Event Title
A Career Guide for Prospective Gladiators
Presentation Type
Oral and/or Visual Presentation
Presenter Major(s)
Classics
Mentor Information
Charles Pazdernik
Department
Classics
Location
Kirkhof Center 2270
Start Date
10-4-2013 12:00 AM
End Date
10-4-2013 12:00 AM
Keywords
Culture, Historical Perspectives, Philosophy/Literature
Abstract
Most gladiators were condemned criminals or captives. It is clear, however, that others became gladiators by choice. On one estimate, half of all gladiators in Italy were volunteers by the middle of the first century CE. Efforts to regulate gladiatorial combat by persons of free status attest to the reality of the phenomenon. But what might have influenced a person weighing whether to fight in the arena? Taking into account a range of primary evidence, the paper assesses both the positive inducements, notably, glamor and honor, and the negative consequences, physical, emotional, and social, that would have informed the decision. Such an examination offers insight into the values and paradoxes that inform Roman social history and invites us to consider how individuals might have navigated these complexities. We might describe the result as a kind of "career development guide" for prospective gladiators in the first two centuries CE.
A Career Guide for Prospective Gladiators
Kirkhof Center 2270
Most gladiators were condemned criminals or captives. It is clear, however, that others became gladiators by choice. On one estimate, half of all gladiators in Italy were volunteers by the middle of the first century CE. Efforts to regulate gladiatorial combat by persons of free status attest to the reality of the phenomenon. But what might have influenced a person weighing whether to fight in the arena? Taking into account a range of primary evidence, the paper assesses both the positive inducements, notably, glamor and honor, and the negative consequences, physical, emotional, and social, that would have informed the decision. Such an examination offers insight into the values and paradoxes that inform Roman social history and invites us to consider how individuals might have navigated these complexities. We might describe the result as a kind of "career development guide" for prospective gladiators in the first two centuries CE.