Dry den. 
G L A 
Oh, he was all made up of love and charms! 
Delight of every eye I When he appear’d, 
A lecret pleafure gladden'd all that favv him. Addlfon. 
GLAD'DER, f. One that makes glad ; one that glad, 
dens ; one that exhilarates : 
Thou gladder of the mount of Cytheron, 
Have pity, goddefs. 
GLADK, /. [from pqlopan, to be hot, or to rtiine ; 
whence the Danilh glod, and the obfolete Englifh gked, 
a red-hot coal.] A lawn, or opening in a wood. It is 
taken for an avenue through a wood, whether open or 
fliaded, anfl has therefore epithets of oppofite meaning ; 
O might I here 
In folitude live favaga, in fome glade 
Obfcur’d, where higheft woods, impenetrable 
To fhir or fun-light, fpread their umbrage broad. Milton. 
For noonday’s heat are ciofer arbours made, 
And for frelh ev’ningair the op’ner glade. Dryden. 
There interfpers’d in lawns and opening glades, 
Thin trees arife that rtiun each other’s lhades. Pope, 
GLA'DEN, or Glader, f, [from gladins, 
fvvor^.] Swordgrafs: a general name of ’ ' ' 
rife with a broad blade like fedge. ‘Junius, 
GLA'DEN BACH, a town of Germany, in the circle 
of the Upper Rhine, and principality of Upper Hefl'e : 
twelve miles north of Gielien, and eight weft of Mar¬ 
burg. 
GLAD'FUL, adj. Full of gladnefs : 
There leave we them in pleafure and repaft. 
Spending their joyous dayes and gladful nights. Spenfer. 
GLAD'FULNESS,/. Joy; gladnefs. Obfolete, 
And there him refts in riotous fuffil'ance 
Of all his gladfulnefs, and kingly joyance. Spenfer, 
GLADIA'TOR, f, [Lat. from gladius, a fword; 
gladiateur,Yx ,1 A fword-player; a prize-fighter. Among 
the Romans, the favage and fanguinary combats of gla¬ 
diators were for ages ttfterated in the amphitheatre, tor 
the entertainment of all ranks of the people. They 
were ufually flaves or condemned criminals, who fought 
by compulfion ; though fometimes freemen made pro- 
feflion of thefe combats, like our prize-fighters, for a 
livelihood. The Romans are faid to have borrowed 
this cruel diverfion from the Afiatics ; and that there 
was policy in the practice, the frequent combats of gla¬ 
diators tending to accuftom the people to defpife dan¬ 
gers and death. 
The origin of gladiators feems to be as follows. 
From the earlieft times with which we have any ac¬ 
quaintance in profane hiftory, it had been the cuttomto 
facrifice captives, or prifoners of war, to the manes of 
the great men who had died in the engagement ; thus 
Achilles, in the Iliad, lib. xxiii. facrifices twelve young 
Trojans to the manes of Patroclus; and in Virgil, 
lib. xi. ver. 8i, j®neas fends captives to Evander, to 
be facrificed at the funeral of his fon Pallas. In the 
courfe of time they Came aifo to facrifice flaves at the 
funerals of all perfons of condition; this was even 
efteemed a necell'ary part of the ceremony ; but as it 
would have appeared barbarous to have mafl'acred them 
like beafts, they were appointed to fight with each 
other, that the life of one might be faved by killing his 
adverfary. This feemed fomewhat lefs inhuman, be- 
taufe there was a poilibility of avoiding death, by an 
exertion of Ikill and courage. This occafioned the pro- 
feflion of a gladiator to become an art: hence arofe 
mafters of the art, and men learned fcientifically to fight 
and exercife it. Thefe mafters bought flaves on pur- 
pofe to be trained to this cruel trade, whom they after¬ 
wards fold to fuch as had occafion to prefent the people 
with fuch horrid fpectacles. The exhibitions were at 
firft performed near the fepulchre of the deceafed, or 
VoL. VIII. No. 528. 
G L A 
580 
about the funeral pile ; but were afterwards removed 
to the circus and amphitheatres, and became ordinary 
amufements. 
