What Was Gladiator School Like? - Facilities, Staff, Training, Diet DOCUMENTARY
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ค. 2024
- We explore what it was like to train in a Roman Gladiator school! Skip the waitlist and invest in blue-chip art for the very first time by signing up for Masterworks: www.masterworks.art/invicta Purchase shares in great masterpieces from artists like Pablo Picasso, Banksy, Andy Warhol and more. See important Masterworks disclosures: www.masterworks.com/about/dis...
We continue our series on the History of Gladiators in Ancient Rome. In this episode we take a look at how they were forged in the Gladiator Schools of the Roman Empire. We begin by discussing what a Gladiator School or Ludus looked like including its facilities and staff. Then we discuss how one would join a Gladiator school and rise of the Gladiator ranks from Novice to Primus Paulus.
We then talk about what it was like to actually live in the Ludus over the course of one's career. This famously includes gladiator training and the gladiator diet. But we also discuss the socializing, massages, doctors appointments, pre-fight meals, and other aspects regarding the daily life of a Gladiator in the Ludus. Naturally the high point of these experiences though would be the Gladiator battle scene which unfolded in the mighty arena.
You can catch more Gladiator content in our prior episodes:
Rise of the Gladiators - • Where did Gladiators c...
Naval Gladiator Games - • Naval Gladiator Battle...
Female Gladiators - • Female Gladiators - Di...
A Day at the Games - • What was a day at the ...
Works Cited/Recommended Reads
The World of Pompeii eds. John Dobbins and Pedar Fross
Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day by Peter Matyszak
Popular Culture in Ancient Rome by Jerry Toner
Emperors and Gladiators by Thomas Wiedemann
Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire eds. D.S. Potter and D.J. Mattingly
As The Romans Did by Jo-Ann Shelton
The Roman Games by Alison Futrell
The Victor’s Crown by David Potter
The Oxford Handbook of Roman Epigraphy eds. Christer Bruun and Jonathan Edmondson
Credits
Research = Chris Das Neves
Script = Chris Das Neves
Narration = Invicta
Art = Penta Limited
#history
#documentary
#rome
Skip the waitlist and invest in blue-chip art for the very first time by signing up for Masterworks: www.masterworks.art/invicta
Purchase shares in great masterpieces from artists like Pablo Picasso, Banksy, Andy Warhol and more.
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I can't tell if this makes me feel better or worse about my life growing up to be an overweight weeb potato.
This was a very nice look into what it was like to be a Gladiator. Nice video.
Do the people on the waitlist know they can just come to TH-cam videos and skip it?
What is beneath your feet?
@@Hilts931it's not about what's here on TH-cam. What it is is buying shares/stock in Art 🤣🤣🤣 it's hilarious honestly, like, want to own 0.0010% of a davinci painting? That'll be a few million dollars please 😂 and you never get to have it for a microsecond and so on. It's like that nft scam nonsense.
12 years of watching the strictly 100% historically accurate Spartacus series has prepared me for all of what I am going to hear, surely 😉
I'd never jumped up and screamed "Kill'em all!" before that show.
Spartacus was 100% history porn
He darkens the skin of the Italians pretty significantly for a reason.
@@mikhailvladislav8294 Does it really matter...?
Leather bracelets ftw
Just like modern day sports stars, gladiators would often advertise products in Ancient Rome. There was a scene in Gladiator with Maximus selling olive oil that was cut because it seemed too unrealistic, even though this did happen. As gladiators were the celebrities of their time they would often get paid to promote the products of Roman businesses.
True Roman olive oil, for true Romans!
Could you point out any of the sources that would justify what you are saying? Genuinely interested
@@Mr_Faptiful I mean, it would make sense. Gladiators are famous people, their likeness and names sketched onto walls and dolls and toys made out of them. Them advertising products like olive oil, clothes, a business' particular foodstuff would surely be lucrative for both sides.
@@Mr_Faptiful For some reason the link I posted keeps getting deleted so I'll just copy and paste the part on gladiator product endorsements:
Roman gladiators endorsing products
"Think back thousands of years. Imagine yourself as a young wine-maker in Rome. Your wine is among the best, but you struggle to overcome other competitors in the space. You risk falling out of business if you can’t reach your potential customers.
But what if you got one of the gladiators to endorse your product? Surely if the citizens of Rome saw a champion enjoying the fruits of your labour, they would too. The Colosseum was the mecca of entertainment in Ancient Rome, exposing gladiators to thousands of people at once. This is why historians have long suggested that Roman Gladiators were arguably the first influencers of purchasing behaviors."
