Where does the word gladiator come from?

Answer 1

Answer

Gladiators were trained fighters that were fighting one another, slaves, animals and condemned criminals for the pleasure of spectators. It is known the preference of the ancient Romans for bread and spectatle. The first reported fight was at 264 BCE in ancient Rome from the era of Republic through the end of the Empire. They fought for fame and glory. This whole thing is not what you are looking for if you are looking where gladiator games started this is not it at all sorry.

Answer 2

The custom of the gladiatorial fights originated from the Campanians, who lived in Capua and the plains around Naples. The ancient Roman historian Livy said that the first gladiatorial fights were held in 310 BC by the Campanians in celebration of a victory over the Samnites who lived on the next door mountains.

Some modern historians argued for an Etruscan origin of the gladiators. However, recently this was reappraised and the Campanian origin is now favoured. The first gladiatorial school was in Campania and some early frescoes (4th century BC) from tombs in this area depict men fighting in pairs with helmets, swords and shields in funerary blood-rites. In Rome, at the beginning these fights were also funerary rites called munus (plural munera). This term was derived from manes, the spirits of dead ancestors. The fights were a commemoration of the ancestors. They were only held at the private funerals of rich families. Later this ended and the gladiatorial games as public entertainment were instituted.

Answer 3

The name comes from the Latin word gladius, the short sword of the Roman infantry. In the days of the Roman Republic, two men would fight to the death with such swords as a funeral rite for a general or other deceased leader, with the idea that the slain man would accompany the leader in the afterlife. As the rite evolved into popular entertainment with similarities to professional Wrestling of modern times, gladiators were trained to fight with a wider variety of weapons, but the name stuck whether a gladiator used the short sword or not. The "Murmillo," heavily armored like a scaly sea monster, used the gladius, and his opponent was often the "Retiarius" who wore no armor, used a net and a trident (three-pointed spear), and was meant to represent King Neptune (the Roman god of the sea). The Greek sports of boxing and wrestling were also incorporated into the Roman arena, with the addition of weighted gloves which produced lethal results for the boxers, and the wrestlers finished off their defeated opponents by breaking their necks with a wrestling hold. Still, any man who was trained to fight in the arena was called a gladiator, and any woman trained to fight was a gladiatrix, regardless of the weaponry they used.

Answer 4

A Gladiator was a slave, criminal or professional fighter in ancient Rome. Gladiator meant swordsman in Latin, from gladius, which means sword. They often fought in Colosseums. ----

Answer 5

Although the gladiator games were extremely popular in Rome, they actually originated the the area of Italy called Campania. It is said that from there they were picked up by the Etruscans before making their way to Rome in 246 BC as a funeral duty for Junius Brutus given by his sons, Marcus and Decius.

Answer 6

It is not known exactly how the gladiator combats originated nor even why. Some sources say that they were held to commemorate the Campanians' victory over the Samnites while others claim that they were strictly funeral offerings. We know that they originated in the Italian area of Campania and were brought to Rome from there in 246 BC.

Answer 7

They were slaves, criminals, or Prisoners of war, sold to gladiator owners and forced to fight. there were also females though fought less often then men