Before ancient Roman gladiators fought grisly battles in rowdy public arenas like the Colosseum, they squared off in much more solemn venues: funerals.
Early gladiator fights began in the 3rd century B.C.E. as ritual blood offerings to the spirits of recently departed nobles. That changed around 27 B.C.E., when Augustus took power in Rome, says Michael J. Carter, a classics professor at Brock University in Ontario: “He detaches gladiatorial combat from its purely funerary context and makes it into a regular part of the entertainment cycle in Rome.” The shift gave rise to some of the most famous gladiators today: Spartacus, Spiculus, Marcus Attilius and more.
Marcus Attilius
A free-born Roman, Attilius enrolled in gladiator school seemingly of his own volition—making him part of a small but elite pool of gladiators who volunteered to fight.
Spiculus
Spiculus attended gladiator school in the Italian city of Capua, where he must have shown immense promise. In his first amphitheater match, he squared off against Aptonetus, a veteran gladiator and free Roman who had won 16 fights.
Commodus
Today, Commodus is best known as the “mad” emperor whose disastrous rule from 180 to 192 A.D. marked the end of Rome’s golden era (also known as the Pax Romana).
Flamma
The Syrian-born gladiator, who rose to fame under the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117 to 138 A.D.), is best known for the length of his career, and for being awarded his freedom four times—and repeatedly turning it down.
Spartacus
The most prominent gladiator in Ancient Rome never actually fought in an amphitheater at all. Spartacus, memorialized in the 1960 Kirk Douglas film of the same name, was likely born in the Balkans, and was sold into slavery to train at a gladiator school in Capua.
