Description
Gladiators were usually slaves, condemned criminals or prisoners of war but others did enter the arena. Those with debts or a lust for glory could sell themselves as gladiators, and soldiers who had given ground might be sent to the arena as punishment. A gladiator's life was arduous and brutal, even before fighting in the games. Trainees could, and would, be killed in practice if they fought beneath their abilities, as a way of encouraging the others. The ludus, the training ground and home of gladiators, was run by a lanista, and within its walls his word was law. Outside the arena he was considered to be on the bottom rung of society; some Roman cemeteries did not allow the bodies of lanistas to be buried inside their walls, even. Having said that, there was also a peculiar glamour about their business and some were famed amongst games fans as the men who owned and trained gladiators - the sports stars of the Roman world.
