5 ms·

https://www.warriorsandlegends.com/gladiators/the-life-expectancy-of-a-gladiator/ https://www.warriorsandlegends.com/gladiators/the-life-expec... ; they fought

https://www.warriorsandlegends.com/gladiators/the-life-expectancy-of-a-gladiator/ https://www.warriorsandlegends.com/gladiators/the-life-expec... ; they fought 2-3 times a year and would die around age thirty; now that would be the average life expectancy at that time. And you could buy your own freedom after three years. (on the other hand they can't be sure if the average age of thirty for gladiators is correct) Now you would have it much worse if you were a slave at a silver mine, that would have been the worst fate for a slave - it would be a certain death sentence. Also slaves in a city were much better off in general than slaves working on farms.

Jtsummers 6y ago
> they fought 2-3 times a year and would die around age 30; now that would be the average life expectancy at that time. And you could buy your own freedom after three years. That's life expectancy with high infant mortality included. Life expectancy for those who made it to age 10 was around 50.
ineedasername 6y ago
would die around age 30; now that would be the average life expectancy at that time Not really: Numbers like that are low because high levels of infant mortality brought the average down. If you lived past that age, going into your 50's was pretty much the norm. So the gladiators were still dying 20+ years before "normal"
- MichaelMoser123 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_Roman_Empire#Mortality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_Roman_Empire... that's correct, though there might have been regional differences. I don't know if these figures were the same throughout the entire roman empire.
- bluedevil2k 6y ago
  Well, the gladiator numbers are skewed too because of the high mortality of their profession for guys in their 20’s. If they lived long enough to be free, they likely had a normal lifespan.
  - ineedasername 6y ago
    That's pretty much the point: lots of dead gladiators dying earlier than they would have otherwise, contrary to the comment that they lived to about the same age as other Romans. In short, if other Romans had to pass one high-mortality period in their childhood, gladiators survive high childhood mortality only to be thrust into another period of high mortality. Twice the hurdle to overcome in order to have a shot at a reasonable lifespan.
    - virgilp 6y ago
      It needs to be said that life expectancy wasn't great for Roman emperors, either :D
birdyrooster 6y ago
How much fighting was necessary to get rid of the PTSD from being a gladiator?
- jdsully 6y ago
  It's widely (although not universally) believed that PTSD was far less common in pre-mechanised warfare/violence. This article has a high level overview on the prevailing theories: http://www.historiamag.com/roman-ptsd/ http://www.historiamag.com/roman-ptsd/
  - rendall 6y ago
    Interesting article. It could be argued that certain practices of Roman society were itself a manifestation of mass, society-wide PTSD: systemic child abuse, slave abuse, military expansionism, gladiatorial spectacles. But, the article makes a good point that PTSD as a defined medical condition could be relative to our society's understanding of the individual, not a universal human failing
  - birdyrooster 6y ago
    Sometimes I ask really stupid questions and get answers that I don't deserve. This was a great read.
coldtea 6y ago
>now that would be the average life expectancy at that time Taking infant mortality into account. Life expectancy at 25 would be much higher (e.g. if you've made it to 25, you'd be statistically expected to make it to 50-60 or so). "However, when infant mortality is factored out, life expectancy is doubled to the late-50s. If a Roman survived infancy to their mid-teens, they could, on average, expect near six decades of life" In general, child mortality ignored, life expenctacy hasn't changed that much through the millenia. Modern sanitary practices and quality of life (running water, etc.) and to a much lesser degree modern medicine gave us around 15-20 years more.
- inglor_cz 6y ago
  "In general, child mortality ignored, life expenctacy hasn't changed that much through the millenia. " I recently read a paper on excavation of two burial sites in Southeast Moravia, one of the centers of the Great Moravia realm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Moravia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Moravia). One of those burial sites spanned 9th-10th century, while the other was about 2 centuries younger. The age profiles of the dead were rather different. The earlier cemetery had only a few remains over 37, while for the latter, the drop-off age was about 48. It seems that the more stable conditions of the High Middle Ages (including some improvement in agriculture) gave people about an extra decade to live. Of course, this was Central Europe, very underdeveloped in comparison with the ancient civilizations in the Mediterranean.

Jtsummers 6y ago

> they fought 2-3 times a year and would die around age 30; now that would be the average life expectancy at that time. And you could buy your own freedom after three years. That's life expectancy with high infant mortality included. Life expectancy for those who made it to age 10 was around 50.

ineedasername 6y ago

would die around age 30; now that would be the average life expectancy at that time Not really: Numbers like that are low because high levels of infant mortality brought the average down. If you lived past that age, going into your 50's was pretty much the norm. So the gladiators were still dying 20+ years before "normal"

MichaelMoser123 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_Roman_Empire#Mortality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_Roman_Empire... that's correct, though there might have been regional differences. I don't know if these figures were the same throughout the entire roman empire.
bluedevil2k 6y ago
Well, the gladiator numbers are skewed too because of the high mortality of their profession for guys in their 20’s. If they lived long enough to be free, they likely had a normal lifespan.
- ineedasername 6y ago
  That's pretty much the point: lots of dead gladiators dying earlier than they would have otherwise, contrary to the comment that they lived to about the same age as other Romans. In short, if other Romans had to pass one high-mortality period in their childhood, gladiators survive high childhood mortality only to be thrust into another period of high mortality. Twice the hurdle to overcome in order to have a shot at a reasonable lifespan.
  - virgilp 6y ago
    It needs to be said that life expectancy wasn't great for Roman emperors, either :D

birdyrooster 6y ago

How much fighting was necessary to get rid of the PTSD from being a gladiator?

jdsully 6y ago
It's widely (although not universally) believed that PTSD was far less common in pre-mechanised warfare/violence. This article has a high level overview on the prevailing theories: http://www.historiamag.com/roman-ptsd/ http://www.historiamag.com/roman-ptsd/
- rendall 6y ago
  Interesting article. It could be argued that certain practices of Roman society were itself a manifestation of mass, society-wide PTSD: systemic child abuse, slave abuse, military expansionism, gladiatorial spectacles. But, the article makes a good point that PTSD as a defined medical condition could be relative to our society's understanding of the individual, not a universal human failing
- birdyrooster 6y ago
  Sometimes I ask really stupid questions and get answers that I don't deserve. This was a great read.

coldtea 6y ago

>now that would be the average life expectancy at that time Taking infant mortality into account. Life expectancy at 25 would be much higher (e.g. if you've made it to 25, you'd be statistically expected to make it to 50-60 or so). "However, when infant mortality is factored out, life expectancy is doubled to the late-50s. If a Roman survived infancy to their mid-teens, they could, on average, expect near six decades of life" In general, child mortality ignored, life expenctacy hasn't changed that much through the millenia. Modern sanitary practices and quality of life (running water, etc.) and to a much lesser degree modern medicine gave us around 15-20 years more.

inglor_cz 6y ago
"In general, child mortality ignored, life expenctacy hasn't changed that much through the millenia. " I recently read a paper on excavation of two burial sites in Southeast Moravia, one of the centers of the Great Moravia realm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Moravia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Moravia). One of those burial sites spanned 9th-10th century, while the other was about 2 centuries younger. The age profiles of the dead were rather different. The earlier cemetery had only a few remains over 37, while for the latter, the drop-off age was about 48. It seems that the more stable conditions of the High Middle Ages (including some improvement in agriculture) gave people about an extra decade to live. Of course, this was Central Europe, very underdeveloped in comparison with the ancient civilizations in the Mediterranean.