In the year of Rome 488, the fanguinary combats be¬ 
tween gladiators v/ere firft exhibited in the circus, by 
M. and D. Brutus, to honoiir the funeral of their fa¬ 
ther. The people of Campania indulged in the com¬ 
bats of gladiators more early, and even during their 
banquets. This frantic love of cruelty rapidly in- 
creafed. In the year of Rome 536, the fonsof M. jEmi- 
lius Lepidus, intending to honour their father’s memory, 
had games performed which continued three days, and 
in which twenty-two pair of gladiators combated. 
Thirty-three years afterward, feventy gladiators fought. 
It became cuftomary for every general, before he un¬ 
dertook any expedition, to prefent this prelude of mur¬ 
der to the people. Ctefar maintained fome thoufands 
of gladiators, at his own expence ; and, when redile, 
exhibited games in which three hundred and twenty 
pair entered, the field of battle. Even Trajan, the 
greateft and moft benevolent of the emperors, indulged 
in this cruel practice. He gave games during a hun¬ 
dred and twenty days fucceflively, in which there were 
plants that '' ten thoufand gladiators. To fuch an height of extra- 
^ vagance was this pradtice carried, that Auguftus made 
alaw by which private individuals, who thought proper 
to prefent the people with fuch fpediacles, fliould be 
limited not to expend above half their fubftance. 
The people exprellcd their joy, when a gladiator re¬ 
ceived his death-wound, with wild fhouts; crying, 
Habet! Hoc habet! Some of the combatants engaged 
each other with fimilar weapons ; as fwords, poniards, 
&c. Such Vere often caWtd Samnites, not becaufe they 
really were Samnites, but becaufe the Romans, full of 
ignoble antipathy againft a people who had refilled 
their arms for a hundred years, delighted in beholding 
the murder of a Samnite. Thus we fee that cruelty, 
once indulged, is not eafily fatiated. It requires va¬ 
riety of murder, and its horrible neceflities make it in¬ 
ventive. Gladiators, who held an elaftic net in their 
right hand, and a three-pronged weapon in the left, en¬ 
deavoured to call the net over the head of their oppo¬ 
nent ; and then to pierce him with their prongs. If 
the attempt failed, the antagonift purfued the aifailaut 
to death. Hence the latter was called the feculor, pur- 
fuer ; and the former retiarius, the net-bearer. The net- 
bearers combated alfo with armed Gauls, who wcie 
tailed mirmillones. The latter bore the figure of a fifli 
on a helmet. Thefe mirmillones endeavoured to.efcape 
the net-bearer, by ducking the head, and at the fame 
moment to give a blow in the foot that Ihould difable 
his enemy, fo that he might afterward deftroy him with 
his fword. It was ufual for the net-bearer, as he fol¬ 
lowed the mirmillon, to exclaim, Ao« te peto, pifeem peto: 
Quid me fugis, Gallef “ I do not aim at thee, but at thy 
fifli: Why dolt thou fly me, Gaul ?” 
It was the pride of the vanquiflied gladiator, when 
he was doomed to die, and had received the lalt mortal 
wound, to fall honourably. Even when beat to the 
ground, and with juft ftrength fufficient to fupport 
himfelf on his arm, he does not abandon himfelf to 
grief and dejeition, but is folicitous to maintain that 
firmnefs of afpedl which gladiators valued themfelve.s 
on preferving in this feafon of diftrefs, and that invin¬ 
cible contempt of death which it was the principal ob- 
je6t of thefe mafters of defence to inculcate. At; this 
inftant, notwithftanding hisexhaufted ftrength, and that 
he has but one moment to live, he is viewed with the 
moft attentive admiration ; and the glory of the feene 
is to fee him expire and fall without a groan; and 
without a fymptom or expreflion that could betray the 
fmalleft delire of life ! 
If a gladiator exprelTed a fenfe of pain, after being 
w'ounded, or alked for his life, the people, enraged, 
would'frequently exclaim, urel verberaf '‘Kill! 
7 I, burn' 
