Gladiators used in roman army?

[Spino]

I know there the battlefield ninja/hashasin of RTW

No, the three or four gladiator units in RTW will simply be melee fighters of a various classes. The RTW equivalent of ninja/hashanin will be units like the Arcani.

[Sir Moody]

well dont worry when some of us get around to moding RTW (probably the second it comes through my door) we will put them in as they hsould be - in Full legionaire uniform

[GoldenKnightX2]

not all gladiators where gladiators because they were forced to be, many volunteered.

[Oaty]

not all gladiators where gladiators because they were forced to be, many volunteered.

And not only that some of them were also Gigalos

[Maedhros]

I'm not sure gigolo is the right word.

Roman ladies would pay for their "services" but the money went to whomever owned the poor sap. So he received no support or benefit beyond a good nite.

There is some indication that some gladiators were used as bodyguards by the rich and powerful. But i suspect then the gladiator attire was more about intimidation and less about effect.

[Drake]

I seem to recall a sentence in Livy's "The War with Hannibal" that says that after Cannae that the Roman standing army was so heavily hit that they began to make cohorts up of gladiators, slaves and even prisoners. Livy is not known for being entirely accurate, but it would fit given the desparation of the time.

Would gladiators have fought in their arena gear or in uniform? Debatable. Army gear would have been hard to come by, and sinc etheir own stuff would be efficient(ish), they could in theory have been gladiators who fought in gladiator attire, but this is just be casting out possible guesses.

[Kraxis]

Would gladiators have fought in their arena gear or in uniform? Debatable. Army gear would have been hard to come by, and sinc etheir own stuff would be efficient(ish), they could in theory have been gladiators who fought in gladiator attire, but this is just be casting out possible guesses.

It is quite unlikely that they would have fought in gladiatorial equipment. As I have already mentioned several of the classes had lousy vision and were only effective against a single opponent he could keep an eye on all the time.
Most likely the gladiators of Livy's battle would have been issued a helmet, a shield and a sword, possibly a pilum or two. No armour would of course go to them as the real legions would get that (rather they would have bought all the armour in Rome).
So in effect the gladiators became Hastati more or less. Less disciplined but more furious.