Roman Gladiators and the Coliseum

Roman Gladiators and the Coliseum

Mr. Porter

South Girard School

Roman Gladiators:

•Gladiator - a professional fighter who specialized with
particular weapons and fought in large arenas.

•Mostly slaves, prisoners and debtors.

•Used specialized weapons and fought to the death in public
arenas (notably the Colosseum).

Multiple Choice

All of the following below fought in gladiator fights except who?

• Slaves

• Prisoners

• Soldiers

• Debtors

Multiple Choice

Gladiator matches would often end in a tie

• True as most gladiators were evenly matched

• False as gladiators had to fight to the death

Multiple Choice

Gladiator fights mainly occurred where?

• The Pantheon

• The Forum

• The Amphitheater

• The Coliseum

Training Schools:

•Agents scouted the empire for prisoners/criminals who could
fight (ex-soldiers, or murderous criminals).

•Gladiators went to training school and learned to fight a
particular style with a specific weapon set.

•Gladiators trained with wooden swords and shields in order
to prepare for competition.

•Large sums of money were awarded to winners of gladiator
games. A gladiator could win his freedom after years of
victories, but this was rare.

Multiple Choice

What could gladiators do if they fought long enough and saved up enough money?

• Purchase their freedom

• Recruit their own team of gladiators

• Get rights to marry and have children

• Bet on fights themselves to earn more money

Multiple Choice

Gladiators fought with actual weapons in training school

• True as their trainers wanted them to be prepared for battle

• False as they trained with wooden weapons

Multiple Choice

________ scouted the empire for prisoners/criminals who could fight (ex-soldiers, or murderous criminals).

• Generals

• Agents

• Recruiters

• Gamblers

The Crowd:

•The crowd played a huge part in gladiator games.

•Crowd participants made wagersbefore and during the fights
with other crowd members.

•If a gladiator surrendered, the crowd cheered on his fate. If
he fought hard, his life may be saved and vice versa.

•Gladiator games were intended to distract the people of
Rome from any hard times the average Roman may have
faced (poverty, unemployment, shortage of food, etc).

Multiple Choice

How did the gladiator fights help the Romans?

• They kept soldiers strong and ready for battle

• They gave them entertainment on weekends

• They distracted them from hard times

Multiple Choice

Crowds made _______ before fights

• Wagers/bets

• Food at home to eat during the fights

• Great money selling goods

The Colosseum:

•The Roman Colosseum was built to house gladiator
competitions (50, 000 seats).

•Wild animals on chain leashes were used to surprise
gladiators during competition (particularly lions).

•The Colosseum also held chariot races between gladiator
games and as an intermission between tournaments.

•6 years before the Fall of Rome, chariot races replaced
gladiator games.

Multiple Choice

These served as entertainment between fights

• Short plays

• Comedy shows

• Chariot races

Multiple Choice

How many people could the coliseum seat?

• 45,000

• 55,000

• 40,000

• 50,000