[Music] foreign
you are a prisoner of war defeated by the mightiest Army of the time
the Roman Legions now you are a slave who has to fight for his freedom your life has little value
you are nothing more than entertainment now they force you to become a gladiator
and toss you into the arena with a slim chance of survival
but you keep your cool to defeat your opponents using your skill and bravery Against All Odds
you survive about after about slowly you gain more confidence and become a fan favorite your
owners and circus organizers are happy with you and give you a ticket to freedom but you refuse
this is the story of flamma a Syrian gladiator who had refused his freedom not only once twice
or even three times but four times but why did he reject his freedom let's try and find out hello
I'm Mike droberg a Marine Corps veteran filmmaker history Enthusiast and investigator of the
supernatural and we will answer these questions on today's episode of Forgotten history [Music]
flamma which translates to the flame had a childhood that is shrouded in mystery he
was born in Syria according to Roman archives and lived during Emperor Hadrian's Reign from
117 to 138 A.D Roman sold flamma into slavery he may have been a Jewish Rebel during the second
Roman Jewish War better known as the bar kokhba Revolt the Rebellion erupted in Judea which is
in modern day Israel growing tensions between Romans and the native Jewish inhabitants over
Administration and handling of religious matters provided a perfect recipe for Brewing conflict
the Roman governor of Judea decided to construct a new city on the ruins of Jerusalem and to build
the Temple of Jupiter on the Temple mount the holiest sight for the Jews enraged the
locals thus they revolted Emperor Hadrian quashed the uprising killing 580 000 Rebels and raising
50 towns and 980 villages Hadrian renamed the province of Judea as Syria palestinia
this begs whether Syrian regarding flama referred to the country of Syria or the province of Syria
palestinia the likelihood that he was a captive Insurgent is high Army deserters joined the ranks
of Gladiators alongside captured prisoners of War and people eager to clear their debts
perhaps flamma was a Roman Legionnaire or auxiliary who escaped was arrested and sold into slavery
flamma's combat talents show that he was more likely to have been trained in the military
flamma's legendary fighting abilities imply he was not a real criminal caught and sold into slavery
if he was a rebel he had proper military training this is a theory about his Origins but without
written records we can only assume he could have been a Roman citizen from Syria who entered the
gladiatorial games since it was a lucrative profession for the poor crippled by poverty
and debts many Roman citizens joined Gladiator schools but unlike Hollywood's representation
of Gladiators actual Gladiator competitions were not the last man standing in Bloodsport for Roman
noblemen wished to see a gladiator killed he had to pay a hefty sum to the Gladiators owner
and the circus organizers flamma was a secutor a gladiator class of Rome secretors fought with
the Gladius or a short sword and a hefty Shield half of their body was strongly armored while the
other half was exposed oretierius gladiator who battled with tridents and heavily weighted Nets
were usually their opponents flamma fought more than the typical Gladiator he fought 34 times
in his career winning 21 times drawing nine times and losing only four times he lived until the age
of 30 which was very old for active Gladiators as Gladiators were freed or killed usually in their
twenties flamma did in fact had the opportunity to be a free man in his early 20s but he decided not
to take his freedom Gladiators had two paths to Liberty when they exhibited exceptional
Talent or put on a crowd-pleasing performance they either saved up enough money to buy their
freedom or the game's sponsor usually a senator or high-ranking Roman official gave them a rudius
the rudius was a wooden sword that was an official passport to Freedom Gladiator possessing it could
retire in peace and was no longer a slave flama rejected the rudius four times here are a couple
of theories of why he did so outside of the Arena the life of a gladiator was not always spectacular
they could work as Elite bodyguards if they were in good health but the Rockstar treatment they
got in Arena was gone and sometimes they miss being treated like celebrities by the public
although they were slaves they had a better status in society than most perhaps flama
being one of the finest Gladiators was a celebrity and was making a lot of money and he didn't want
to give up everything and live a normal life a second explanation for flamma's refusal to be free
is that his village was destroyed and the Romans slaughtered his family members during
the suppression of the Jewish Uprising he had no place to return and was reluctant to make a long
journey all the way to the Middle East he felt like the arena was his life he had nothing else to
look forward to outside of gladiator competition with no family and friends outside the arena and
a handsome paycheck with endless adulation from the crowds flamma was comfortable living and dying
By The Sword after his death fellow Gladiators Barry flama and Sicily his gravestone reads flamma
a Syrian secutor who died at 30 having fought 34 times winning 21 times drawing nine times and
winning reprieves four times delicatis a gladiator friend made this Tombstone for his comrade in arms
what would you have done to fly my shoes let us know in the comments thanks for watching today's
episode of Forgotten history please like share and subscribe send us your questions or comments
and we'll get back to you as soon as possible let us know if you have any show ideas we're always
looking for new topics to discuss and we'd love to hear from you thanks again until next time [Music]
thank you [Music]