Gladiators as a Class

Abstract

The amphitheatre has been described as a microcosm of Roman society. In the amphitheatre the social divisions and distinctions that defined Roman society were exposed to all. From the worst seats to the best seats, from slaves to the emperor, from dirty clothes to regal purple, visually (and audibly) society was on show. At the heart of this was the arena itself, where the gaze of all fell upon the gladiators. These men (and women) were, in principle, the lowest of the low; despised and hated, debased outcasts from society. In reality their place in society and their relationship to and with those who gazed upon them was more complex. This chapter will investigate how gladiators were viewed both by others and by themselves, and the extent to which gladiators were regarded as a cohesive group, even a ‘class’. It will explore how the lowly legal status of gladiators, their social isolation and the stigma of infamia, co-existed with society’s admiration for fighting prowess and its need for heroes and sex-symbols. It will also explore how gladiators shaped their own identity and created their own social structures, ‘families’ and hierarchies within the gladiatorial barracks. One of the challenges in investigating gladiators is moving beyond the stereotypes and prejudices created by elite authors; to this end this chapter will look not just at literary sources, but also inscriptions, epitaphs and gladiatorial tombstones and burials. This evidence highlights the central dichotomy that faced gladiators and defined their life; that they were both isolated from but integral to Roman society.