Those About to Die

by Daniel Pratt Mannix

  As long as only a few gladiators were engaged, the fights were generally given in the Forum, but when several dozen fought there wasn't enough room. So the fights were moved to the Circus, and the gladiators staged their combats as an extra attraction together with the chariot races, the acrobats, the wild animal trainers and the other performers. Unless the show was subsidized by some wealthy man in honour of his ancestors, an admission fee was charged and the whole affair was strictly a business proposition, but later politicians started putting on the shows for free to get votes, or the government staged them to keep the mob quiet

  Unfortunately, no gladiator was kind enough to leave a collection of memoirs or, if any did, the manuscript hasn't survived. However, we know plenty about them as many of the Roman writers such as Suetonius, Martial, and Tacitus described the fights in considerable detail. We know, for example, that one of the most famous gladiators was named Flamma and, although we know very little else about him except a list of his outstanding triumphs, we can by com­bining stories about several of the gladiators give a reasonably accurate picture of one of these professional killers.

  Let's suppose that Flamma was a huge, heavy-set bull of a man. Most gladiators were, as their statues and the portraits of them cut on monuments show. He may well have been a private soldier, condemned to the arena for insubordination. We know of one such case, and we'll suppose the man in­volved was Flamma.

  Flamma, then, had been given a bawling-out by a young officer, fresh out of military school and he told the officer off. The officer struck him with a cane and Flamma knocked him down. For this offence, he was sentenced to the arena.

  Flamma hoped to be matched against some other ex-soldier and fight with regulation sword and shield, which he knew how to handle, but the penalty for striking an officer was death and the high brass was determined that Flamma wouldn't leave the arena alive. So he was put into one of the new "novelty acts" which were springing up. The Roman mob had tired of the standard combats so the promoters invented fights between a Retiarius, who wore no armour but carried a net and a trident (a three-pronged spear), and a Sccutor, who was equipped as a Gaul; that is^ he had a fish insignia on his helmet as did the Gauls, and carried a sword and shield. He wore a breastplate, and his right arm and left leg were pro­tected by armour. His left arm and right leg were bare to give him greater freedom of movement. Except for its fish symbol, the helmet was very plain so as not to offer a spot where the Retiarius' net or trident could catch. Flamma was to play the part of the Secutor or "chaser." It was up to him to catch the nimble Retiarius or "netman."

  The edges of the Retiarius' net were fringed with small lead weights, so when the net was thrown it would open to form a circle. Similar nets are still used by fishermen in various parts of the world today. If he could suceed in catching the Secutor in his net, the Retiarius could pull the heavily armed man off balance and dispatch him with the trident. The Retiarius always had the advantage in these fights and, even with well-trained gladiators, the betting was generally five to three on the netman. In this case, Flamma knew nothing about the business, while the Retiarius was an expert. The odds on the Retiarius were fifty to one with no takers.

  When Flamma appeared in the arena in his Gaul's outfit, he was greeted by boos and catcalls from the mob. They knew he was a mutineer, and also he was nothing but a palooka who couldn't be expected to put up an interesting fight. Flamma was a fairly simple fellow and his spirit had been broken by the court-martial and the sentence. When he saw that everyone was against him, he dropped his sword and sat down to let the Retiarius finish him off. The crowd, feeling that they had been swindled, burst into shouts of "Chicken!" "What's he afraid of?" "Why does he die so sulk­ily?" "Whip him!" "Burn him!"—for a gladiator who refused to fight was whipped and prodded with hot irons until he changed his mind. But Flamma's whole regiment had turned out for the fight and they stood up in the stands, shouting for him. When Flamma heard their familiar voices, he picked up his sword and cried, "All right, boys, I'll do my best for the honour of the regiment!" The Retiarius had been parading the arena, taking bows and making dates with the pretty girls for after the fight. Now he settled his net and came for the soldier.

  As he approached Flamma, the Retiarius sang the tradi­tional chant of his profession: "I seek not you, I seek a fish. Why do you flee from me, O Gaul?" meanwhile making tentative casts with his net. Then he pretended to slip and fall, hoping to get Flamma off balance. When that didn't work, he danced around the heavily armoured man, calling him a coward and daring him to come on, but Flamma had too much sense to wear himself out chasing the agile Retiarius around the arena. He stood his ground and made the other man come to him.