@@Mr_Faptiful The same article also mentions gladiator billboards that showed famous gladiators fighting to advertise products. This sort of thing isn't anachronistic to say the least.
"One can buy a Thracian slave and teach them to fight in a caricatured manner of their homeland". I see what you did there! Good thing that never backfired on Romans!
Well, they learned their lesson after that.
Lol! Timeless!
Thanks for a great video. It's easy to forget that that gladiators were entertainers. They were expensive to train and maintain. It was a business.
@@PROVOCATEURSK THey probably did. There were lots of allegations of "rigging" going on in gladiatorial fights
Like MMA or boxing nowadays
I learned in the movie gladiator, such sports combat/martial-arts was also a means of athletic theatrical distraction utilized by the rulers, so everyones happy
Ironic👍
@@myrnaa9517gladiator is one of the great historically accurate movies out there. On par with the likes of Armageddon and Braveheart
But what about the most famous gladiator of all, Montius Pythonus, who was famous for making their opponent chase them around the arena until they had a heart attack? 🤔
Given the fact that he fight during childrens matinee, I have my daubt, that he was so famous...😉
Say Nic!
@@AB-gk8cs Well of course even the great champions have to start out somewhere. You may be thinking of his early work. A lot of people prefer that actually. 😉 But I take your point, probably not the most famous of all time. Now if we really want to talk about an absolutely HUGE gladiator, with an ENORMOUS fan base, it has to be Biggus...
...
...
... Gladius. What? What are you looking at me like that for? 🤨
11:07 today I learned I’m not fat. I just have natural armor!
It takes me 20 seconds to get a sixpack. From the fridge....
Thank you once more Invicta!!! Always a great pleasure.
It's been great seeing you evolve from total war based documentaries, to the stuff you are doing now. lt gives me hope for my channel, and as a history buff I thoroughly enjoy your videos more than most big TV documentaries.
I’ve been to the Ludus building next to the Arena it is eerie
I really want to check it out. Somehow I didn't even think to visit when I visited Rome many years ago.
Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job
Thank you for making these.
Fantastic stuff!
Awesome video!
4:31 Love the Spartacus tv series shout out with the Domina and Dominus!
Facts
What is beneath your feet?
@@AxenfonKlatismrek sacred ground, watered with tears of blood
@@jozzieokes3422 YOUR TEARS! YOUR BLOOD
Fantastic video!
This video takes me back to playing Colosseum: Road to Freedom as a kid
Rewatching Spartacus makes me appreciate this video more.
Doctore is asking a question, recruit, answer it!
@@AxenfonKlatismrek what lies beneath your feet?
@@TrevieTrev sacred ground, watered with the tears of blood
Now we need a video on how you became a referee for gladiator fights and what they actually did
“There I was, better than a millionaire in the morning and a penniless refugee by nightfall with nothing but these rags and my poor flesh to call of my own. All because of Crassus decides to break his journey at Capua with a couple of capricious, over-painted nymphs! These two daughters of Venus had to taunt the gladiators, force them to fight to the death and before I knew what had happened, *revolution* on my hands!”
- Lentulus Batiatus
"Once again, the gods spread the cheeks to ram a C*** in F**king *ss"
-Quintus Lentulus Batiatus
I understand the Ludus Batiatus is hiring new members. Not bad work for some folks.
th-cam.com/video/dTzw0Mg8zYo/w-d-xo.html
Once again the gods spread their cheeks to ram c*** in F***ing *ss
A great, lucrative job in those days: Lanista🤩🗡
who cares about the fact that you may kill someone
Great video.
The bit around 11:00 about building a layer of fat that can bleed relatively harmlessly is fascinating. I wonder if gladiators were specially trained to give shallow non-lethal wounds that would look good in the arena. If so, I imagine that sometimes things went wrong and a gladiator would mean to give a shallow wound, but end up killing the other guy by mistake. What happened then? Was there guilt? Did he get in trouble with his (or the other guy's) boss?
very little recorded of death occurring in the games. you are probably thinking when nero was alive. that was just a small blip in romes history of gladitorial games. lol
I'd imagine when things like thst happen, they carry on as if it were intentional, but then quickly end the fight and the survivor would probably feel guilty about it afterwards. Similar accidental fights have happened in professional wrestling and they take care to maintain the show.
Good video ⚔️
Does anyone else like the animations more than the live-action videos?
Arguably the best history channel on youtube
I have watched many films, series, and documentaries about Gladiators such as Ridley Scott's Gladiator, Starz's Spartacus, and even some Smithsonian documentaries but they are some topics like Animal fights in the Arena, Roman Emperors that serve as Gladiators, or Chariot races!
