shipyards , and territorial depth to stand up to future Roman demands with confidence. Hamilcar ruled as a viceroy and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Hasdrubal , in 229 BC and then his son, Hannibal, in 221 BC. In 226 BC the Ebro Treaty was agreed with Rome, specifying the Ebro River as
22140-411: The spring of 207 BC Hasdrubal Barca repeated the feat of his elder brother by marching an army across the Alps. He invaded Cisalpine Gaul with an army of 35,000 men, intending to join forces with Hannibal, but Hannibal was unaware of his presence. The Romans facing Hannibal in southern Italy tricked him into believing the whole Roman army was still in camp, while a large portion marched north under
22304-455: The spring of 216 BC Hannibal seized the large supply depot at Cannae on the Apulian plain. The Roman Senate authorised the raising of double-sized armies by Varro and Paullus, a force of 86,000 men, the largest in Roman history up to that point. Paullus and Varro marched southward to confront Hannibal and encamped 10 km (6 mi) away. Hannibal accepted battle on the open plain between
22468-566: The spring of 218 BC. Since the end of the First Punic War Rome had also been expanding, especially in the area of north Italy either side of the River Po known as Cisalpine Gaul . Roman attempts to establish towns and farms in the region from 232 BC led to repeated wars with the local Gallic tribes, who were finally defeated in 222. In 218 the Romans pushed even further north, establishing two new towns, or "colonies", on
22632-436: The state-sponsored imperial cult , which furthered public recognition, respect and approval for the emperor's divine numen , his laws, and his agents. Between 108 and 109 AD, Trajan celebrated his Dacian victories using a reported 10,000 gladiators and 11,000 animals over 123 days. The cost of gladiators and munera continued to spiral out of control. Legislation of 177 AD by Marcus Aurelius did little to stop it, and
22796-562: The subsequent punitive expeditions against the Samnites by Rome and its Campanian allies; the earliest, most frequently mentioned and probably most popular type was the Samnite . To quote Livy: The war in Samnium, immediately afterwards, was attended with equal danger and an equally glorious conclusion. The enemy, besides their other warlike preparation, had made their battle-line to glitter with new and splendid arms. There were two corps:
22960-551: The suppression of the rebellion, Hamilcar understood that Carthage needed to strengthen its economic and military base if it were to confront Rome again; Carthaginian possessions in Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal) were limited to a handful of prosperous coastal cities in the south and Hamilcar took the army which he had led in the Truceless War to Iberia in 237 BC and carved out a quasi-monarchical, autonomous state in southern and eastern Iberia. This gave Carthage
23124-399: The usual property qualification; this vastly increased the number of men they had under arms. For the next decade the war in southern Italy continued, with Roman armies slowly recapturing most of the Italian cities that had joined Carthage. The Romans established a lodgement in north-east Iberia in 218 BC; the Carthaginians repeatedly attempted and failed to reduce it. In 211 the Romans took
23288-562: The voyage and some of his ships were intercepted by the Romans, but 12,000 of his troops reached Carthage. The Roman fleet continued on from Massala in the autumn of 218 BC, landing the army it was transporting in north-east Iberia, where it won support among the local tribes. The Romans' lodgement between the Ebro and the Pyrenees blocked the route from Iberia to Italy, making the despatch of reinforcements from Iberia to Hannibal difficult. A Carthaginian attack in late 218 BC
23452-483: The war Carthage reinforced Hannibal. A second force, under Hannibal's youngest brother Mago , was meant to land in Italy in 215 BC but was diverted to Iberia after a major Carthaginian defeat there. Meanwhile, the Romans took drastic steps to raise new legions: enrolling slaves, criminals and those who did not meet the usual property qualification. By early 215 BC they were fielding at least 12 legions; by 214 BC 18; and by 213 BC 22. By 212 BC
23616-431: The war. The First Punic War had ended in a Roman victory in 241 BC after 23 years and enormous losses on both sides. After the war Carthage expanded its holdings in Iberia where in 219 BC a Carthaginian army under Hannibal besieged, captured and sacked the pro-Roman city of Saguntum . In early 218 BC Rome declared war on Carthage, beginning the Second Punic War. Later that year, Hannibal surprised
23780-537: The war. The Carthaginian fleet rarely put to sea, and when it did it was usually to escort transport ships; it rarely acted aggressively. This gave the Romans naval superiority for the duration of the war. The Roman Republic had been aggressively expanding in the southern Italian mainland for a century and had conquered peninsular Italy south of the Arno River by 270 BC, after the Pyrrhic War when
23944-410: The wealthier equites providing a cavalry component. Traditionally, when at war the Romans would raise four legions , each of 4,200 infantry and 300 cavalry. Approximately 1,200 of the infantry, poorer or younger men unable to afford the armour and equipment of a standard legionary , served as javelin -armed skirmishers , known as velites . They carried several javelins, which would be thrown from
24108-438: The weapons ( probatio armorum ) for the scheduled matches. These were the highlight of the day, and were as inventive, varied and novel as the editor could afford. Armatures could be very costly—some were flamboyantly decorated with exotic feathers, jewels and precious metals. Increasingly the munus was the editor' s gift to spectators who had come to expect the best as their due. Lightly armed and armoured fighters, such as
24272-524: The western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Italy and Iberia , but also on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and, towards the end of the war, in North Africa. After immense materiel and human losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were once again defeated. Macedonia , Syracuse and several Numidian kingdoms were drawn into
