It’s year 80 of the Common Era,
and the games in the Roman Colosseum
are about to start.
But you’re not in the audience.
You’re a gladiator.
You have to fight for your life
against wild beasts,
and other gladiators who are
as eager to survive as you are.
And 50,000 bloodthirsty people
will watch, and decide if you live or die.
Has your time come, my friend?
Well.
The word gladiator comes
from the Latin gladius,
which means “swordsman.”
The first gladiatorial games
took place in 264 BCE,
during a private funeral.
But due to its success,
Roman politicians started sponsoring
these games to raise their popularity.
Prisoners from territories
conquered by the Roman army
were forced to fight each other,
and wild animals,
for the audience's entertainment.
But the fame
some of these gladiators won
enticed free people
to become gladiators too.
And though most gladiators were men,
there were some female gladiators.
More than 300 years after the first combat,
the Colosseum opened its doors
to these incredible combats.
This sport lasted for four centuries more.
On average, 5,000 gladiators
died in this arena every year.
You’d better take notes
if you don’t want to be one of them.
A new study of gladiators' bones,
conducted by Austrian
and Swiss universities,
found that the gladiators' diet
was mainly beans,
barley,
and wheat.
So, if you want to survive,
you'll have to give up eating meat.
Pass the beans, please.
At state and private schools,
gladiators trained and worked out.
They learned to fight like Roman soldiers.
Many gladiators were deserters
or defeated soldiers,
and others were criminals.
But around 1 CE,
some free men became
gladiators by choice,
like Marcus Attilius.
His first rookie battle
was against Hilarus,
a famous, experienced gladiator.
You might think that Marcus Attilius
didn't have a chance,
but he was well prepared,
and won the battle.
So, get those workouts done
if you want to leave the arena
on your feet.
In addition to being a skilled fighter,
it will help if you're
well connected socially.
The famous gladiator Spiculus,
for example,
was very close to Emperor Nero.
The Emperor admired Spiculus
so much that he gave Spiculus
palaces, slaves, and riches.
Some gladiators were
the celebrities of their time.
They were admired,
as fighters,
sex symbols,
and athletes.
Some women wore pieces of jewelry
dipped in gladiator blood.
Their sweat was considered
to be an aphrodisiac.
Portraits of famous gladiators
hung in public places.
If a gladiator provided a good spectacle,
people would love them.
That could be useful,
considering that if a gladiator
was seriously wounded,
or surrendered in battle,
the audience decided his fate.
So, put on a great show,
and conquer people's hearts.
All that advice can be useful.
But most gladiators
didn’t live more than six months
after their first fight.
And who wants to spend
all their life being forced
to fight to the death?
You may have a better chance of surviving
if you fight for your freedom,
as the most famous gladiator of all time did.
of all time did.
Spartacus used to be a Roman soldier,
but he deserted,
was captured,
and then sold as a gladiator.
He organized 73 other rebels
and escaped.
Large numbers of escaped slaves
joined them,
and formed a rebel army
of more than 100,000 men.
They defeated the Roman army
in many battles,
and used techniques known today
as guerrilla warfare.
Finally, in 71 BCE,
Spartacus died
fighting the Roman army
after two years on the run.
It’s true.
There was not much of a chance
of surviving as Roman gladiator,
even by escaping.
But if you stay healthy,
skilled,
and the audience loves you,
you might live a bit longer.
But do you know another age
that can be tough to survive?
The Jurassic Period.
Could you slay this handsome
Tyrannosaurus rex?