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Necessary Necessary. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. The spectacles proved hugely popular, and by the end of the 1st century B. Hollywood movies and television shows often depict gladiatorial bouts as a bloody free-for-all, but most fights operated under fairly strict rules and regulations.
Contests were typically single combat between two men of similar size and experience. Referees oversaw the action, and probably stopped the fight as soon as one of the participants was seriously wounded.
A match could even end in a stalemate if the crowd became bored by a long and drawn out battle, and in rare cases, both warriors were allowed to leave the arena with honor if they had put on an exciting show for the crowd. Since gladiators were expensive to house, feed and train, their promoters were loath to see them needlessly killed. Trainers may have taught their fighters to wound, not kill, and the combatants may have taken it upon themselves to avoid seriously hurting their brothers-in-arms.
Nevertheless, the life of a gladiator was usually brutal and short. Most only lived to their mids, and historians have estimated that somewhere between one in five or one in 10 bouts left one of its participants dead. If a gladiator was seriously wounded or threw down his weapon in defeat, his fate was left in the hands of the spectators.
In contests held at the Colosseum, the emperor had the final say in whether the felled warrior lived or died, but rulers and fight organizers often let the people make the decision. Some historians think the sign for death may have actually been the thumbs up, while a closed fist with two fingers extended, a thumbs down, or even a waved handkerchief might have signaled mercy.
By the time the Colosseum opened in 80 A. Fighters were placed in classes based on their record, skill level and experience, and most specialized in a particular fighting style and set of weaponry. These warriors tried to ensnare their opponents with their net before moving in for the kill, but if they failed, they were left almost entirely defenseless.
The Colosseum and other Roman arenas are often associated with gruesome animal hunts, but it was uncommon for the gladiators to be involved. Assuming that one hundred combatants lost their match, the death rate for losers would be about one in five, while the risk of death for all who entered the arena was about one in ten Ville suggested the odds of survival got worse in the second and third centuries.
This later evidence indicates that half of all matches ended in the death of one of the gladiators. True, there are a few old-stagers, but only a quarter of those we know have more than ten fights to their name. If we reckon, the other way round, that three quarters would have died before their tenth fight, that means a loss rate of some 13 per cent per fight.
Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. Profile Books, Even at its lowest, the death rate was high enough that a majority of gladiators were likely to die in the arena before retirement. That said, the turnover in gladiatorial games was probably not that high, since rank and file gladiators seemed to only fight a few times each year.
Some even complained of excessive idleness. A successful gladiator could fight many more games, but was more likely also to be spared for the occasional losses. Even assuming that they did not fight very often two or three shows a year is one estimate , if they entered the arena at the age of seventeen they could expect to be dead by the time they were twenty-five.
Of course, there are always exceptions, and top gladiators frequently survived. While a minority in their line of work, in absolute numbers many gladiators lived to retirement. Those successful enough to acquire their own tomb stones seemed to have averaged a lifespan of 27 years, not markedly different from the free citizens of Rome. A first century gladiator was therefore unlikely to survive more than ten fights, although starts might win many times, some over Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome.
Psychology Press, Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. What was the mortality rate of gladiators?
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