Had to check this out after finishing Spartacus
Nice
Can you guys make video about Mounted Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard of the Grande Armée?
smooth ad transition ;)
The ludus in the Spartacus tv show fed the gladiators historically accurate bread and porridge but I legit lolled at the showcase of 6 pack abs big biceps and quads. It's hard enough to get those with modern food and equipment XD
They definitely needed more protective chub to cover those muscles
Ultimately that was more about communicating in modern perceptions of peak fitness that those men had achieved it.
What is beneath your feet? Answer me! what is beneath your feet?
@@AxenfonKlatismrek Sand?🤔 😆
@@Monatio79 Spartacus, what is beneath your feet?
I have been to gladiator school in state pen🎉
I often ask myself if I could have been a gladiator, I don't know. I struggle to think if could even watch the brutality. Even with all the rules and safety we have today I found things like boxing and MMS matches hard to watch. But then I try to place myself in a Roman's sandals and then I say....would I if I had their morals, values, and socialization.....was the glory worth the risk? I often wonder if the gladiator's really expected to die, sure they knew it was possible, but did they expect it?
If something is possible it's best to brace for it. But to expect something that's only possible? Hmm...
At 0:26 you can tell they watched Spartacus one of my favorite TV series ❤
Oh wow. I didn’t realize until your comment. But that is certainly Batiatus and Lucretia (wasn’t that the wives name?) standing on the balcony. Lol.
There is still gladiator's schools, well kinda. It's in relation with the growth of HEMA.
Here is a video about it, sure it's french and i'm not certain that the english automatic subtitles are fair, but if you want to skip the explanations, at 53:55 begin the demonstrations of what looked like a gladiator's fight.
th-cam.com/video/jTjd6Nb8kNA/w-d-xo.html
Brilliant video. :3
Awesome video as always. Pronunciation note: it's LanEEsta not LANistuh
It seems we take the exception of Roman life and treat it as if it was the norm.
Roman's had very strict family and relationship values but we characterise them as attending orgies all the time when orgies were the extreme examples of decadence.
Same with Gladiators. Popular culture treats it like a death cult where every fight ended up in a kill.
Orgies = diseases, 99.9% guaranteed. The most I have done is a threesome, and I'll never step up above that for fear of my health.
@Invicta , could you make a review of the film "Conquered" (its censored version) about its historical accuracy? (in this film a famous Nico Nico Douga hero Billy Herrington played a gladiator)
The two most well-known gladiators were Hulk Honorius with his devastating leg drops and Rockus with his Citizens’ Elbow 😂
You mean the Elbow of the Plebes? Right? Lol.
I've been trained to kill a man
A sword, a spear or with my hand
As nature built me big and strong
A gladiator's song
We're kept like animals in a cage
They pay for it to see the rage
Their kicks have become stale and dry
They get excited when we die
Our life it is not meant to last
The arms so strong the eyes so fast
We're putting on a special show
And selling out the big front row
There is no chance of getting free
We could fight for eternity
And death is near it won't take long
A gladiator's song
4:12
Can you make a unit video of Ottoman Empire? Janissaries or their palace guards? Like their formation, what they did. What was their techniques
I think it's hilarious how the human consumption of specific grains is seen by others as an insult or proof of the group of people being "less than" in some way, since said grain is animal feed. Oats, perhaps corn, and apparently barley. Depending on where and when we're talking about
100%. As a teenager I did a french exchange and my partner was super weirded out by us eating corn on the cob in Canada. From her perception, corn is animal feed.
Well I was always told corn has little nutritional value and our bodies don’t properly break it down. That’s why it is visible when it passes out of our systems. Not sure if that’s true but it’s what I was always told. Also, would they have had Corn in Rome? I always thought corn was a new world crop? Once again I could be wrong and I’m curious.
I wonder what battlefield tactics did Spartacus's army use?
Honestly it probably wasn’t anything particularly revolutionary. No doubt he was a skilled commander, but probably wasn’t anywhere near the abilities of a lot of the most noted commanders of the time.
A lot with him has to just come from guess work and what the Roman’s were willing to record about him, but what is known as fact is that his army was quite under equipped. They really only had access to Roman weapons they could take from their raids or plunder from a battlefield, so options would’ve been limited.
Happy 10 year anniversary
Is the way the Doctore is holding his sword a mistake, or is there another weird sword design that I have yet to learn about?
