Step inside the ancient Roman empire's gladiatorial arenas, and witness 24 hours of shocking violence

It’s a hot morning in ancient Rome, and the city is simmering with anticipation. Crowds stream toward the amphitheatre, and by mid-morning, more than 50,000 spectators are packed into the stands, ready for a day of spectacle.

As a symbol of the Roman empire, the gladiatorial games were both civic ritual and political theatre. But for those taking part in this vicious entertainment, that symbolism had a very tangible cost. For the Roman gladiators who made it to the arena, what was the experience like ahead of, and after, the great event?

Speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast, Harry Sidebottom, author of Those Who Are About to Die: Gladiators and the Roman Mind, explains what life as a gladiator would have really been like in the 24 hours surrounding the games.

The night before as a Roman gladiator

“The day of a gladiator started the night before the fight,” Sidebottom explains, “with a weird social ritual called cena libera, meaning ‘the free dinner’. The public was allowed into the gladiatorial school to watch the gladiators eating.”

The ritual meal took place in the ludus, or training barracks, where fighters sat at long tables under the eyes of the spectators. “There are some incredibly pretentious explanations behind this ritual,” says Sidebottom, “but I think it is a very simple one. There was gambling on gladiatorial fights, and the guys who appeared calm and in control were going to have the shortest odds.”

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For the fighters (mostly enslaved men, prisoners of war or convicted criminals) this would have been a final test of composure before the fight itself.

After the dinner, once the spectators had left, the gladiators would have gone off to bed, with guards keeping a watch over their doors.

The morning of the gladiatorial games

At dawn, horns would have sounded across the city, heralding the start of a day characterised by excitement and spectacle. The games would have begun with the pompa, a celebratory parade rich with religious meaning and pageantry. Then, the gladiators would have marched through the streets towards the amphitheatre.

The sharpness of each sword and spear would have been tested before the crowd, ensuring that everyone was keenly aware of the fact that this was no staged theatre.

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Finally, the event would have opened with solemn prayers to Jupiter, Mars and Nemesis, asking the gods to bless the day’s combat. The first fights, however, wouldn’t have involved men at all.

Animal hunts and executions

“[First] you had professional huntsmen hunting animals in the arena,” Sidebottom explains. “It was a way of giving the urban plebs a vicarious taste of an elite lifestyle, because hunting was an elite sport.”

These venationes (beast hunts) showcased exotic creatures from across Europe and Africa. Brought in were lions from north Africa, bears from the Alps and leopards from Syria. They were living symbols of Rome’s control over nature. Their capture, transport and killing were part of an immense imperial machine that stretched from the shores of Britain to Mesopotamia.

After the animal fights, the audience would have still had to wait to see the gladiators in action. The next piece of entertainment was executions, “and these executions were really horrible,” says Sidebottom.

Criminals, rebels and various other unfortunate people condemned to death were brought in to die for public amusement. Some were burned alive in the tunica molesta, which was a shirt soaked in flammable liquid that was then set alight. Others faced wild beasts unarmed.

Between scenes, entertainers including acrobats, jugglers and musicians kept the crowd amused.

But it was all only delaying the gratification of the main event.

The afternoon: the gladiators make their entrance

“The big event was the afternoon, when the gladiators actually fought. We assume, like any good sporting event, the best fighters were kept back until the end,” Sidebottom explains.

The matchups were deliberately theatrical: the secutor, armed with sword and shield, against the retiarius, fighting with trident and net.

“The main division was between the big shield men and the small shield men. But within those categories, there were lots of different types with different armour.” Sidebottom adds that pitching those varieties against each other enhanced the “novelty and the fun of the games.”

For the crowd, the combat was thrilling not only for its danger, but for its discipline. Gladiators were trained to prolong the fight and heighten the drama.

When a fighter fell, the final decision lay with sponsor of the games – often a politician or Roman emperor seeking popularity. A gesture from the stands (the famous turning of the thumb) determined what would follow: death, or a merciful chance to fight again.

The evening: gifts and rest

As the games were brought to their conclusion, the spectators filtered out of the stands and back to their homes. But that wasn’t the end of the story for the fighters.

For those who survived, recovery began immediately. “In the better schools run by the emperor,” Sidebottom explains, “there was excellent medical care, because these guys were expensive investments.”

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Doctors would have quickly seen to wounds and stitched the gashes back together. That evening, the surviving fighters would have been fed their usual sagina, a calorie-dense barley and bean stew.

The next morning, training would have resumed, and soon the cycle would have begun again.

For all that the ancient Roman republic and empire are remembered for their technologies and ‘civilising’ innovations, the sheer violence and delight in suffering seen in its greatest form of entertainment shows how their social and moral values were unrecognisable to many of us today.

As Sidebottom observes, “it’s moments like that that the gulf between us and the Romans becomes really almost unbridgeable.”

Harry Sidebottom was speaking to Rachel Dinning on the HistoryExtra podcast. Listen to the full conversation.