Because I believe that Rome and USA are extremely similar, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess it was all marketing and advertising, that none of those gladiator names were real men (the games were real and there were gladiators, just no one lived long enough to be a known name), and those artifacts found all over the world were giveaways if you attended on “cup day”! “Hecho en Egipto” on the bottom 😂
Gladiators were really the sport celebrities of their area. Many of them were actually professionals that enrolled themselves in the gym to end a miserable life on the streets and start a path toward the olympus. They were also bought and sold by their trainers exactly like the sports players of today. As far as I know not so many found their death in the arena, because killing a gladiator meant you had to compensate their trainer with a lot of money. So usually the most popular ones, therefore with the higher value, would fight under their retirement where they would then enjoy the rest of their life with the money they had earned.
In fairness, we treat modern football players as disposable too — look at the NFL's cavalier attitude towards head injuries. Or that the average running back plays for 2 1/2 years, and even the best at the position are considered washed up by 30. Damar Hamlin nearly died during a Bills game last year, but the bread and circuses continued apace, and he's back on the field this fall. Whatever sells more souvenir cups and oil lamps.
Watching the Gladiators
Because I believe that Rome and USA are extremely similar, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess it was all marketing and advertising, that none of those gladiator names were real men (the games were real and there were gladiators, just no one lived long enough to be a known name), and those artifacts found all over the world were giveaways if you attended on “cup day”! “Hecho en Egipto” on the bottom 😂
Gladiators were really the sport celebrities of their area. Many of them were actually professionals that enrolled themselves in the gym to end a miserable life on the streets and start a path toward the olympus. They were also bought and sold by their trainers exactly like the sports players of today. As far as I know not so many found their death in the arena, because killing a gladiator meant you had to compensate their trainer with a lot of money. So usually the most popular ones, therefore with the higher value, would fight under their retirement where they would then enjoy the rest of their life with the money they had earned.
Anyone ever see the ‘70’s cult classic, “Death Race 2000”?? 😂🤔🤷♂️🤦♂️😔
In fairness, we treat modern football players as disposable too — look at the NFL's cavalier attitude towards head injuries. Or that the average running back plays for 2 1/2 years, and even the best at the position are considered washed up by 30. Damar Hamlin nearly died during a Bills game last year, but the bread and circuses continued apace, and he's back on the field this fall. Whatever sells more souvenir cups and oil lamps.