00:00Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a Roman gladiator?
00:04Well, today's your lucky day, because we're heading back to the 2nd century AD
00:09to see just how fun it was to work at the Colosseum.
00:13The Roman Empire is at its height, stretching from Britain to Persia,
00:18and you've just become its latest involuntary entertainer.
00:22You might have been enslaved during any one of Rome's countless military expeditions.
00:28Or perhaps you had been convicted of a heinous crime, like murder or banditry.
00:34You could also have signed up to be a gladiator voluntarily.
00:38For your average Roman citizen, this would be a shameful last resort,
00:43since gladiators occupied the same social category as actors, prostitutes,
00:49and anyone else who sold themselves for money.
00:52But you can't pay back debts with dignity,
00:55so if you owed someone too much money, the Colosseum was a way out.
01:00Regardless of how you had gotten here, your new career would begin at the gladiatorial school.
01:07Depending on the time and place, this could be either a privately owned business,
01:12or a state-run imperial institution.
01:15Once there, you would undergo a thorough examination to determine whether your age,
01:21health, and strength were good enough to survive in the arena.
01:25Assuming you passed the screening, you'd then have to swear an oath that you accepted the risks of
01:31potentially being burned, chained, beaten, mutilated, or otherwise violently killed.
01:38With the formalities out of the way, you'd be welcomed into your new home for as many years as you
01:45had
01:45volunteered for, at least three years if you were a criminal, and maybe forever if you were a slave.
01:52If you happened to be in Rome, you'd most likely be housed and trained in the Ludus Magnus,
01:59the great gladiatorial school founded by Emperor Domitian.
02:03This fortified barracks was home to nearly a thousand gladiators, and it was replete with locked doors,
02:10an enclosed courtyard, and guards watching your every move.
02:14You'd share a tiny cell with one or two other gladiators, with whom you might even become friends over time.
02:21Now, once you had settled in, you'd be assigned a particular class of combat that was suitable for your physique.
02:30You see, gladiatorial combat was not simply a matter of giving random swords to the men and seeing what would
02:38happen.
02:38There were seven major combat classes, each with its own set of weapons, armor, and fighting style.
02:45You had the heavy shield fighters that carried a big rectangular shield and a short sword called a gladius,
02:53from where gladiators get their name. They relied on close range pressure to dominate their enemies.
02:59There were also the light shield classes, which had a smaller circular shield, but larger leg armor to compensate.
03:08They'd fight with spears or curved swords, with the aim of outreaching and outmaneuvering their opponents.
03:16The last group of classes were the specialists, who would fight with nets and tridents, or from atop horses.
03:24Each of these classes would be deliberately placed with opponents that made for interesting matches.
03:30For example, you might have a heavy shield gladiator trying to catch an opponent wielding a net and trident,
03:37who would be trying to tire him out.
03:40Regardless of which class you were assigned to, you would have to endure a brutal training regimen throughout your career.
03:47Every day, you would practice footwork, shield movements, attacks, and defense techniques,
03:53under the supervision of an experienced instructor.
03:57At first, you'd be hitting a wooden training dummy, and then once you got better, you'd move on to sparring
04:03with other gladiators.
04:05Your practice weapons would be a bit heavier than the actual ones, so that you wouldn't tire out as easily
04:12when the real fighting was on.
04:14Your only solace during this merciless routine was that you would be well fed.
04:20After all, your purpose wasn't to die a quick death in the arena, but rather to put on a good
04:26show.
04:27You were a financial asset for your owner and could bring him big revenue if you fought well.
04:33That's why they'd feed you with plentiful amounts of beans and barley to bulk up your muscles and build a
04:40protective layer of fat on top of them.
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05:53Download FreeCash and earn money without risking your life in the gladiatorial arena.
05:59Now, when the time came for actual matches, which wasn't all that frequent, only about two or three times a
06:07year,
06:07you'd likely be rented out to a particular sponsor who was organizing an event.
06:12This could be a wealthy aristocrat honoring his ancestors, a cunning politician currying favor with the public,
06:20or the emperor himself just having a good time.
06:24A fresh beginner such as yourself could be booked at a very competitive rate as low as a thousand sesterces,
06:31which would be around $50,000 in today's money.
06:35Veteran gladiators, however, could command substantial premiums and could bring in as much as 15,000 sesterces.
06:44Now, not all of this money was going to the owner.
06:48By imperial decree, at least a fifth was to go to the gladiator himself, even if he was a slave.
06:56All of the gladiator's expenses would naturally also come out of the owner's share,
07:02and trust me, running a gladiatorial troop was far from free.
07:07The actual fighting would usually take place in the afternoon after the audience had been warmed up
07:14with some animal hunts and public executions of criminals.
07:18You would step out onto the hot sand of the amphitheater,
07:22weighed down by armor and with limited visibility if you had a helmet.
07:26You'd be ushered into position by trained referees with staffs who would mediate the match to prevent
07:32foul play. In case you're wondering, bad referee calls were a thing even back then,
07:39with one famous gladiator's tombstone lamenting how a referee allowed his defeated opponent to get
07:45back up and kill him. In any case, now that you were in the arena, you'd be expected to demonstrate
07:52technique and showmanship. If you were too cowardly and avoided combat, you'd get booed.
07:58But you also wouldn't want to just flail wildly like a mad animal. You'd need to probe your enemy's
08:05defenses and preferably engage in at least a bit of bloodletting. But hopefully you'd disarm your
08:11opponent or force him to the ground without any fatal wounds. Otherwise, the event sponsor might
08:17have to pay as much as 50 times the renting fee to the dead gladiator's owner. Ideally, you and your
08:24opponent would collect your paychecks and any victory prizes, walking away with just bruises and light
08:31wounds. If you had performed particularly well, you might have even made some fans in the public.
08:38And we know that the most popular gladiators had their very own branded merch, a tradition that we
08:45here at SideQuest are consciously trying to emulate. We've made special gladiator and Roman-themed
08:51merch that you can get in our store. Grab them while they're hot. But yes, becoming a recognizable
08:58gladiator was one of the ways to make a ton of money in ancient Rome. The highest confirmed payout that
09:05we know of came from Emperor Tiberius, who paid retired gladiators a hundred thousand sesterces each
09:13to return for a special show in Rome. So if you survived to see the end of your contract period,
09:20or if you had earned enough to buy yourself out of slavery, you could enjoy retirement, though one
09:27still mired with the social stigma of having been a gladiator. Yet for most gladiators, success was
09:34difficult to achieve. So after their career, they'd likely have to continue working as trainers or referees,
09:41or go back to civilian work. If you weren't lucky enough and had died in the arena, you might at
09:48least receive a proper burial, funded by your owner and fellow gladiators, perhaps with a chance to write
09:55out your thoughts about it like our unlucky friend Diodorus. In any case, if you enjoyed our brief
10:02walkthrough, consider supporting us on Patreon or buying our new gladiator merch. Let us know what
10:10other topics you'd like us to cover and stay tuned for the next violently entertaining episode of SideQuest.
10:20What did the lion say to the Emperor's wife? Nothing. He was glad he ate her.
10:26...
10:26...
