thread the roman republic and roman
empire men and sometimes women would
enter an amphitheater to take part in a
sport of fighting usually to the death
they were called gladiators and they
would put on a show for a roaring crowd
whether that was against a starving
animal a chariot or a veteran it would
have been just as gory as the media
portrays and although much of the
history and stories of gladiators has
been lost in time here are five who we
know were outstanding in the arena and
who showed enough skill and courage to
be somewhat celebrities back in the day
as always sit back and enjoy marcus at
elias outside the nicola gains our
pompeii there are a series of graffiti
scenes recording the names of the
pompeii and gladiators who fought in
games at NOLA most of these names are
noted as a single which indicated they
were slaves however there is one
gladiator who stands out and his name is
Marcus Aurelius his markings are unusual
as it indicates he was a free man and
free men didn't usually take to the
arena and put their life or honor on the
line he is depicted with a long shield
and short shin plains protecting his
legs making him a merman oh not a whole
lot is known about him and Marcus his
reasoning for becoming a gladiator has
been lost in time but it would seem he
may well have desperately needed the
money so puts himself voluntarily in the
gladiator amphitheater the inscriptions
further show that Elias was a novice and
the nola games were probably his first
battle however despite this he was
matched with a veteran slave fighter
called hilarious who was owned by
Emperor Nero and who had won 13 previous
fights this was a contest at tes would
not have been expected to win but in
what must have been a huge upset Atia
scored a thumping victory which would
have earned him an enormous amount of
admiration and his first creme
the fight must have been entertaining
and brutal as hilarious was granted a
reprieve by the crowd meaning his life
was spared and he did not die at the
hands of at Elias this usually happened
when both gladiators gave it their all
we know that after his first underdog
win at Ely as his next opponent was
fellow volunteer Lucius raciest Felix
another accomplished gladiator with 12
crowns to his name again a tedious one
and Felix was spared his life by the
crowd for giving a good show
not a whole lot more is known about this
elusive gladiator perhaps he was an
ex-soldier or a naturally gifted fighter
but how he went about his life or what
happened him does not seem to have been
recorded flama Syrian soldier flama is
possibly the biggest star in the history
of ancient gladiators his career began
when he was captured and thrown into
battle an easy powerful opponent with
the expectations of a quick death
however the skillful and powerful
athletes survived the buyout and went on
to become one of the most feared
gladiators of his time he dominated his
enemies using a small sword a shield and
armor on one half of his body during
flamers 13-year Clady to Korea
he fought an unprecedented 34 battles
winning 21 drawing nine and losing just
four because of his bravery and ability
to take on almost any opponent flammer
was awarded the Rudess
a wooden sword that granted a gladiators
freedom however flama denied this
privilege four times and continued to
fight in the arena all of flamers
battles were fought at the Coliseum and
his bouts attracted record crowds
earning him the respect of the Emperor's
he became so iconic that according to
writings his face was used on a Roman
coin at first glance it would seem he
simply loved to battle birds during
Roman times the Syrians were of a lesser
minority often considered cowardly could
it be the flama sacrificed himself and
refused freedom to change the Romans
view on the Syrian people
flora died at the age of 30 in what
would seem is 34th gladiator battle and
was buried in Sicily Priscus and verus
Priscus and verus were both accomplished
gladiators during the reign of Emperor
Vespasian and Titus in the late first
century however it was when the power
pitched against each other
that their legendary status was born it
was on the first day of the games that
celebrated the opening of the Flavian
amphitheatre and their fight was the
highlight of the day both Priscus and
verus had no idea who their opponent was
until they walked into the arena
it was thorne but the two men were
friends and it would have been a shock
to them when they realized they had to
fight to the death the pair fought an
epic battle with just a shield and a
sword halfway through the fight emperor
Titus ordered the contest should
continue without shields both men were
injured and had dropped their swords and
ended up fighting with their bare hands
with both men exhausted bloodied and
badly wounded the fight was ended on the
orders of the Emperor and both men were
declared victorious Priscus and verus
were both presented with the Rudess and
granted freedom this is the only known
time that two gladiators have fought and
both have won it's not known what later
happened to them but their fight is one
of if not the most famous Roman
gladiator battles ever recorded carp
operas in ancient Rome there were many
different types of gladiators most of
which involved combat with other male
gladiators as is the case with the
previous mentioned however animals also
had their place in the amphitheaters
best tre as they were known were people
who had fight or hunt animals in battles
called when a Theo Nez there were two
types of bestiary Dan Nattie Oh at best
yes which were criminals forced into the
arena to fight hungry mammals as
punishment
all of which usually died a horrific
death and would often try commit suicide
before going into the arena and then
they were were naughty oohs whoo
gladiators who fought animals for pay
and fame this type of fighting was one
of the most dangerous professions in the
world with a ridiculously short life
expectancy whether it was a 1 a CEO or a
DiMaggio at best yes according to
records the animals could be bears
leopards Bulls Panthers rhinos lions and
even elephants and to give you an idea
of how ferocious these animals could be
Roman politician Marcus Talia's kisser
Oh wrote that one single lion had killed
more than 200 people in the arena burnt
there was one man who not only trained
the animals who were gone to find Bert
who had also fight them and no mammal
could defeat him
his name was cop offer us and he was the
most celebrated busts diary of all cop
offerors was incredibly gifted in fights
I would regularly take on lions bears
leopards and rhinos he fought at the
famed Flavian amphitheater and on one
occasion he delighted the crowd when he
killed 20 different animals in a single
day supposedly with his bare hands his
performance of the Flavian were the
stuff of legends and he was a firm
favorite with the spectators the
acclaimed Roman poet at the time Marcus
Valerius Marty Ellis whose poems
provided a unique and accurate insight
into Roman society once said karpov
forest could have handled the Hydra the
Chimera and the fire eating Bulls at the
same time he also compared capo phrases
feats to that of the most famous hero of
ancient times and the most beloved
Hercules with that whatever happened to
the most famous animal gladiator in Rome
is not known as there doesn't seem to
have been any record of what happened to
cap offer us and whether he died of old
age or was eventually killed in the
amphitheater Spartacus
by far the most well known gladiator of
all time is Spartacus mainly because of
the 1960s movie directed by Stanley
Kubrick that was inspired by his life
but not a whole lot is known about
Spartacus is early years although it's
believed he was a heavyweight thrashy
and soldier who was captured by the
Romans and sold as a slave
he was born by Lentulus Batiatus the
owner of a gladiator school in Capua
who quickly recognized the skills
Spartacus possessed and seen it as an
opportunity to cash in on him as a
potential gladiator
however Spartacus had other ideas and in
a desperate bid to be free he helped to
organize a rebellion along with 70 other
gladiators from Batiatus his school
among the escapees was supreme gladiator
Crixus
during the rebellion Batiatus was
murdered and the gladiators armed with
makeshift weapons fled to an area near
Mount Vesuvius enroute they freed many
other slaves and amassed a formidable
fighting force that was able to fend off
Roman legions sensory capture them on
six occasions however in 71 BC Roman
general Marcus Licinius Crassus
recruited 50,000 highly trained Roman
soldiers to track down and defeat
Spartacus and his men and the army were
finally trapped in southern Italy
Spartacus was killed along with 6,000 of
his men who were captured crucified and
whose bodies were lined up on the side
of the road from Capua to Rome so that's
five most famous and brutal gladiators
throughout the Roman Empire and Republic
I hope you've enjoyed the video and I'll
see you in the next one
you