  The Retiarius circled him, holding the net by one end and slinging it at Flamma's feet, hoping to have the long net wrap around the Secutor's legs and trip him. Then he suddenly changed his technique and threw the net in a cast. Flamma turned it with his shield, but one of the lead pellets hit him in the left eye, partially blinding him. The Retiarius saw his chance and, rushing in, knocked the sword out of the soldier's hand with his trident. Both men ran for the sword but the light Retiarius got there first and threw the sword into the stands. Then he turned to finish off the unarmed man.

  It seemed as though Flamma was through, but the Reti­arius made the mistake of first showing off with some fancy net casts. Flamma managed to give the trident a kick that sent it flying across the arena. The terrified Retiarius turned to run after it, but before he could get away, Flamma grabbed him by the tunic. As the Retiarius went down on his knees, Flamma gave him a rabbit punch with the edge of the shield and killed him.

  The victory, although totally unexpected, didn't seem to help Flamma. The emperor simply signalled for another Retiarius to come out and finish him off. But here the con­demned man got a break. Flamma's nickname around the barracks was "loach," as loaches have whiskers like a catfish and Flamma had a bristling beard. The soldiers in the stands had been yelling: "Go it, loach!" and the crowd had taken up the yell after Flamma showed that he was really willing to fight. Now a "loach" had killed a "fisherman" and the crowd thought this was such a joke that they demanded that Flamma be spared. Very few emperors dared to ignore the will of the people in the circus. Often notorious bandits and murderers were saved in this way, to the indignation of the judges. So Flamma was sent to gladiatorial school to learn his new trade.

  There were four big gladiatorial schools in Italy at this time (about 10 a.d. under Augustus Caesar). They were known as The Great School, The Gallic, The Dacian and the School for Bestiarii (animal fighters). Later, there were dozens of schools maintained by rich enthusiasts of the fights just as today rich men have racing stables. Flamma was sent to The Great School in Rome. No vestige of this school remains but the gladiatorial school in Pompeii is still in good condition, so I'll describe that, although The Great School must have been much bigger.

  The school was a rectangular building some 170 feet by 140 feet with an open court in the middle where the men could practice. Around the court ran a roofed passage with small rooms opening into it rather like a cloister. The rooms were only ten by twelve feet, but each man had his cell where he could be alone. There was a kitchen, a hospital, an arm­oury, quarters for the trainers and the guards, and even a graveyard. There was also a prison with leg irons, shackles, branding irons and whips. Opening into the prison was a room used for solitary confinement with a ceiling so low a man couldn't sit up and so short he couldn't stretch out his legs. The remains of four gladiators were found in the Pompeian prison—the men had been unable to escape when the city was covered with the lava flow from Mount Vesuvius. The school was owned by a big promoter but was actually run by an old ex-gladiator who knew all the tricks. These trainers were called lanistae.

  Every precaution was taken to keep the gladiators well guarded. The Romans never forgot the lesson they had learned in 72 b.c. when a gladiator named Spartacus with seventy of his comrades escaped from the sc
hool and took refuge in the crater of Mount Vesuvius. As all these men were professional fighters, getting them out of the crater was quite a problem. They were joined by escaped slaves, robber bands and discontented peasants. Under Spartacus' leadership, this band of outlaws defeated two Roman generals and seized all southern Italy. They nearly captured Rome itself before being wiped out by legions hastily recalled from the frontiers.

  Flamma first had to take an oath: "To suffer myself to be whipped with rods, burned with fire, or killed with steel if I disobey." Then he was given a cell whose previous occupant had been killed in the last games.

