Just wondering, is it accurate that very few Gladiatorial fights ended in death, or is the more commonly portrayed version of "Thumbs Up Thumbs Down" true?
Gladiators..
Just wondering, is it accurate that very few Gladiatorial fights ended in death, or is the more commonly portrayed version of "Thumbs Up Thumbs Down" true?
When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman? From the beginning all men by nature were created alike, and our bondage or servitude came in by the unjust oppression of naughty men. For if God would have had any bondsmen from the beginning, he would have appointed who should be bound, and who free. And therefore I exhort you to consider that now the time is come, appointed to us by God, in which ye may (if ye will) cast off the yoke of bondage, and recover liberty. - John Ball
Re: Gladiators..
Its wasn't a quick thumbs down/up motion of the hand. The thumb was pointed downwards and thrusted towards at the base of the neck to signify death.
Re: Gladiators..
Not the answer I was hoping for, but thanks regardless.It's the first part of the question I'd like someone to clarify.
When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman? From the beginning all men by nature were created alike, and our bondage or servitude came in by the unjust oppression of naughty men. For if God would have had any bondsmen from the beginning, he would have appointed who should be bound, and who free. And therefore I exhort you to consider that now the time is come, appointed to us by God, in which ye may (if ye will) cast off the yoke of bondage, and recover liberty. - John Ball
Re: Gladiators..
From what I've heard few fights ended in death (my source being the History Channel for the most part), and they also said there is a good chance that thumbs down meant drop your weapon and let him/her live, while thumbs up and towards the heart meant deliver the coup de grace. I think I have heard this from other sources as well, but I couldn't say where.
"A man's dying is more his survivor's affair than his own."
C.S. Lewis
"So many people tiptoe through life, so carefully, to arrive, safely, at death."
Jermaine Evans
Re: Gladiators..
The fights staged between professional gladiators only rarely resulted in death, since these men were far too expensive to kill off. If the investments people put into a gladiator simply ended in a cold corpse on a stretcher, then very quickly gladiatorial fights would become a most unattractive venue for the rich investors (i.e. gladiatorial trainers). So no, the best fighters were almost never killed, at least not in the arena. Also, they were treated very well, much better than the average slave, and were often very popular figures among the masses.
The people who were killed in droves in the arena were most of the time the worst criminals of Roman society, the noxii. They were simply thrown out into the arena without weapons to be cut down by the fully-armed professional gladiators. It was a creative death sentence for them, and one that satisfied the public's desire for real blood.
Re: Gladiators..
I've read somewhere (forgot where ...) that some gladiators who lost the battle were left in the Arena. Roman soldiers picked them up, and sometimes executed them.
(i remember something of the article: it was something with a graveyard full of gladiators, they died because of a natural death, or they all received the same, critical blow: marks were found on the skelets. A possible explanation is the execution afterwards).
I heard of the fights of unarmed (or light armed) people against the trained gladiators too. I know of unarmed people fighting animals (like lions). Does anyone know if gladiators fought lions as well?
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As to what-if, all such thinking is nothing more than simple mental excersises, to see how many details you can come up, but, history is forged by unforseen events, thus, making a what-if impossible.
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