Gladiator Games in Ancient Rome | A Day of Ludi Publicii

Gladiators in Ancient Rome – professional warriors, superstars, and womanizers. During the Gladiator Games in the Colosseum in Rome 50’000 people either hailed them as heroes or scorned them as losers. Despite their infamous popularity we don't know with which exact sign the crowd used to judge the losers, and we don't know whether the gladiators really greeted the editores – the game organizers – with the famous formula Avē, Imperātor, moritūrī tē salūtant “Hail emperor, Those bound to die salute you.” Actually, there is only one single recorded instance of that phrase uttered—namely to the emperor Claudius during a staged naval battle, a so called naumachia, so not even during a gladiatorial fight.
A typical day of ludi publicii, public games, would involve much more than ‘just’ gladiatorial fights. The Romans would discuss the upcoming events on the crowded streets of the city. In this video, we will follow a realistic but fictional character, Gaius Gavius, a common Roman man, during his experiences at the games and ask what is was like being a spectator at the roman Colosseum.

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#history #gladiator #colosseum

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Bibliography:

Primary sources:
CIL = Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, various inscriptions.
Juvenal, Satires, Translation. by G. G. Ramsay.
Ovidius Naso. Ovid's Art of Love (in three Books), the Remedy of Love, the Art of Beauty, the Court of Love, the History of Love, and Amours. Anne Mahoney. edited for Perseus.
Quintillian, Institutio oratoria, English Translation by Harold Edgeworth Butler.
Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars; An English Translation, Augmented with the Biographies of Contemporary Statesmen, Orators, Poets, and Other Associates, J. Eugene Reed. Alexander Thomson.
Seneca, Epistulae Morales, volume 1-3, translated by Richard M. Gummere.
Tacitus, Complete Works of Tacitus by Alfred John Church, William Jackson Brodribb & Sara Bryant. edited for Perseus.

Secondary sources:
Corbier, M., s.v. munus, munera, in Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (DNP) [25.09.19].
Ebner, C., s.v. infamia, in Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (DNP) [25.09.19].
Flaig, E., s.v. Gladiator, in Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (DNP) [25.09.19].
Hönle, A., s.v. Gladiator Games, in Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (DNP) [25.09.19].
Junkelmann, M., Das Spiel mit dem Tod. So kämpften Roms Gladiatoren. Zabern, Mainz 2000.
Leppin, H., s.v. Spectacles, in Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (DNP) [25.09.19].
Nielsen, I., s.v. Circus, in Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (DNP) [25.09.19].
Weeber, K.L., Alltag im Alten Rom. Das Leben in der Stadt, 62001.
Kanz, F., Grossschmidt, K., Head injuries of Roman gladiators. In: Forensic Science International. Shannon 160.2006,2–3(Jul 13), S. 207–216.

Music:
Hero's Theme by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: http://www.twinmusicom.org/song/280/h...
Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org

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