Gladiators

Gladiators — page 1
INTRODUCTION In the United States Super Bowl Sunday is almost a national holiday Many Americans celebrate this annual competition to see which professional gridiron football team is truly the best Fans enjoy the thrill of celebrating with the winners or groaning with disappointment when their favored team doesn’t succeed Viewers feel very invested in the game the same can be said of the World Series the World Cup and other sports competitions it is truly enjoyable to watch matches between excellent competitors While sports fans today feel very connected to the game they are watching this is nothing compared to the way in which Romans participated in the sporting event of their day the gladiator games These enormous competitions took place in Rome between 264 BCE and 404 CE In the great arena known as the Colosseum men and women who had been training for years battled each other but not for trophies or rings The prize for defeating their opponents was simple but precious they would live Sometimes winners especially if they were favorites of the fans or of the emperor would be given a palm branch to symbolize victory or even prize money The greatest prize a gladiator could receive was a rudis a wooden sword that symbolized liberty the gladiator who was handed the rudis knew that he was now a free man But what of the loser Their fate was often decided by the fans These thousands of Romans who crowded the Colosseum to watch the games actually played an important role in their 6