Evidence of the Gladiators
This picture is a mosaic that you can find at the National Archeological Museum in Madrid. It shows a Retiarius (Gladiator with a net) and another Gladiator fighting. This is proof of the Gladiatorial system.
"And so the day arrived. Already the populace had gathered for the spectacle of our punishment, and the bodies of those about to die had their own death-parade across the arena. The presenter of the shows, who hoped to gain favour with our blood, took his seat... Although no one knew my birth, my fortune, my family, one fact made some people pity me; I seemed unfairly matched. I was destined to be a certain victim in the sand... All around I could hear the instruments of death: a sword being sharpened, iron plates being heated in a fire [to stop fighters retreating and to prove that they were not faking death], birch-rods and whips were prepared. One would have imagined that these were the pirates. The trumpets sounded their foreboding notes; stretchers for the dead were brought on, a funeral parade before death. Everywhere I could see wounds, groans, blood, danger..."
This written account was written to someone after they went to a Gladiatorial Contest. This shows that the Gladiator Contests were horrible, and that it was a nasty place to be. It proved all the weapons that they used, and the torture methods that were used to make sure they did not fake death or retreat are terrifying.
This written account was written to someone after they went to a Gladiatorial Contest. This shows that the Gladiator Contests were horrible, and that it was a nasty place to be. It proved all the weapons that they used, and the torture methods that were used to make sure they did not fake death or retreat are terrifying.