Gladiatorial combats were not native to Rome, but had long been known in Etruria as an adjunct to funeral ceremonies, and were probably introduced thence into Rome by way of Campania, where the amphitheatre of Pompeii is the oldest in existence. The first show of gladiators at Rome took place in 264 B.C., but only three pairs of combatants were engaged in it. In course of time the number of gladiators increased, and such contests were given with greater frequency, although they remained a mere accompaniment of funeral ceremonies until 105 B.C., in which year they were for the first time offered as official amusements to the people. During the empire, gladiatorial shows were organised on a vast scale, and amphitheatres were built in all the provinces. It was inevitable that the influence of Christianity should make such exhibitions impossible. But it was not till nearly a century after the Emperor Constantine had recognised Christianity as a state religion, that Honorius put an end to the exhibition of gladiators in Rome (404 A.D.).
The serious combats in the Roman arena were announced by a procession and a preliminary fight with the weapons used in practice. This mock struggle excited the men, and made them ready for the terrible trial of skill which followed. Lots were drawn, and the combatants arranged in pairs, but sometimes mêlées were planned, in which large numbers were engaged. It was possible for a man to draw a bye, and so to fight only with the winner of a previous round; probably, however, a gladiator seldom fought more than two fights in a single day.
A fight might end in three ways: (1) the better gladiator might kill his adversary in the heat of the fray; (2) the vanquished gladiator might lay down his arms and raise his left hand as a sign of defeat and a prayer for mercy. See lamp, No. 165 (fig. 54). It rested officially with the giver of the spectacle to grant or refuse the defeated man's request, but the matter was really decided by the spectators, who expressed their desire that he should be spared by shouting for his discharge, waving a piece of cloth in the air, or raising the left hand. The opposite decision was expressed by pointing the thumb downwards and shouting "slay" (jugula). (3) If two men fought on equal terms and displayed great courage, they might both be discharged before the combat reached a definite result (stantes missi). The victor, when finally discharged from service in the arena, was presented with a wooden sword (rudis), similar to those used in practice, as a sign that he had fought his last serious fight. Horace alludes to this in his Epistles, when asking Maecenas if he may retire from his service.
Gladiators were divided into classes according to their equipment and mode of fighting. The following were the most important:—(1) The Samnite (figs. 54, 55). He wore a helmet with high crest, one or sometimes two greaves, and a guard on the right arm. He also had an oblong shield. The equipment is well shown in the bronze statuette (No. 166, fig. 55), lately acquired from the Gréau and Weber collections. (2) The retiarius or net-thrower (No. 167, fig. 56), who carried a trident, a dagger, and a large net in which he tried to envelop his adversary. The net-thrower was matched against a gladiator called a secutor, who was armed like the Samnite, and perhaps received his name because he was the follower (secutor) of his lightly-armed foe. (3) The Thrax (Thracian), armed with the Thracian curved dagger, a small shield, and a helmet. He fought the hoplomachus, another variety of Samnite. (4) The mirmillo, the origin of whose name and nature of whose equipment are not certainly known. He was opposed to the net-thrower, and later to the Thracian. Among other classes of less importance may be mentioned the mounted gladiators (equites), who appear on the left of fig. 57 (a Pompeian relief).34
A curious marble relief from Halikarnassos (No. 168; fig. 58) gives a vivid picture of an unusual form of gladiatorial combat, between two women. They are armed like the Samnites, but without helmets, and the fight seems to take place on a sort of platform on either side of which the head of a spectator is visible. Their names are given as Amazon and Achillia, and above their heads is inscribed in Greek "discharged," ἀπελύθησαν. It is known that women fought in the arena under the Empire35; but under Septimius Severus (193-211) so much scandal was caused by a specially furious combat of a large number of female gladiators that such exhibitions were forbidden.36
The objects exhibited in illustration of gladiatorial shows are numerous and varied, though not artistically remarkable. The subject was especially popular with the smaller craftsmen, the makers of bronze statuettes and the potters of Italy and Gaul, who produced terracotta lamps and vases for a large but uncritical public. A selection of some dozen lamps (No. 169) is here given illustrating different stages of the combat, or single gladiators; one is simply ornamented with specimens of gladiatorial armour (helmets, greaves, shields, and daggers).
No complete example of a gladiator's helmet is shown in the Case, but the bronze visor (No. 170), a small bronze model (No. 171), and a model in glazed pottery (No. 172) suffice to give an idea of the usual type. The illustration (fig. 59) of a helmet at Pompeii shows the arrangement of the visors. The cast (No. 173) is from a relief from Ephesus (the original is in the Sculpture Galleries) which shows combats and corn-waggons (see Case 50) the panem et circenses demanded by the Roman populace.
Some interest attaches to the series of ivory tickets (tesserae), which are inscribed with the names of gladiators, and are valuable as being dated by the names of the consuls in office (No. 174). They range from the beginning of the first century B.C. to the time of Domitian (81-96 A.D.); those shown in the Case extend from 85 B.C. to 32 A.D. The usual formula of the inscription gives (1) the gladiator's name, (2) the name of his master, (3) the letters SP and the date of the day and month, (4) the consuls of the year. The meaning of the letters SP is disputed, but the most likely explanation is that they stand for spectavit, "became a spectator," with reference to the honourable discharge of the recipient. Several examples are known in which the word is thus written in full. The ticket of which an illustration is given in fig. 60 bears the inscription, "Cocero the gladiator of Fafinius became a spectator on the 5th of October in the Consulship of Lucius Cinna and Gnaeus Papirius" (85 B.C.).
The contests in the arena were not limited to those between gladiators. Combats of animals, and of men with animals enjoyed equal popularity. In the latter case the men might be hunters (venatores), lightly armed, and able to escape by agility and skill. They might also be criminals or martyrs (who were counted as criminals) exposed to wild beasts without hope of resistance or escape. Two terracotta reliefs (Nos. 175, 175*) are shown in this Case, of about the time of Augustus, which, though fragmentary, evidently relate to exhibitions of this kind. A better and more complete example is the sculptured relief from Ephesus (No. 176) with four panels, in each of which is a man in combat with a lion, probably successive stages in a single event. A lamp (No. 177; fig. 61) shows a man and a bear, separated by a kind of turnstile, called a cochlea.
See also Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. Gladiator, and Venatio.
(165) Cat. of Lamps, 663; (166) Gréau Cat., 264; (167) Cat. of Lamps, 976; (168) Cat. of Sculpture, II., 1117; (173) ibid., II., 1285; (174) for a recent theory that the tesserae are records of an incubatio at a medicinal sanctuary (cf. p. 185) see Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. Tessera p. 136; (175) Cat. of Terracottas, D 624; (175*) ibid., D 655; (176) Cat. of Sculpture, II., 1286; (177) Cat. of Lamps, 1068.
34: Mus. Borb., XV., pl. 30.
35: Cf. Tac., Ann. xv. 32; Suet., Dom. 4.
36: Dio Cass., lxxv. 16.