“Unveiling the Blood and Glory: The Untold Realities of Life as a Gladiator in Ancient Rome”
Octavian inherited Caesar’s school, and it was passed on throughout the Julio-Claudian dynasty of emperors. Some emperors like Nero opened separate schools than the imperial one, while others integrated them more into their administration by placing high ranking members of the court into the school’s administration. Imperial schools could be found all over Rome in the Eastern and Western empires. They were considered a cut above the regular schools and could even be rented out just like the others for a heftier price. Roman politicians followed suit and bought their own schools. Economically, it made sense for an aristocrat to buy a school. Since politicians were usually the editor, they incurred the cost of the dead gladiators and the cost of setting up a venue. Why not own the school?
This all brings us to the types of fighters used here. As alluded to, Rome had many types of gladiators that fell in and out of style depending on era or region. However, there are some primary types of gladiators found almost in any era and place: the horsemen, who fought on white horses with golden helmets, a tunic, round shields, with lances as weapons. They also wore a single shoulder armor called a manica, which most other gladiators wore as well. Noteworthy here is that despite the name, horsemen could fight on the ground as well as on horseback.
There were also the Retiarius, usually a good looking man or woman who fought without a helmet, but with a net, trident, and small blade.
Next up different types of sword and shield wielders existed like the Myrmillo, Thracian, and Secutor. They all had helmets, swords, and shields with a distinct design for each style of fighting. A gladiator could specialize in one to three of these styles. The eclecticism was probably to remain interesting in the arena, but also to ensure a career as a trainer in several styles as one’s fighting career began to wrap up. Originally these styles, like the Thracian, were based on peoples Rome were at war with. As the Empire grew and these locals became assimilated the names changed and new styles were added to represent further foes. For example, the Myrmillo used to refer to a peoples in what is now modern France, but the name was changed to fish person to more suit the look of the armor.