  There was a stone shelf that served as a bed, with a straw-filled mattress on it, and a niche in the wall where Flamma could keep a statue of whatever god he fancied. There was no other furniture. On the walls were scratched girls' names with addresses below them, pictures of naked women, "Sabinus hic" (Kilroy was here), prayers to various gods, dirty cracks about the gladiator master and the dates of fights. In Pompeii, these drawings still survive. There were also a few crude drawings of actual combats—a Secutor en­veloped in the net but still stabbing at the Retiarius with his sword, and some fights between different types of gladiators. Over one figure was scribbled "Bebrix, 20 wins" and over another “Nobilior, 11 wins." Nobilior was down, making the sign for mercy to the crowd by holding up one finger of his left hand. Below him was the sign 0 which meant "killed"

  Being a phlegmatic man and used to iron discipline, Flamma settled down in the school without much difficulty. Other gladiators had more trouble. The barracks had to be constantly patrolled night and day to make sure the men didn't commit suicide, but even so some men were able to outwit the guards. One man, on his way to the school in a cart, managed to stick his head in the turning wheel and broke his neck. Another man took a pottery bowl in which he was given water, broke it into small pieces, and then ate the pieces. Flamma couldn't understand what was bothering these men. The food was fine, the bed comfortable, and girls were brought in once a week. He had to fight only about twenty times a year, and there were no long marches, sudden ambushes or long campaigns as in the army. Frankly, he'd never had it so good.

  For the first few weeks Flamma practiced sword strokes against a wooden pole in the exercise court and then against a dummy hung from a pole under the direction of the lanista. He had to learn to use his left hand as readily as his right, as some fighters were suckers for a good southpaw. In order to build up his muscle, the weapons given him were twice as heavy as the ones he'd use in the arena. Then he fought other gladiators using blunt weapons. At last real bouts were put on, but stopped when one man was wounded.

  The men all messed at a long table and their meals were carefully prepared by expert dieticians. They were fed a great deal of meat and barley—meat because of its protein content and barley because, so it was believed, the rich grain covered the arteries with a layer of fat and so helped to prevent a man from bleeding to death from a wound.

  Perhaps what sold Flamma on being a gladiator more than anything else was the beautiful armour he was allowed to wear in the arena. As the son of poor Italian peasants, he had never owned anything really impressive in his life and was a pretty simple fellow anyhow. (Right up to the first World War, soldiers insisted on wearing full dress into battle and many a man frankly joined the army so he could wear a busby or a nice red uniform with brass buttons. Even today a general had seriously claimed that the reason so many men join the Marines is that the Marine Corps still retains its ornate full dress, and maybe the general is right.) To a man like Flamma, fine armour meant a lot. His helmet had ostrich or peacock feathers. His breastplates were inlaid with gold and silver. His sword hilt was set with precious stones. His bronze shield was covered with brass studs and painted a brilliant red on the inside. Designs showing gladiatorial fights were engraved on his brassards and cuisses by famous artists. Slaves kept everything polished up for him so that all Flamma had to do was wear the stuff—very different from the army where he'd had to shine his equipment himself.

  The trainer watched Flamma's style carefully and decided to use him as a Postulati, fighting in full armour with a sword and lead mace against all comers, who were allowed to use any weapon that they wished.

  Flamma's first public appearance as a professional gladiator was at ludi privati (privately sponsored games) given by a politician. For weeks before the event, professional sign writers had toured the city writing ads for the games every­where they could find space—even on tombstones. There are still old tombstones in Roman burying grounds with the inscription: "Post no bills" engraved on them. Here's a typical ad written on a wall with red paint:

  "Weather permitting, 30 pairs of gladiators, furnished by A. Clodius Flaccus, together with substitutes in case any get killed too quickly, will fight ist, 2nd and 3rd May at the Circus Maximus. The fights will be followed by a big wild beast hunt. The famous gladiator Paris will fight. Hurrah for Paris! Hurrah for the generous Flaccus, who is running for duumvirate!"

  Below is a personal plug for the sign writer reading: "Mar­cus wrote this sign by the light of the moon. If you hire Marcus, he'll work day and night to do a good job."

  It was a fine day and a big crowd turned out that filled the circus. Owners of neighbouring houses that overlooked the amphitheatre rented out their roof-tops to people who couldn't get seats. (Later the Circus Maximus got so high that this source of revenue was lost.) Around the base of the stands the moat of running water kept the arena cool. The crowd had programmes to guide them in betting. The pro­grammes were written in a sort of sporting code and one of the later ones looked like this:

  T v. Pugnax Ner. III Ess.

