GLADIATORS. 



This occafioned tbe profeflion of gladiator to become an 

 Hrt ; hence arofe mailers of arms, and men learned to fight 

 mid exercife this art. 



Thefe mailers, whom the Latins called hmjlj^, boucjht 

 flaves to be trained up to this cruel trade, whom they after- 

 wards fold to fuch as hadoccafion tu prcfent the people with 

 fo horrible a Ihow. 



They were at tirft performed near the fepulchre of the 

 deceafed, or about the funeral pile, but were after- 

 wards removed to the circus and amphitheatres, and be- 

 came ordinary amufements. See Bustuaiiii. 



The firil Ihow of gladiators, called miiniis gladiatorum, was 

 exhibited at Rome, according to Valerius Maximus, by M. 

 and D. Brutus, upon the death of their fatlier, in the year 

 of the city 4S8 ; though Livy (ix. 40) fpeaks of it in tho 



Thefe fports were become fo eommon, and tlicir ronlr- 

 quences, in a variety of refpeds, fo dangerous, that Ciccr» 

 preferred a law, thai no pcrfon fhould cxliibit a fliow ♦>f glj. 

 diators within two years before he appeared car.diJaU- for 

 any ofilcc. Jiiliuo Cvfar ordered, that only a certain num- 

 ber of men of this profefTion fi-.ould be in Rome at a tim.- 

 Auguftus decreed, that only two fliows of gladiators (liould 

 be prcfonlcd in a year, and never above fixty couple of com- 

 batants in a (how. And Tiberius provided by an order of 

 fenate that no perfon fliould have the privilege of .iratilying 

 the people witii fuch a fok-nmity, unlef:. lie wa-j worth Jour- 

 hundred thaufand fcllcrces. They were alfo confiderably 

 regulated by Nerva. 



The emperor Claudius reftrained them to certain occa- 

 fions ; but he fuou afterwards annulled what he decreed, and 

 private pevfons began to exhibit them at pleafure, a3 ufual : 



444th year of Rome, as practiied amung the Campanians. 



On the exhibition by M. and D. Brutus, there were proba- and fome carried die brutal fatisfaction {o far as to"'ha 



bly only tliree pairs of gladiators : in the yearof Rome 537, tiiein at their ordinary fealts. 



the three fons of M Emihus Lepidus the augur, who hid 



been three times conful, entertained the people with the 



cruel pleafure of feeing twenty-two gladiators fight in tile 



forum ; and the fliow continued three days. In the year 



of Rome 547, the lirft Africanus diverted iiis army at New 



Carthage with a Ihow of gladiators, which he exhibited in 



honour of his father and uncle, v.-Iio had begun the rcduilion 



of Spain. In the 552d year the fons of M Vslerius L:e- 



vinus exhibited 2J pairs of glndiators ; and in 569, 70, and 



in 578, 74 fought on the like occafion. In procel's of time, 



the Romans became fo fond of thefe bloody entertainments, 



that not only the heir of any great and rich citizen lately 



or 



\s as a crime for the wTetehes to complain when thev 

 wounded, or alk for death, or feek to avoid it. 



deceafed, but all the principal magillrates, prel'ented the 

 people with Ihovvs of this nature, to procure their afFeftion. 

 Til- sdiles, protors, confuls, and, above all, the candidates 

 for offices, made their court to the people, by entertaining 

 them frequently with thefe fights : and the priells were fome- 

 times the exhibitors of the barbarous (hows ; for vi-e meet 

 Mvhh the !udt pin.'ifica/es in Suetonius, Augull, cap. 44. and 

 with the ludifacerdotales, in Pliny, Epilt. lib. vii. As for 

 the emperors, it was fo much their intereft to ingratiate 

 themfelvcs with the populace, that they obliged them with 

 combats of gladiators idmoll upon all occafions, and as thefe 

 increafed, the number of combatants increafed hkewife. 

 Accordingly, Julius C^far, in his asdilefhip, diverted the 

 people with three hundred and twenty couple. Gordian, 

 before he was emperor, gave thefe fliows twelve times in a 

 year. In fome of thefe there were 500 pairs of gladiators, 

 and never lefs than 50. 



