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> How many people died in the Colosseum? It is impossible to know with certainty, but it is believed that as many as 400,000, between gladiators, slaves, convic

> How many people died in the Colosseum? It is impossible to know with certainty, but it is believed that as many as 400,000, between gladiators, slaves, convicts, prisoners, and myriad other entertainers, perished in the Colosseum over the 350 or so years during which it was used for human bloodsports and spectacles. it's a myth perpetrated by Hollywood movies that gladiators were slaves sent to die in the Colosseum, in reality they were trained athletes, much like football players in the US today Of course 2,000 years ago society was very different, perhaps it was more violent, but Iraqi war killed at least 500,000 people in a few years. More people died there over the next 15 centuries, when the Colosseum wasn't a battle arena anymore and the knowledge of what it was built for was lost, than during the Roman empires that used it also as a fighting pit.

ca01an 5y ago
Many of them were slaves, who were also trained athletes
- peoplefromibiza 5y ago
  All of them were slaves, if they fought well they could buy back their freedom and become freemen. The important part is that "they were not sent to die" They costed a lot of money to their owners and matches were often just representations of battles, like modern wrestling, not real battles. It wasn't uncommon to fix matches, they had to provide entertainment, not death. But more interestingly, many gladiators trainers rented them to fight in the Colosseum and they had insurance policies on their lives, if the gladiator was injuried or died in the fight, there were penalties to pay. Most of the games were paid for by low level politicians that wanted to make a name for themselves and rented the gladiators from the trainers. Also the thumbs up/thumbs down it's also a myth, it never existed as a gesture, if the organizer decided to send some gladiator to death because the crowd asked for it, they had to pay the aforementioned penalties to the trainer. Not surprisingly the organizer had the last word and often times they spared them. Most of those that died were war slaves already sentenced to death. It was games, like we intend them today, they also had a referee on the ground. It was a very modern take on the matter at the times, to the point that we still use the same setup for sports entertainment.
  - maccard 5y ago
    Have you any resources to read more about this? Your explanation was great, and I'd love to find out more!
    - peoplefromibiza 5y ago
      Thanks! Honestly I don't, not in English, but I'll be back with some if you can wait a couple of days. I am from Rome, live at walking distance from the Colosseum and visited it many times. One of my closest friend is a tourist guide there and he's also an historian specialized in roman history. That's were I gathered most of my knowledge.
      - toyg 5y ago
        And you're clearly a Sandy Marton fan...
  - yunohn 5y ago
    > they were not sent to die While I can’t speak for OP, the way I see it is that the athletes were expected to kill each other, so the wording you dispute is just semantics. Sure, trainers wanted their slave to survive, so they could win the prize money and influence with the king. But that still means they fully acknowledged that the majority of them would die.
    - vosper 5y ago
      > At a time when three of every five persons did not survive until their twentieth birthday, the odds of a professional gladiator being killed in any particular bout, at least during the first century AD, were perhaps one in ten. For a full year in Nero's wooden amphitheater in the Campus Martius, no-one died at all, not even criminals (Suetonius, Life of Nero, XII.1).
    - peoplefromibiza 5y ago
      it's not semantic, it wasn't their job to kill each other the job was fight, like boxers or mma fighters fight today of course they are able to kill someone else, but that's not their main goal
adflux 5y ago
All arenarii (those who appeared in the arena) were "infames by reputation", a form of social dishonour which excluded them from most of the advantages and rights of citizenship. Payment for such appearances compounded their infamia.[174] The legal and social status of even the most popular and wealthy auctorati was thus marginal at best. They could not vote, plead in court nor leave a will; and unless they were manumitted, their lives and property belonged to their masters.[175] Very low social status, packed together with criminals... Not even close to American athletes who definitely have social status. From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator
- peoplefromibiza 5y ago
  I think you're reading too much in what I've written I've said "they were trained athletes" focusing on the trained athletes part, not on their status. As I've said elsewhere they were mostly war prisoners forced into the fighting career. Of course war prisoners don't have the same rights of citizens. But they were trained nonetheless, and could compete with modern american athletes in activities that require strength and resistance. Also, we are discovering more and more evidence that are uncovering secrets or making us reconsider some.of the things we though we knew for certain about gladiators and ancient romans in general. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bloody-gladiator-fresco-unearthed-pompeii-180973349/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bloody-gladiator-f...
  - adflux 5y ago
    >But they were trained nonetheless, and could compete with modern american athletes in activities that require strength and resistance. Nutritional/sports science has come so far in the past few decades, check the world records of any sport to see the progress... There's absolutely no chance that a Roman age athlete could compete in speed or strength fields. Look at people like Hafthor Bjornsson, steroid fueled giants. These people could not exist in the Roman age
    - peoplefromibiza 5y ago