24436-678: Was a direct threat to the city. When they did, they fought as well-armoured heavy infantry armed with long thrusting spears, although they were notoriously ill-trained and ill-disciplined. In most circumstances Carthage recruited foreigners to make up its army. Many were from North Africa and these were frequently referred to as "Libyans". The region provided several types of fighters, including: close-order infantry equipped with large shields, helmets, short swords and long thrusting spears ; javelin-armed light infantry skirmishers; close-order shock cavalry also known as "heavy cavalry" carrying spears; and light cavalry skirmishers who threw javelins from
24600-482: Was accepted and repeated in most early modern, standard histories of the games. For some modern scholars, reappraisal of pictorial evidence supports a Campanian origin, or at least a borrowing, for the games and gladiators. Campania hosted the earliest known gladiator schools ( ludi ). Tomb frescoes from the Campanian city of Paestum (4th century BC) show paired fighters, with helmets, spears and shields, in
24764-508: Was afforded by the captured armour. So the Romans made use of the splendid armour of their enemies to do honour to their gods; while the Campanians, in consequence of their pride and in hatred of the Samnites, equipped after this fashion the gladiators who furnished them entertainment at their feasts, and bestowed on them the name Samnites. Livy's account skirts the funereal, sacrificial function of early Roman gladiator combats and reflects
24928-731: 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. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death. Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered spectators an example of Rome's martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers
25092-400: Was besieged . Both Polybius' and Livy's accounts of the siege focus on Archimedes ' invention of war machines to counteract Roman siege warfare, which was already made difficult by the strong defences of the city. A large Carthaginian army led by Himilco was sent to relieve the city in 213 BC and several further Sicilian cities deserted the Romans. In the spring of 212 BC
25256-435: Was commemorated in precious and commonplace objects throughout the Roman world. The origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate. There is evidence of it in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, and thereafter it rapidly became an essential feature of politics and social life in the Roman world. Its popularity led to its use in ever more lavish and costly games . The gladiator games lasted for nearly
25420-457: Was completely ignored by his son, Commodus . The decline of the gladiatorial munus was a far from straightforward process. The crisis of the 3rd century imposed increasing military demands on the imperial purse, from which the Roman Empire never quite recovered, and lesser magistrates found their provision of various obligatory munera an increasingly unrewarding tax on the doubtful privileges of office. Still, emperors continued to subsidize
25584-508: Was difficult to force a battle if the other commander was unwilling to fight. Forming up in battle order was a complicated and premeditated affair, which took several hours. Infantry were usually positioned in the centre of the battle line, with light infantry skirmishers to their front and cavalry on each flank. Many battles were decided when one side's infantry force was attacked in the flank or rear and they were partially or wholly enveloped . Both states possessed large fleets throughout
25748-817: Was empire-wide, and subjected 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 Jewish Revolt , the gladiator schools received an influx of Jews—those rejected for training would have been sent straight to the arenas as noxii (lit. "hurtful ones" ). 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 would give them opportunity to redeem their honour in
25912-412: Was lured into combat by Hannibal on ground of his choosing at the battle of the Trebia . The Carthaginians encircled the Romans and only 10,000 out of 40,000 were able to fight their way to safety. Having secured his position in Cisalpine Gaul by this victory, Hannibal quartered his troops for the winter among the Gauls. The latter joined his army in large numbers, bringing it up to 50,000 men. There
26076-416: Was repelled at the battle of Cissa . In 217 BC 40 Carthaginian and Iberian warships were beaten by 35 Roman and Massalian vessels at the battle of Ebro River , with the loss of 29 Carthaginian ships. In 216 Hasdrubal received orders from Carthage to move into Italy and join up with Hannibal to put pressure on the Romans in their homeland. Hasdrubal demurred, arguing that Carthaginian authority over
26240-475: 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. As reward for these services, he drew
26404-400: Was shock when news of the defeat reached Rome, but this calmed once Sempronius arrived, to preside over the consular elections in the usual manner. The consuls-elect recruited further legions, both Roman and from Rome's Latin allies; reinforced Sardinia and Sicily against the possibility of Carthaginian raids or invasion; placed garrisons at Tarentum and other places for similar reasons; built
26568-442: Was the long-standing Roman procedure to elect two men each year as senior magistrates , known as consuls , who in time of war would each lead an army. An army was usually formed by combining two Roman legions with a similarly sized and equipped pair of legions provided by their Latin allies . These legions usually had a larger attached complement of cavalry than Roman ones. Carthaginian citizens only served in their army if there
26732-414: Was to attempt to fight the Romans by using local resources; raising recruits from among the local population. His subordinate Hanno was able to raise troops in Samnium in 214 BC, but the Romans intercepted these new levies in the battle of Beneventum and eliminated them before they rendezvoused with Hannibal. Hannibal could win allies, but defending them against the Romans was a new and difficult problem, as
26896-697: Was to be paid over 50 years. Carthage was prohibited from waging war outside Africa, and in Africa only with Rome's express permission. Henceforth it was clear Carthage was politically subordinate to Rome. Rome used Carthaginian military activity against the Numidians as a pretext to declare war again in 149 BC starting the Third Punic War . In 146 BC the Romans stormed the city of Carthage , sacked it, slaughtered most of its population and completely demolished it . The most reliable source for
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