My Doctore is an African man with whip, badass atitude and loves sand. He was badly scarred in fight against Theokoles, but then became Doctore of my Ludus, that is until that one Thracian decided that being a slave isnt a life of adventure
Besides that, he might have done this to demonstrate something or Invicta made some tiny mistake at drawning him
Looks like the Doctores is holding the sword by the blade....back to school for him.
Spartacus!!!!
What is beneath your feet?
How did trainers and owners prevented gladiators from escaping?
I guess they were locked up....
Or revolting*
I would say they either treated them well, or made sure they are as disconected from each other as possible or in some cases, maded a discord between them
@@AxenfonKlatismrek thanks! 👌
Gladiators that were originally slaves or prisoners of war were often tattoos somewhere noticeable such as their face, or neck. This made it hard for them to hide in the event that they did manage to escape. The schools where also well guarded and many were there by their own free will so they didn't want to leave. The less fortunate who were there against their will were guarded heavier. All classes of gladiator were locked into their cells at night and monitored at day.
Must have been warm where the arenas were considering their outfits.
Yes it’s Italy
5:21 why does bro got a brown sqaure thing around his neck
The Almighty Conical Flask approves.
Ironic a historical based channel would use the incorrect staff of Hermes for medicine.
I can look at my excess layer of fat and say I'm in peak gladiatorial condition 😆
"Sands of the Arena"...Next you'll tell us they walked in the Sahara Desert ... LOL
Man, regarding the gladiators who weren't the most entertaining to watch, the heroic aspect of being a gladiator is so overblown in media that it's weird thinking about the reality of a group of real people with real lives fighting in dangerous, potentially deadly combat for a group of people who are just bored. Their whole lives leading up to the moment they die in an arena full of people who are half paying attention and wondering if the next fight will be better. That's kind of sad.
I understand your point but I think the gladiator games were more than that than entertainment. While their role as part of a funeral was mostly diminished during the late republic and principate, it was also always more than simply entertainment. It demonstrated the might of Rome and showed to some extent also Roman virtues: especially to face the dead unflinching and stoic. Also gladiators were seen as outcasts, this was also admired - even by philosophs of the high society who abhorred the 'primitive games'. The Relationship towards the games was a rather schizophrenic one...
Did 400 days in a federal gladiator school and it wasn't nearly this cool
It is a wonder that there were only 3 servile wars with only one remembered as a "gladiatorial war".
I asume that the scurity measures were stept up after Spartacus (at least in the ludi), and there WERE other smaller mutinies of gladiators, f. e. I have read about one during the early Prinicpate which was dealt with quickly.
However you might consider that also perhaps the social climate changed during the long history of Rome. The great servile wars of the late Republic happened all in the same situation: a great influx of (sometimes also battle hardened) slaves, social and political turmoil also among the non-slave society (rising tension in the Roman political landsace, a growing disatisfaction among the non-Roman population of Italy, the establishment of huge latifundias with great numbers of rather harsh treated slaves herede together partially substituing the free peasantry), a Republic which was rapid expanding but which also had to fight numerous langthy wars (which did bind much of the - already depleting - military potential in long-going campaigns outside of Italy) etc...
*Fun fact:* The series "A.D" gives an important attention to the training method of gladiators in their schools. I actually love the quote of the African trainer Serpenius in which he criticizes Rome's xenophobia: "All blood is the same! I've seen enough of it to know!"
Oh god...
Ah yes boiling race and difference down to colour! Makes sense. Except certain blood types are more common in different races. Interesting, so blood actually can be different between races.
@@jimmybobby4824 still all human, which is what the guy was talking about, not actual blood types 🤦🏽♂️ bleed the same human blood
@@LewisB3217 "sTiLl hUmaN" doesn't disprove the fact that there are still big differences between the races. If you ever need an organ transplant, all of a sudden race become very real doesn't it?
Anyone who uses the term "xenophobia" unironically is low IQ
Im surprised you didnt show the Archaeological Evidence ... Like the Gladiators Space under the Arenas and Close to the Arenas . Would have made for a great ending in my opinion . Would be a nice contrast to the Cartoon and bring it back into Reality . Just a thought mate . Cheers
Are there any left?
@@saphiriathebluedragonknight375 Lots, even in the UK if not mistaken .
I love how race not seems to have been an issue. They all seem to get along, or atleast not be dislike or demote people with different colour or heritage.