Germanicus and Claudius, both fons of Drufiis, gave 

 combats of gladiators in honour of their father. Nero's 

 and Domitian's combats of gladiators are noticed in th; [2- 

 quel of this article. Otho employed 2000 gladiators in flip 

 Tn-ar again II Vitellius (A.D. 69), and Vitellius hired gla- 

 diators to fight in all the ftreets of Rome for the amufemeiit 

 of the people. The inluiman fights of gladiators, thi»ugh 

 hmg authorized by culloni, afforded no pleafure to Vefpa- 

 fian. Titus, however, exhibited a (liow of gLidiators, wild 

 bcafls, and reprefentations of fea-!iglits, which lailed a hun- 

 dred days ; and Tr.iian continued a fol.-mnity of tiiis n.iture 

 for 3 hundred and twenty-three days, during which time lu.- 

 brought out ten thoufa;-;d gladiators. And Adrian, on hi.< 

 firft. vifit to Rome, after his promotion to the empire, gave 

 combats of gladiators for fix days fucccfilvely. Before this 

 time, under the republic, the nuniber of gladiators was fo 

 great, that vrhen the confpiracy of Catiline broke out, the 

 fenate ordered them to be difperfed into the garrifon and ie- 

 f ured, left ihey (hould have joined tlie difafreCted party. See 

 iil,.vciAToit.'i' IVar. 



And nut Haves only, but other perfons, would hm them- 

 felves to this infamous office. 



The mailer of the gladiators made ihcm all firft fwear, 

 that they would fight to death ; and if they failed, they 

 \vere put to death, either by fire, or fwords, clubs, whips, 

 the like 



It 

 were wounaecl, or 



when overcome ; but it was ufual for the emperor, or 

 the people, to grant them life, when they gave no figni 

 of fear, but waited the fatal liroke with courage and 

 intrepidity : Augullus even decreed, that it fliould aK 

 ways be granted them. But fear and want of fpirit were 

 very rare on occafions of this kind ; infomuch, that Cicero 

 more than once propofes the principle of honour which ac- 

 tuated the gladiators as an admirable model of courage and 

 conilancy; by which he intended to animate liimfclf and 

 others, to fuilcr every thing for the prefer\-ation of li- 

 berty and the defence of the commonwealth. (Tufc. ii. 41. 

 Philip, ii. 35.) 



From flaves and freedmen, the inhuman fport at length 

 fpread to people of rank and condition ; fo that AutuHui 

 was obliged to iffuc a public edift, that none of the fe- 

 iiatorian order (hould become gladiators ; and foon after 

 he kid the fame rellraint on the knights ; neverthelefs, 

 Nero is related to haw brought upwards of four hun- 

 drcd fenators, and fis hundred Roman knights upon the 

 arena ; though Lipfius takes both thofe numbers to be 

 fallified, aud, not without reafon, reduces them to forty 

 fenators, and fixty knights. Not only fenators, but even 

 women of (juality, fought in ])ublic in I'onie of Nero's com- 

 bats of gladiators. On occafion of the triumph of Probus, 

 A.D. -281, about fouricore gladiators, together with near 

 600 others, exhibited the inoli delpcrate courage, for the 

 inluin-.r.n (ports of the amphitheatre. Difdainiug to flicj 

 their blood for the amuiement of the populace, Uiey killed 

 theu- keepers, broke from tlie place of their confinement, 

 and filled tlie ilrrrts o( Roir.e with blood and corfuCon. 

 Atler an obltinale ivfittancc, they were overpowered and 

 cut in pieces by tlie regular forces; but they obtained at 

 lead an honourable death, and the fatisf.uflion of a jull 

 revenge (Zofuiius, 1. i. p. 66.) : yet Domitian, that other 

 moiiller ot cruelly, refined upon Nero, exhibiting combats 

 of women in tlie night-time. 



Bedire Rome was become the capital of the known 

 world, Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, in imitation 

 of the Ronuins, had introduced the combats of gladiators 

 ill his dominions. It is remarkable, however, that the 

 Alheniaus, who were HatunUly beneficent and humane, 

 N n 2 neve^ 