ca01an 5y ago

Many of them were slaves, who were also trained athletes

peoplefromibiza 5y ago
All of them were slaves, if they fought well they could buy back their freedom and become freemen. The important part is that "they were not sent to die" They costed a lot of money to their owners and matches were often just representations of battles, like modern wrestling, not real battles. It wasn't uncommon to fix matches, they had to provide entertainment, not death. But more interestingly, many gladiators trainers rented them to fight in the Colosseum and they had insurance policies on their lives, if the gladiator was injuried or died in the fight, there were penalties to pay. Most of the games were paid for by low level politicians that wanted to make a name for themselves and rented the gladiators from the trainers. Also the thumbs up/thumbs down it's also a myth, it never existed as a gesture, if the organizer decided to send some gladiator to death because the crowd asked for it, they had to pay the aforementioned penalties to the trainer. Not surprisingly the organizer had the last word and often times they spared them. Most of those that died were war slaves already sentenced to death. It was games, like we intend them today, they also had a referee on the ground. It was a very modern take on the matter at the times, to the point that we still use the same setup for sports entertainment.
- maccard 5y ago
  Have you any resources to read more about this? Your explanation was great, and I'd love to find out more!
  - peoplefromibiza 5y ago
    Thanks! Honestly I don't, not in English, but I'll be back with some if you can wait a couple of days. I am from Rome, live at walking distance from the Colosseum and visited it many times. One of my closest friend is a tourist guide there and he's also an historian specialized in roman history. That's were I gathered most of my knowledge.
    - toyg 5y ago
      And you're clearly a Sandy Marton fan...
- yunohn 5y ago
  > they were not sent to die While I can’t speak for OP, the way I see it is that the athletes were expected to kill each other, so the wording you dispute is just semantics. Sure, trainers wanted their slave to survive, so they could win the prize money and influence with the king. But that still means they fully acknowledged that the majority of them would die.
  - vosper 5y ago
    > At a time when three of every five persons did not survive until their twentieth birthday, the odds of a professional gladiator being killed in any particular bout, at least during the first century AD, were perhaps one in ten. For a full year in Nero's wooden amphitheater in the Campus Martius, no-one died at all, not even criminals (Suetonius, Life of Nero, XII.1).
  - peoplefromibiza 5y ago
    it's not semantic, it wasn't their job to kill each other the job was fight, like boxers or mma fighters fight today of course they are able to kill someone else, but that's not their main goal

adflux 5y ago

All arenarii (those who appeared in the arena) were "infames by reputation", a form of social dishonour which excluded them from most of the advantages and rights of citizenship. Payment for such appearances compounded their infamia.[174] The legal and social status of even the most popular and wealthy auctorati was thus marginal at best. They could not vote, plead in court nor leave a will; and unless they were manumitted, their lives and property belonged to their masters.[175] Very low social status, packed together with criminals... Not even close to American athletes who definitely have social status. From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator

peoplefromibiza 5y ago
I think you're reading too much in what I've written I've said "they were trained athletes" focusing on the trained athletes part, not on their status. As I've said elsewhere they were mostly war prisoners forced into the fighting career. Of course war prisoners don't have the same rights of citizens. But they were trained nonetheless, and could compete with modern american athletes in activities that require strength and resistance. Also, we are discovering more and more evidence that are uncovering secrets or making us reconsider some.of the things we though we knew for certain about gladiators and ancient romans in general. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bloody-gladiator-fresco-unearthed-pompeii-180973349/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bloody-gladiator-f...
- adflux 5y ago
  >But they were trained nonetheless, and could compete with modern american athletes in activities that require strength and resistance. Nutritional/sports science has come so far in the past few decades, check the world records of any sport to see the progress... There's absolutely no chance that a Roman age athlete could compete in speed or strength fields. Look at people like Hafthor Bjornsson, steroid fueled giants. These people could not exist in the Roman age
  - peoplefromibiza 5y ago