  M p. Murranus Ner. III Ess.

  T m. P. Ostorius Jul. L

  M v. Scylax Jul. XXVI

  This meant that a gladiator named Pugnax, a Thracian (fighting with a small, round shield and short, curved sword) was pitted against Murranus, a Myrmillo (Gallic arms like the Secutor). Both came from the Neroniani School of gladia­tors founded by Nero at Capua. Both had won three times. (If it was a man's first fight, T for tyro was put after his name.) The "v" and "p" were written in by the owner of the programmes later. The v stood for victor and the p for peri­shed.

  The second line meant that Publius Ostorius (apparently a freeman, judging from his double name, who probably fought for hire) and winner in fifty-one fights was opposed to a man named Scylax who had won twenty-six times. Both were from the Julian Gladiatorial School. The "Ess" stands for Essedarii, which means that they fought from chariots. Scylax was the winner, but Ostorius' life was spared (possibly because he was a Roman citizen) by the crowd. The "m" stands for "missus" (let go).

  After A. Clodius Flaccus had ridden around the arena in his hired chariot, followed by bis stooges, there was a parade of the gladiators, each man wearing the armour and carrying the weapons with which he was to fight Very fine it must have looked, too, the armour flashing in the sun, the feathers in the casques nodding, the powerful gladiators striding along and the fifty-piece band playing a march. The gladiators halted in front of the emperor's private box and, raising their right hands straight out, chanted:

  "Hail, Caesar! We who are about to die greet thee!"

  Then they turned and in military formation marched out through Porta Libitinensis (a small gate under the stands) to their room.

  After a few preliminary bouts of acrobats, trained animals and trick riding, it was time for the fights. The gladiators were mainly matched against a group of German prisoners of war. This was because a highly trained gladiator was a very valuable investment and the lanistae did everything they could to keep the men from getting killed unnecessarily. The best way to safeguard a gladiator was to pit him against a nonprofessional. When gladiator fought gladiator, the match was frequently fixed, at least in this comparatively early period. Even if the mob demanded a fallen man's life, the victor only pretended to kill him. He was then hauled out with a hook as though a corpse and later sent to some
provincial circus where he wouldn't be recognized. A lot depended on the editor giving the games. He could ensure better fights if he insisted on the men fighting to the death, but that cost extra.

  The Germans were armed with their national weapon: short javelins. They had no armour but wore heavy bearskins as protection. However, they outnumbered the gladiators sent against them two to one. Still, the highly trained gladia­tors didn't have much trouble except with one man. He was a Norseman, a giant with long blond hair and beard. He was fighting with an enormous two-handed sword. He killed two gladiators, cutting off their heads in spite of the gorget that protected their necks. He got such a hand that the fight was stopped and the Norseman promised his freedom. The applause went to his head for he insisted on making a speech to the crowd in broken Latin. The Norseman said that he'd killed six legionnaires in battle before he was captured, that the Romans were all yellow-bellies and one Norseman could handle a legion of them, and that he could personally lick any man in the crowd. The crowd were sportsmen enough to admire his nerve and applauded, but in the stands was a young officer whose father had been killed fighting the Germanic tribes. This fellow didn't like Nordics and he jumped into the arena and challenged the Norseman to fight.

  The Norseman accepted and as this was obviously a real grudge match, the crowd was all for it. Not having any arms with him, the officer borrowed Flamma's armour and sword. Then he and the Norseman went to it.

  The combatants were so evenly matched that there was ' none of the usual shouting and cheering from the stands; the crowd held its breath, watching every move. There was no sound in the giant amphitheatre but the clash of the swords. In spite of his armour, the young officer had counted on being quicker than the big Norseman in his cumbersome bearskin but the Norseman displayed an amazing and unexpected agility. Twice he beat the Roman to his knees and only a miracle saved the young man. Then the Roman leaping back to avoid a stroke from the great two-handed sword, slipped in a pool of blood. He went down and the Norseman straddled him, shortening his sword for the death stroke.