Glad not to be a Gladiator

Rah! The Gory sport of Roman gladiators was considered fun back in old times. The people of Rome just loved it, watching men, women and animals brutally killed or wounded. Julius Caesar was famous because he payed for the fights. Gladiators were slaves, criminals, or just volunteers. To become a gladiator you had to go to gladiator school where you would become tough and mean. After you were done with school you would become a gladiator. Gladiators looked like Romes past enemies but they weren't always like that. There were 11 different types of gladiators all with different names, weapons, armor and clothing.

Myrmillo: Carries a dagger and shield. Wears wide leather belt, leg band and has a fish-like helmet.

Thracian: Uses a small shield and curved dagger. Wears greaves on both legs.

Andabatus: Wears a helmet with no eye holes and charges blindly at opponent on horseback.

Essedarius: A gladiator who drives a horse drawn chariot and carries a spear.

Retarius: Carries a trident and dagger. Has a net and tries to snare opponents. Wears shoulder armor on the left arm.

Women: An uncommon sight but women fought as all types of gladiators too.

Samnite: Wears a crested helmet and carries a sword and large shield.

Dimachaerius: Carries two swords and has little or no armor.

Lequarius: Is just like Retarius except that he carries a lasso instead of a net.

Secutor: A lightly armed and armored gladiator that chases his opponent with just a knife.

Velitus: A gladiator that wears lions skin on his back and carries only a spear.

Sometimes gladiator battles would be against animals with up to 15 gladiators all trying to kill lions, jaguars, panthers, elephants, crocodiles, rhinos, and bears using dogs, nets and spears. At least 5 times in gladiator history they did naval battles. They filled the big Roman coliseums with water then put two ships in them and battled! There is a cool gladiator game on the web if you want to play it click here, (p.s. you might want to read the types of gladiators). I still think it's good not to be a gladiator. =)