Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World

Although this book takes a general look at cultures and their treatment of sporting events, it also has a few sections specifically on gladiatorial games. Donald G. Kyle outlines the events that took place, the customs, equipment, how gladiatorial games changed over the years, and how Roman citizens viewed and treated these games.

At the beginning of his book, he theorizes about the origins of sports, postulating they may have come from hunts, rituals, or funerals (17-18). However, it isn't until much later in the book, he first speaks about the origins of gladiatorial games. Roman sports seemed to be influenced by those around the Mediterranean, cultures of Greece, Italy, and the near East.Kyle glosses an older theory of gladiatorial games stemming from the Etruscans as a form of funerary sacrifice, since blood was thought to sate the dead. However, he no longer seems to put much stock in this theory. Instead, he postulates that gladiatorial games began with prisoners of war who were forced to fight. At this time, they were untrained (269-270).  However, because these shows would one day be put on by elites for religious or political reasons, later, they would be trained in specific gladiatorial schools.

By the Republic, political leaders became concerned with creating more elaborate shows to curry political favor with the people. Because of this, they used every festival or honor as an excuse to put on grander or more elaborate shows. Because of the origins of gladiators as prisoners of war, and their use as entertainment, they had a "paradoxical symbolism" in the Republic (280). They represented both idealistic military honor in the way they fought, but they were also outsiders as prisoners of war. In fact, many of the fighting styles of gladiators were taken from cultures that the prisoners had come from, such as the Thracians, Samnites, and others, as well as their equipment. Because of their status, their deaths were also treated with less sympathy. Winners of these matches would have to keep fighting against other gladiators until they were killed.

During the empire, Augustus fully institutionalized gladiatorial games. Although there were laws against it, to completely stop political leaders from bribing the populace with games, he made it so only the imperial family could throw games. During the empire, the treatment of gladiators was changed, valued more as athletes rather than slaves. They no longer fought to death. Often, when a gladiator was  too hurt or tired to continue, they would signal by dropping his weapon and raising a finger. Although it was ultimately up to the trainer, or editor, to decide whether the defeated gladiator would be executed, swiftly with dignity, by his opponent, the trainer would often let the crowd decide. If a gladiator survived for 5 years, he would have likely been released. In the first century, the death rate was around 20%, but by the third century it had risen again, to 50% (316).

Kyle, Donald G. Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2007.