Kevin Gardner
Professor Farmer
Comp 2
2 May 2013
Who Wants To Be A Gladiator
Gladiators had one of the toughest lives anybody could ever live. They spent all day training under harsh management, risked their life out in battle for fame, a slim chance of their freedom, and had to deal with the public’s own opinion of them. To some they were like superhero, others just a form of entertainment, But who actually got to be a gladiator? I will be talking about how one became a gladiator, their training, the different types of fighters, and how they fought and dealt with public opinion and how it affected them.
Not everyone got to be a gladiator though. Many were forced against their own will to fight in the arena. Some of the contestants were “professional gladiators, others prisoners of war, and others criminals condemned to death” (History Today). A good amount of them were slaves or prisoners of war that had a weak mindset and knew they were going to die and just decided let their opponent gladiator kill them without even trying to fight for their life. Every now and then there would be an occasional person who would want to be a gladiator. They would volunteer themselves into the arena and fight for the fame and glory. Being a successful gladiator is like being a movie star or famous athlete (like Lebron James or Ray Lewis). It got you money, fame, and of course pleasure of your choice.
Gladiators worked extremely hard to be successful in the arena. Every day they trained as hard as they could, knowing that they could be dead in a matter of days, just so they could be successful in the arena, and live on past another fight to possibly earn their freedom. If they did not train as hard as they could, then it could just as easily cost them their life in a battle at the coliseum. But, there was a process to how the Lanistas (Owner of the gladiators) trained them. The new recruits would first come in and be evaluated into the type of gladiator they would be....