I could imagine there were cliques among them. The Secutor-gladiators of a school might a little bit look down onto the retarii and all "real" gladiators did joke about the venatores and so forth. It is natural for people to build groups. But I think indeed that there was less prejudice after such artifical categories like colour and heritage as people had in other societies - after all in Roman society the legal situation was what mattered the most - if you were a full citizen or not, or in their case outcasts from the society.
Ancient Rome had different ideas of what "race" was. Color of the skin was only one factor, to be considered along with how the person dressed, acted, and talked. Invicta has a video on it from several months ago, you should check it out!
Nice delusion. Romans had eyes and their own xenophobia.
Romans weren't "racist" so to speak. But they did strongly discriminate against "outsiders" and there are different levels of outsiders. Not being sufficiently "roman", ie: not speaking latin fluently or with an accent, or worshipping other gods was notable examples of grounds for descrimination. But where you were born definitely counts. Being born in Italy is better than elsewhere, being born within the empire is better than outside, being born outside the empire would definitely be cause to be othered. I could easily imagine these lines would continue inside the ludus. With Roman born men sticking together. As I would also not be surprised if slaves from the same region might group together as they share similar language, culture, values, experienced, outsider status, etc.
They are perhaps the first entertainers to sell their excrements for fans, like gladiator sweat.
Souldn't this vid have been don by Matt Easton?
I wonder how frequently athletes are pimped out by their managers and handlers in the present day...
You could argue the whole NCAA system pimps the players out
The Gladiators were like Ancient WWE Superstars.
Roma was capped at 200 gladiators after Spartacus' revolt.
Interesting that they specifically mention that the gladiators had a significant layer of fat on them, yet draw them all chiseled... 🤔
Having gladiators 'grow some fat' to make them more resilient in combat sounds only plausible.
I wonder why present day special forces insist on getting ripped.
If a mission goes badly and they're cut off, first thing that happens when they have no food is their bodies will eat up the muscles first.
"So hot right now" investment advice as paid sponsorships is really, really shady.
Bit of advice, if you come up against a criminal that refuses to fight, do NOT insult the XIIIth.
You need a new mic!
Invicta likes to draw Italians being VERY dark skinned.
And...?
They could be north africans also, remember they are slaves of war
quite tanned but not VERY dark
You do realize that there are Italians who are quite dark right?
@@cristhianramirez6939 not very often.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???
I doubt the Gladiators got fat. A few years ago German students lived the Gladiator life style and meals. They trimmed up, and felt great power and energy. When it was over, they went put for Pizza and they all threw up.
Maybe we should have criminals today fight as gladiators.
Ironic that Gladiators trained to fight and sometimes kill in the arena on a vegan diet. Galen's commentary and the Gladiator lifestyle could apply to the athletes of today. Boxing, MMA Professional Wrestling and American Football come to mind.
Another day another art scam ad
People must have been REALLY bored. Like, what does your culture have to do to you that your idea of entertainment is a bunch of people walking into a dusty bowl and stabbing each other to death?
Could we just not conceptualize the basic empathy to realize that every person, no matter who they are, is still a living human?!
is that to different from boxing? or any marshal art sport these days?
Blood sport is blood sport innit?
Dude, death was extremly common in those times. If you had several children, a good percentage of those died very early on.
Death occured often and frequently - so what if in some entertainment a few more died? What did it matter in the greater scheme?
You can take your "moral superiority" if you like and consider yourself so much better. But you are not.
You can't judge a society or culture or just history itself on your way of live.
And by the way: Do you sometimes take a look at YT channels that deal with the war in Ukraine? Take a look at the comments, how many celebrate every dead russian soldier. Saint Himars delievered a present.
Or take the Formula 1 - never have they had higher viewer numbers on television than after a driver died in a crash. The viewers spiked for the next race - because death fascinates people.
So get off your high ground and stop judging people that lived 2000 years ago, will you?
Pretty much MMA/boxing/WWE from the modern day...
Humans are not special.
Not exactly money for nothing, chicks for free.
Nor a walk of life. Though, they were brothers in arms, and maybe even sultans of swing....
chicks for free, including the old ladies that pay for your use, and the men for that matter. And you can't refuse anyone who pays your master.
@@LB-ou8wt Yea, that would suck, literally.
Deez
What is beneath your feet? Answer me! What is beneath your feet?
Sand?
@@GopnikfromItaly Crixus, WHat is beneath your feet?
@@AxenfonKlatismrek
Crixus: "Naevia!"
Lolololol you still think you live on a globe earth? L M F A O
You’re incapable of backing up a single thing you claim. LMFAO.
WHAT LIES BENEATH YOUR FEET?
Sacred ground, watered by blood...
BS Sponsor thumbs down....