How Did The Romans Become Gladiators

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At first, the games were for funerals, but they grew much bigger due to all the attention it got. The first games were for a man named Junius Brutus in 264 BCE in Rome, Italy. Emperor Augustus saw how popular the games were getting, and he had the Colosseum built. Most of the gladiators were prisoners and sent to the arena as punishment, but in the later years, many people willingly became gladiators. Also,in the early years, when the Roman Empire would take over an area, they would take the people of that country and see if they were worthy enough to become gladiators. If the person was too weak, he would be slaughtered, but if they were worthy, they would be sent to gladiator school. The Romans would put the men into categories based on …show more content…

Many of the people who were executed were criminals, Roman Army deserters, rebels, traitors, runaway slaves and those guilty of various sorts of antisocial behavior, such as the Christians. Even the simplest crime like stealing could have you executed. The executions were rarely fast and easy, since it was still a show for the Romans. The punishment of crucifixion was thrown on slaves and the worst kind of criminals, including Christians. The criminal was stripped of his clothes and nailed to the cross. the whole body being held by the stretched arms. When nailed to the cross there was a massive strain put on the wrists, arms and shoulders often resulting in a dislocation of many joints and the pressure on the chest made it impossible to take full breaths. Another type of execution was being thrown into the arena with wild animals. Men, women, and sometimes children would be thrown into an arena, with many spectators, and be eaten alive. The last execution and proboly the worst is Torture. The Victims were racked till their bones were out of joint, and others hung up by their hands to hooks, with weights fastened to their feet. Many religious people saw the games as horrific displays of violence. During the Reign of Emperor Honorius, an Egyptian monk named Telemachus who went to Rome and soon after became outraged at what he saw. Telemachus pleaded to stop it in the name of Christ. He was stoned by the furious mob and