Gladiator Combat

Gladiators were one of Rome’s most famous forms of entertainment. Other cultures had similar and much smaller things – but Rome’s incarnation appears unique in its scale with 3.5 million dead. The Colosseum was unique in its scale but not in purpose. Many other facilities across the Empire were used for the purpose of watching people forced to kill themselves in combat for entertainment. Now, all of this sounds very in line with what I have read about the Easterlings. Thus, I suspect that like Rome, they would love some good gladiator games. They would probably also have dedicated stadiums to watch them in. The games and stadiums would again probably include feasts, animal fights that provide the food and the executions. Meanwhile, the rich and the successful generals would use these to solidify power.

Participants

While it is true that there were those who were as well known as sports stars today, that was not the point. It appears that the reality was a goal of being entertained by the death of outcasts. It was a spectacle that hardened the viewers to blood while also killing off prisoners and criminals at the same time. Wealthy people would sponsor them to increase their own popularity. The sponsors got to show off their wealth and impress the public with exotic animals. An extra side benefit was meat that could then be provided to followers. These all started as prisoners, slaves or criminals. What made them different was being trained for sport combat and outfitted with better weaponry and armor. Those that survived long enough were freed and took up careers as bodyguards, prize fighters and the like. Those that died were thrown out like trash. A few lucky ones had fans that paid for funerals and graves.

Observance

The battles often started with animals being forced to fight each other in similar ways. The animal shows were followed by the killings of criminals. Some were thrown to animals starved so they would be more likely to kill the criminals. Other times they were simply burned. Some were killed in ways that were meant to reenact myths or historical events. Then there were the cases where groups were thrown in together with crude weaponry and told to kill each other. It would not surprise me to see the Easterling's more modest sacrifices be included in this part of the proceedings. Especially the ones based on executing criminals, the burning of dancing women and the ritualized combat. The highlight though was saved for the afternoon, when the actual trained gladiators took to the stage. At first, only around 20% of combats resulted in death but this eventually peaked at around 50%. Romans considered compassion a weakness and even those who opposed the games did not do so on humanitarian grounds. Instead, a well fought match was seen as a pure representation of Roman virtues. Open air banquets followed the games and free food would hardly have been frowned on by the poor masses. Shortages seem unlikely, given that in one case over 5,000 animals were killed in a single day.

Primary Related Location

Rhun

Related Ethnicities